March 27, 1846 – Stephen A. Douglas reports that the Iowa Statehood bill with the state boundary lines provided in the Constitution of 1844 is now officially dead.
Three times prior to December 28, 1846 (when Iowa finally became the 29th State), attempts were made by state legislators to achieve statehood, but each time – 1840, 1842, & 1844 – the voters said no. In 1845, the U.S. Senate and President Polk had already signed off on Iowa Statehood – including Florida in the deal – but the proposal was narrowly voted down by Iowans on April 7, 1845 because the legislators in Washington D.C. insisted on adding in a silly map (see above) that we Hawkeyes simply refused to accept!
Over the next year, while some Iowa politicians tried to keep this proposal alive, on March 27, 1846, Representative Stephen A. Douglas from Illinois finally announced in the U.S. Congress that the 1844 statehood act, as first proposed, was now “officially” dead.
A Day-by-Day Calendar of Historical Events In Iowa, William J. Petersen, State Historical Society of Iowa, 1946, p 33
READ MORE ABOUT THIS IOWA STORY HERE.
This Day In History is an Our Iowa Heritage blog series that offers you a little bit of Iowa trivia from a large selection of stories on our website. Subscribe to this FREE blog and you’ll get a new email from us daily.
Join us for Our Iowa Heritage blog posts.
Learn some historical facts about Iowa City, Johnson County, or Eastern Iowa.
Amaze your friends.
Pingback: March 26, 1918. | Our Iowa Heritage