University:
Felician University
Course:
HIST-110 | World Geography and Culture
Academic year:

2024
Views:

125

Pages:

13
Author:

Clint W.

The constitution was approved. On November 7, 1905, it was submitted to the U.S. Congress. The proposal was ignored. Instead, in June of 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Enabling Act, providing for the joining of the twin territories. The Enabling Act required the following: a republican form of government religious liberty the banning of polygamy the right to vote for all races the prohibition of alcohol for 21 years Two delegates from each of the 55 existing counties and two from the Osage Nation were elected to the Constitutional Convention in Guthrie – 112 in all. The Osage Nation was still in the process of allotting its lands to individuals. Many of the counties would have their final boundaries determined after statehood. Today, Oklahoma has 77 counties. There were no African American delegates or women elected to the convention, and political party representation was unusual. There were 12 Republicans. There was 1 Independent. There were 99 Democrats. Oklahoma was part of the Progressive Movement, reformers who believed that the federal government was best-equipped to correct the problems of society. The movement elected four presidents: William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson. The delegates intended for the legislature, as the “voice of the people,” to have the most power. Elections for Governor were scheduled for off-presidential years, to keep a popular president from swaying the state election. The new constitution established a two-chamber lawmaking body called a bicameral legislature. Members of the State House of Representatives would serve a two-year term, while members of the State Senate would serve a four-year term. Citizens were also allowed to veto laws through a process called a referendum, or a popular vote before the law went into effect. Citizens of Oklahoma could propose laws by initiative petition, or gathering the signatures of registered voters. People could also propose amendments to the constitution. When it was ratified, it was the longest governing document not just in the United States, but in the world. Women’s suffrage, a national movement to give women the right to vote, was gaining strength as statehood approached. But the delegates decided against women voting. Oklahoma women finally gained the right to vote in 1918, when voters approved State Question 97, an initiative petition. Prohibition, which banned alcoholic beverages, had been a sensitive issue since the 1830s. Prohibition leader Carrie Nation moved to Guthrie in 1905 to support the ban. Former Abolitionists supported the group, also called the Temperance Movement.