The General Assembly of the Territory of Arkansas, commonly known as the General Assembly, was the

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

of the

U.S. territory In the United States, a territory is any extent of region under the sovereign jurisdiction of the federal government of the United States, including all waters (around islands or continental tracts). The United States asserts sovereign rights for ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

, from 1819 to 1835. The General Assembly was directly elected, albeit on a restricted franchise. Its legislative power was subject to

veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...

by the appointed

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

History

Establishment

Upon assuming the duties of the governor's office in July, 1819, Territorial Secretary

Robert Crittenden Robert Crittenden (January 1, 1797 – December 18, 1834) was an American lawyer who served as the first secretary of the Arkansas Territory from 1819 to 1829. He also served as the acting governor of Arkansas Territory from July to December 18 ...

issued a

proclamation A proclamation (Lat. ''proclamare'', to make public by announcement) is an official declaration issued by a person of authority to make certain announcements known. Proclamations are currently used within the governing framework of some nations ...

calling a session of the territorial legislature at

Arkansas Post The Arkansas Post (french: Poste de Arkansea) (Spanish: ''Puesto de Arkansas''), formally the Arkansas Post National Memorial, was the first European settlement in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain and present-day U.S. state of Arkansas. In 168 ...

for July 28, 1819. The only other act of any real importance performed by him during the nearly six months that he was acting governor, before Governor James Miller arrived, was the calling of a

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

for November 20, 1819. At this first election five members of a legislative council one from each of the five organized

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

and nine members of a

house of representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

were elected, besides a territorial delegate to Congress. In authorizing the selection by

popular vote Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...

of the members of a legislative council, Crittenden overreached his authority. The law which prescribed the mode of government for the Territory, as then constituted, plainly provided that the people should elect by popular choice a house of representatives; the members of this house should then meet, at such time as the governor should appoint, select the names of eighteen persons whom they deemed qualified for the office of councilmen and forward the whole list of those so nominated to the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

. Upon receiving such a list of nominations, it was the duty of the President to appoint nine of the same to be members of the council. Whether Crittenden's error was due to ignorance or imprudence is uncertain. But, at all events, owing to the good sense and prudent statesmanship of Governor Miller,

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

was induced to pass a special Act, which the President approved April 21, 1820, making the election of the councilmen, in the manner authorized by Crittenden, legal after the fact in April after the election in November. Thus Arkansas was raised from a Territory of the first grade one with a legislative council whose members were to be appointed by the President to a Territory of the second grade, in which members of both branches of the territorial legislature were elected by the people themselves.

1st General Assembly

On December 29, 1819, Governor Miller issued his proclamation calling a special session of the General Assembly for the first Monday in February, 1820, to meet at Arkansas Post. Accordingly, the first legislature elected by the people convened February 7, 1820. The council organized by electing Edward McDonald president, and Richard Chamberlain clerk. William Stevenson was chosen speaker of the house and Jason Chamberlain, clerk. Stevenson resigned the day after his election and Joseph Hardin was elected to fill the vacancy. The two houses continued in session until February 24, when they adjourned to meet again on the first Monday in October, which was October 2. This adjourned session lasted until October 25, 1820. At the adjourned session in October, the most notable Act passed was that removing the

seat of government The seat of government is (as defined by ''Brewer's Politics'') "the building, complex of buildings or the city from which a government exercises its authority". In most countries, the nation’s capital is also seat of its government, thus that ...

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

, the Act to take effect June 1, 1821.

2nd General Assembly

Members of the second General Assembly were elected August 6, 1821. They met in regular session October 1, 1821, at Little Rock. Sam C. Roane was elected president of the legislative council ; Richard Searcy, secretary. William Trimble was elected speaker of the house of representatives ; Ambrose H. Sevier, clerk. The laws passed were, for the most part, measures of local character. The most important Act of the session, perhaps, was that changing the manner of voting at general elections from ballot to

Viva voce ''Viva voce'' is a Latin phrase literally meaning "with living voice" but most often translated as "by word of mouth." It may refer to: *Word of mouth *A voice vote in a deliberative assembly *An oral exam **Thesis defence, in academia *Spoken evi ...

. On account of the absences of Governor Miller, who had gone to

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

on business, Robert Crittenden was acting governor during the session, which adjourned October 24, 1821.

3rd General Assembly

Members of the third General Assembly were elected August 4, 1823. They met in regular session October 6, 1823. Sam C. Roane was elected president of the legislative council; Thomas W. Newton, secretary; Terence Farrelly was speaker of the house of representatives; David E. McKinney, clerk. The session lasted until October 31, 1823.

4th General Assembly

Members of the fourth General Assembly were elected August 1, 1825. They met in regular session October 3, 1825. The session lasted until November 3, following. Jacob Barkman was elected president of the legislative council; Thomas W. Newton, secretary. Hobart Bean was speaker of the house; David Barber, clerk.

5th General Assembly

Members of the fifth General Assembly were elected August 6, 1827. They met in regular session, October 1, 1827. Daniel T. Witter was elected president of the council; Thomas W. Newton, secretary. Ambrose H. Sevier was speaker of the house; Andrew Roans, clerk. The session adjourned October 31, 1827. The fifth General Assembly held a special session from October 6 until October 22, 1828. At this session, Sevier, who had been elected delegate to Congress in December, 1827, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Henry W. Conway, was succeeded by Edwin T. Clark, as president of the legislative council. Daniel T. Witter, who had been speaker of the house during regular session, and who had resigned his seat in the house, was succeeded by John Wilson as speaker.

6th General Assembly

Members of the sixth General Assembly were elected August 3, 1829. The members met in regular session October 5, 1829. Charles Caldwell was elected president of the council; John Caldwell, secretary. John Wilson was speaker of the house;

Daniel Ringo Daniel Ringo (October 27, 1803 – September 3, 1873) was a justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court, and later a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Arkansas, the United States District Court for the ...

, clerk. The session lasted until November 21, 1829.

7th General Assembly

Members of the seventh General Assembly were elected August 1, 1831. They met in regular session October 3, 1833. Charles Caldwell was elected president of the council; Absalom Fowler, secretary. William Trimble was speaker of the house; G. W. Ferebee, clerk. The session lasted until November 7, 1831.

8th General Assembly

Members of the eighth General Assembly were elected August 5, 1833. They met in regular session October 7, 1833. John Williamson was elected president of the council; William F. Yeomans, secretary. John Wilson was speaker of the house; James B. Keatts, clerk. The session lasted until November 7, 1833.

9th General Assembly

Members of the ninth and last General Assembly of the Territory were elected August 3, 1835. They met in regular session October 5, 1835. Charles Caldwell was elected president of the council; S. T. Sanders, secretary. John Wilson was speaker of the house; L. B. Tully, clerk. The session lasted from October 5 until November 16, 1835. The only really important Act passed during this session was the Act which provided for the election of delegates to, and the holding of, a convention for the purpose of framing a state constitution. Accordingly, the first steps were taken in the process which won Arkansas admission into the Union.

References

Sources

* * * {{Authority control 1820 establishments in Arkansas Territory 1835 disestablishments in the United States Arkansas Territory

Arkansas Territory The Arkansas Territory was a territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1819, to June 15, 1836, when the final extent of Arkansas Territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Arkansas. Arkansas Post was the first territo ...

Political history of Arkansas