Chapter XXXVII. *to enable the People of Colorado to form a Constitution and State Government, and for the Admission of such State into the Union on an equal Pooling with the original States.* March 21, 1864. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assem
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Chap. XXXVII.— An Act *to enable the People of Colorado to form a Constitution and State Government, and for the Admission of such State into the Union on an equal Pooling with the original States.* March 21, 1864. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, * Territory of Colorado made a state, &c. That the inhabitants of that portion of the territory of Colorado included in the boundaries hereinafterTHIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS.
Sess. I. Ch. 37. 1864.33designated be, and they are hereby, authorized to form for themselves, out of said territory, a state government, with the name aforesaid; which said state, when formed, shall be admitted into the Union upon an equal footing with the original states, in all respects whatsoever. Sec. 2. *And be it further enacted,* That the said state of ColoradoBoundaries. shall consist of all the territory included within the following boundaries, to wit: Commencing at a point formed by the intersection of the thirty-seventh degree of north latitude with the twenty-fifth degree of longitude west from Washington; extending thence due west along said thirty-seventh degree of north latitude to a point formed by its intersection with the thirty-second degree of longitude west from Washington; thence due north along said thirty-second degree of west longitude to a point formed by its intersection with the forty-first degree of north latitude; thence due east along said forty-first degree of north latitude to a point formed by its intersection with the twenty-fifth degree of longitude west from Washington; thence due south along said twenty-fifth degree of west longitude.
Sec. 3. *And be it further enacted,* That all persons qualified by lawWho may vote at first elections. to vote for representatives to the general assembly of said territory, at the date of the passage of this act, shall be qualified to be elected; and they are hereby authorized to vote for and choose representatives to form a convention, under such rules and regulations as the governor of said territory may prescribe; and also to vote upon the acceptance or rejection of such constitution as may be formed by said convention, under such rules and regulations as said convention may prescribe; and if any of said citizens are enlisted in the army of the United States, and areEnlisted soldiers. still within said territory, they shall be permitted to vote at their place of rendezvous; and if any are absent from said territory, by reason of their enlistment in the army of the United States, they shall be permitted to vote at their place of service, under the rules and regulations in each case to be prescribed, as aforesaid.
And the aforesaid representatives to form the aforesaid convention shall be apportioned among the severalApportionment of representatives. counties in said territory in proportion to the population, as near as may be; and said apportionment shall be made for said territory by the governor, United States district-attorney, and chief justice thereof, or any two of them. And the governor of said territory shall, by proclamation on or before the first Monday of May next, order an election of the representatives aforesaid, to be held on the first Monday in JuneTime of first election, &c. thereafter throughout the territory; and such election shall be conducted in the same manner as is prescribed by the laws of said territory regulating elections therein for members of the house of representatives; and the number of members to said convention shall be the same as now constitute both branches of the legislature of the aforesaid territory.
Sec. 4. *And be it further enacted, * That the members of the convention, thus elected, shall meet at the capital of said territory on the first MondayMeeting of convention to form state constitution. in July next, and, after organization, shall declare, on behalf of the people of said territory, that they adopt the constitution of the United States; whereupon the said convention shall be, and it is hereby, authorized to form a constitution and state government for said territory: *Provided,* That the constitution, when formed, shall be republican, andProviso. not repugnant to the constitution of the United States and the principles of the Declaration of Independence: *And provided, further,* That said convention shall provide, by an ordinance, irrevocable without the con-sent of the United States and the people of said state:— First.
That there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitudeNo slavery or involuntary servitude. in the said state, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted. Second. That perfect toleration of religious sentiment shall be secured,Religious toleration. 34and no inhabitant of said state shall ever be molested in person or property on account of his or her mode of religious worship. Unappropriated public lands.Third. That the people inhabiting said territory do agree and declare that they forever disclaim all right and title to the unappropriated public lands lying within said territory, and that the same shall be and remain at the sole and entire disposition of the United States, and that the lands belonging to citizens of the United States, residing without the said state, Taxes.shall never be taxed higher than the land belonging to residents thereof, and that no taxes shall be imposed by said state on lands or property therein belonging to, or which may hereafter be purchased by, the United States.
