The Path to Statehood: Washington Territory Prepares for Union
Congressional mandate sets the stage for a constitutional convention, marking the end of territorial status and the beginning of Washington as a state.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Congress has officially passed the act admitting Washington, Montana, and the Dakotas into the Union. The act mandates that delegates be elected to constitutional conventions on the Tuesday after the second Monday in May 1889. These conventions are to meet on July 4, 1889, to form state governments that are republican in form and ensure equality of rights. The act grants specific lands to the new state for the support of common schools, scientific and normal schools, and public buildings. Notably, mineral lands are exempted from these grants, and the act requires that all public schools remain free from sectarian control. The final proclamation of statehood by the President remains contingent upon the ratification of these constitutions by the people.
“The constitutions shall be republican in form, and make no distinction in civil or political rights on account of race or color, except as to Indians not taxed.”
This 1889 act transformed the legal identity of Washington State. It is fascinating to see the explicit protection for public schools—prohibiting sectarian control—which remains a fundamental and debated principle in Washington's state constitution today.
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