Arkansas Becomes A State

Voting to Become a State An unofficial, territory-wide vote in August came out 1,942 in favor of statehood and 908 against. Arkansas had the minimum population for becoming a state.

Missouri Compromise In 1835 there were 24 states in the Union. Half were free and half were slave states. To keep it this way the Missouri Compromise of 1820 said new states must come into the Union in pairs, one free-one slave.

Map of the Missouri Compromise

Sister States. Arkansas wanted to enter the Union as a slave state. To do this it needed a free state to enter with it. At this same time Michigan territory applied for statehood. So Michigan and Arkansas became sisters.

Territory vs. State A territory had an appointed state government and national funding for almost all its needs. A state could elect its own officials, but would have to tax itself for many of its needs. As a whole, Arkansans were not wealthy and lacked the cash needed to pay taxes. But, a state can charter banks, which is a source for wealth.

Delegates met in January of 1836 to write a proposed state constitution to send to Congress for approval. Southern counties in Arkansas had large cotton plantations and slave labor. Northern upland counties had small farms. The constitution they wrote said that slave counties would have more representation in the senate and free counties would have more in the house.

Constitution Goes to Congress Delegates picked Charles F.M. Noland of Batesville to take the new constitution to Congress. At the same time William Woodruff had sent a special edition of the Gazette by postal service. The newspaper beat Noland to Washington, and Congress approved Arkansas statehood based upon the version written in the newspaper. Read Noland page 85 in textbook

Arkansas Becomes a State Arkansas became the twenty-fifth state of the Union of June 15, 1836. Michigan, delayed by a border dispute, entered as Arkansas’s sister state in January 1837. In the fall of 1836, Arkansas’s three electoral votes participated in the national election.

Arkansas Elections By Arkansas law, only white males over twenty-one who had lived in the state over six months could vote. On election day a voter would go to his county seat and vote by voice to the sheriff or clerk who would record it.

New Government Officials When voters chose their new state government in 1836, the Family and democrats won all of the offices. James Sevier Conway became governor. Archibald Yell became the U.S. House representative. William Fulton and Ambrose Sevier were appointed to the U.S. Senate.

A Booming Economy The new state’s economy was doing well in the boom years of the late 1830s. In 1837 the state government had a $50,000 surplus. This money was used to build a prison in Little Rock.

State Banks The legislature established two state banks. Banks began granting as many loans as possible. The two banks in Arkansas were the Real Estate Bank and the State Bank.

Banks Planters and large farmers primarily used the Real Estate Bank. Smaller farmers and merchants primarily used the State Bank.

Problems Begin President Jackson destroyed the Bank of the U.S., smaller state banks no longer had anyone controlling them. It wasn’t long before the bank ran out of money and had to start borrowing from banks in other states, like New York. Two years after the State Bank opened it had debts of two million dollars.

Specie State banks issued their own bank notes. These notes were supposed to be backed up with an equal value in gold and silver, called specie.

Arkansas banks issued far more notes than they had specie. President Jackson issued the “Specie Circular” that said the federal government would only accept specie for public land

Panic of 1837 When the Specie Circular went into effect if caused a nation-wide economic crisis called the Panic of 1837. By 1842 both banks were forced to close their doors because people couldn’t pay their loans. The banks left behind a huge debt that the state was required to pay.

Problems for the State As a result of the huge debt, the state outlawed the existence of banks. The state continued to default on loans and was short of capital. The state’s credit was ruined with all the big banks in the East.

Archibald Yell While all of this was going on Archibald Yell was elected governor. He called for public education, internal improvements, and financial reform. As a result the General Assembly passed the “Common School Law” in 1842. This set aside sections of land in each township to be sold to raise the revenue to open public schools.