The Nebraska Constitution is the
basic governing document of the
U.S. state of
Nebraska. All acts of the
Nebraska Legislature, the
governor, and each governmental agency are subordinate to it. The constitution has been amended 228 times since it was first adopted in 1875, most notably to include the creation of a
unicameral legislature.
It is nicknamed the Grasshopper Constitution due to the occurrence of
Albert's swarm
Albert's swarm was an immense concentration of the Rocky Mountain locust that swarmed the Western United States in 1875. It was named after Albert Child, a physician interested in meteorology, who calculated the size of the swarm to by multiplying ...
, an immense concentration of
grasshoppers that scourged the
Western United States in 1875, during the
constitutional convention Constitutional convention may refer to:
* Constitutional convention (political custom), an informal and uncodified procedural agreement
*Constitutional convention (political meeting), a meeting of delegates to adopt a new constitution or revise an e ...
that drafted the constitution.
History
On February 8, 1867, the
United States Congress voted to
admit Nebraska as a state, provided that suffrage was not denied to non-white voters. The bill admitting Nebraska as a state was vetoed by President
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...
, but the veto was overridden by a
supermajority
A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority ru ...
in both Houses of Congress, and Nebraska was
admitted to the Union.
After a failed attempt to ratify a constitution in 1870, in 1874, the Nebraska Legislature proposed a constitutional convention to meet to draft a new constitution. This proposal was overwhelmingly approved by a popular vote of 18,067 to 3,880, and the convention, consisting of sixty-nine members, began meeting May 11, 1875.
The Nebraska Constitution, based partly upon the 1870
Constitution of Illinois
The Constitution of the State of Illinois is the governing document of the state of Illinois. There have been four Illinois Constitutions; the fourth and current version was adopted in 1970. The current constitution is referred to as the "Constit ...
, was adopted by the constitutional convention on June 12, 1875. This constitution became known as the Grasshopper Constitution, as it coincided with
Albert's swarm
Albert's swarm was an immense concentration of the Rocky Mountain locust that swarmed the Western United States in 1875. It was named after Albert Child, a physician interested in meteorology, who calculated the size of the swarm to by multiplying ...
, an immense concentration of
grasshoppers that invaded the Western United States. The constitution was ratified on October 12, 1875 after it was approved by a popular vote of 30,322 to 5,474, and
came into force on November 1, 1875.
With the addition of 228 amendments since its adoption, including the creation of a
unicameral legislature, the 1875 Nebraska Constitution remains the basic law of the state to this day.
Preamble
The Nebraska Constitution Preamble reads:
: ''We, the people, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, do ordain and establish the following declaration of rights and frame of government, as the Constitution of the State of Nebraska.''
Articles
The constitution consists of eighteen articles, excluding the Preamble.
* Article I – Bill of Rights
* Article II – Distribution of Powers
* Article III – Legislative
* Article IV – Executive
* Article V – Judicial
* Article VI – Suffrage
* Article VII – Education
* Article VIII – Revenue
* Article IX – Counties
* Article X – Public Service Corporations
* Article XI – Municipal Corporations
* Article XII – Miscellaneous Corporations
* Article XIII – State, County, and Municipal Indebtedness
* Article XIV – Militia
* Article XV – Miscellaneous Provisions
* Article XVI – Amendments
* Article XVII – Schedule
* Article XVIII – Term Limits on Congress
See also
*
Nebraska Legislature
References
External links
Current Nebraska Constitution
{{Constitutions of the United States
Legal history of Nebraska
Government of Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska law