"The issue of 'new states' in the Great American Sahara had existed for some time. By the 1888 presidential election, three separate territories had written constitutions and applied for statehood. One thing basically every party agreed on was the admission of these new states, and Garfield pledged to admit all three after the election. Soon enough, it was, in fact, after the election. But even though it had broad support in Congress, broad support among the people, and overwhelming support out west, Congress delayed any admissions.
For once, the reason wasn't due to gridlock but to timing. You see, they had waited so long on the three territories that now another three were in the process of writing constitutions and were preparing to ask for admission. So, Congress waited out 1889 and went on recess. By the time they returned in 1890, the 'Frontier States Admission Act' had arrived in committee. Originally, it was set to admit Washington, Grant, North Dakota, South Dakota, Yellowstone, Adams, and Utah. That last state,
Utah, caused problems in the early bill-making process. Many were unwilling to support Utah statehood for the time being due to some anti-Mormon attitudes. After all, the territory had just banned polygamy mere weeks before applying to join the Union. After a couple months, Utah's admission was dropped from the Act, and it left the committee in May. Yeah, May.
When the Great Panic began and Congress fell into total gridlock, purges, and disarray, the Frontier States Admission Act was quickly lost to the chaos. Once again, admission was delayed. After the Great Strike and a newfound growing distrust of populists, support for admission died down again, as many in the proposed states shared populist sympathies. At the end of the day, the Act wasn't much of a concern during the midterm elections and was again forgotten.
All hope of being admitted before 1892 seemed lost. That was until an unlikely savior arrived. President Grant came out in vocal and passionate support of the Frontier States Admission Act in 1891. He reasoned that by thrusting his weight onto the hopeless bill, he could gain support in the Great Plains. It worked; farmers quickly rallied around the president and renewed their push in Congress.
In a rare moment of bipartisanship, James Weaver and the populists presented the bill to the House floor. It passed 298–41. (Only a small contingent of Liberals are voting no.) It soon reached the Senate and was approved by a similar margin, and President Grant happily signed the bill into law on August 2, 1891. All six of the new states were to be admitted on July 4th, 1892."
from
How Each State Made It Through the Political Hurdle
by Rosie Garby, published in 2002
"The six states admitted via the 'Frontier States Admission Act', were Washington, Grant, North Dakota, South Dakota, Yellowstone, and Adams! Here is a brief description of All Six's journey to statehood!
Washington—The Northern Oregon Territory had been vying for statehood for some time. