The Enabling Act of 1889 (, chs. 180, 276–284, enacted February 22, 1889) is a
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
statute that permitted the entrance of
Montana
Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...
and
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
into the United States of America, as well as the splitting of
Territory of Dakota into two states:
North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...
and
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...
. The Territory of Dakota was to be split on the "seventh standard parallel produced due west to the western boundary".
The initial convention centers chosen for North Dakota and South Dakota were
Bismarck and
Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up t ...
respectively, but the latter was later changed to the city of
Pierre
Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...
.
Legal residents of all of the above-mentioned territories were now permitted voting rights for state representatives, as well as the right to choose delegates who organized
political convention
The terms party conference (UK English), political convention ( US and Canadian English), and party congress usually refer to a general meeting of a political party. The conference is attended by certain delegates who represent the party memb ...
s in their respective states.
Soon after the Enabling Act was passed, each of the newly formed states was to hold an election for congressional representatives, and submit their results by the fifteenth of April, 1889. Montana, Washington, and North Dakota were all entitled to one representative in the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
at the time of the bill's passing, while South Dakota was allowed two due to its higher population.
The North Dakota constitution was built and structured in a less complex manner than that of South Dakota's. Every delegate from the southern state was to present a ballot reading either "For the Sioux Falls constitution" or "Against the Sioux Falls constitution." If the latter was the majority, the constitution would be revised and resubmitted until the majority of delegates agreed on its passing.
Statehood of North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, and Montana also included religious tolerance, stating that no inhabitant of any of the above states can be harassed on account of their religion and/or religious beliefs. However, while religious tolerance was mandated, all public land in the territories of the now-states was to become government property (including
Indian reservations
An Indian reservation is an area of land held and governed by a federally recognized Native American tribal nation whose government is accountable to the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs and not to the state government in which it ...
and unclaimed land).
The newly formed states were expected to pay off the debts of their respective territories, and in return, the federal government would provide education and maintain public schooling systems in the mentioned states. Schools were expected to be open to all children and free of bigotry or discrimination. All land planned for use for public education was to be sold at no less than ten dollars per acre, and all money was to go to a public school fund, and the money would be used to build an education system. No private companies or individuals were entitled to the land, as it was now property of the federal government.
North and South Dakota representatives were to assemble at a joint convention in Bismarck, North Dakota, to decide the borderline between the two states. Other items on the agenda that were to be split between the two states were public records, territory debt, and property. Each state was expected to pay for its share of the debts, as though they belonged solely to that state and were not previously shared with a territory.
References
External links
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{{Authority control
1889 in American law
Montana Territory
Dakota Territory
Pre-statehood history of North Dakota
Pre-statehood history of South Dakota
Pre-statehood history of Washington (state)
United States federal territory and statehood legislation
1889 in American politics
1889 in Montana
1889 in Dakota Territory