Sec. 5. Constitution to be submitted to popular vote. *And be it further enacted,* That in case a constitution and state government shall be formed for the people of said territory of Colorado, in compliance with the provisions of this act, *that* said convention forming the same shall provide by ordinance for submitting said constitution to the people of said state for their ratification or rejection, at 1864, ch. 135.*Post*, p. 137.an election to be held on the second Tuesday of October, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, at such places and under such regulations as may be prescribed therein, at which election the lawful voters of said Voting and returns.new state shall vote directly for or against the proposed constitution; and the returns of said elections shall be made to the acting governor of the territory, who, with the United States district-attorney and chief justice of the said territory, or any two of them, shall canvass the same, and if a majority of legal votes shall be cast for said constitution in said proposed state, the said acting governor shall certify the same to the President of the United States, together with a copy of said constitution and ordinances to that effect; whereupon it shall be the duty of the President of the United.
States to issue his proclamation declaring the state admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original states, without any further action whatever on the part of congress. Sec. 6. Representative in congress. *And be it further enacted,* That until the next general census shall be taken said state of Colorado shall be entitled to one representative in the house of representatives of the United States, which representative, together with the governor and state and other officers provided for in said constitution, may be elected on the same day a vote is taken for or against the proposed constitution and state government.
Sec. 7. School lands. *And be it further enacted,* That sections numbered sixteen and thirty-six, in every township, and where such sections have been sold, or Otherwise disposed of by any act of Congress, other lands equivalent thereto in legal subdivisions of not less than one quarter-section, and as contiguous as may be, shall be, and are hereby, granted to said state for the support of common schools. Sec. 8. Lands for public buildings; *And be it further enacted,* That provided the state of Colorado shall be admitted into the Union, in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this act, *that* twenty entire sections of the unappropriated public lands within said state, to be selected and located by direction of the legislature thereof on or before the first day of January, anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, shall be, and they are hereby, granted in legal subdivisions of not less than one hundred and sixty acres to said state, for the purpose of erecting public buildings at the capital of said state for legislative and judicial purposes, in such maimer as the legislature shall prescribe.
Sec. 9. for penitentiary building. *And be it further enacted,* That twenty other entire sections of land, as aforesaid, to be selected and located as aforesaid, in legal subdivisions as aforesaid, shall be, and they are hereby, granted to said state for the purpose of erecting a suitable building for a penitentiary or state prison in the manner aforesaid. Sec. 10. Five per cent, of sales of public *And be it further enacted,* That five percentum of the proceeds of the sales of all public lands lying within said state, which shall THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS.
Sess. I. Ch. 38. 1864.35be sold by the United States subsequent to the admission of said state into the Union, after deducting all the expenses incident to the same, shall be paid to the said state, for the purpose of making and improving public roads, constructing ditches or canals, Lo effect a general system of irrigation of the agricultural land in the state, as the legislature shall direct. Sec. 11. *And be it further enacted,* That from and after the admissionLaws of the United States made applicable. of the said state of Colorado into the Union, in pursuance of this act, the laws of the United States not locally inapplicable shall have the same force and effect within the said state as elsewhere within the United States, and said state shall constitute one judicial district, and be calledJudical district. the district of Colorado.
Approved, March 21, 1864. Chapter XXXVIII: amendatory of the Homestead Law, and for other Purposes. 13 Stat. 35 1864-03-21 Chapter XXXVIII Little, Brown and Company text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Digitization Vendor 2026-01-27 38 2 public
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Chapter XXXVII
*to enable the People of Colorado to form a Constitution and State Government, and for the Admission of such State into the Union on an equal Pooling with the original States.* March 21, 1864. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assem
Stat.13 Stat. 35
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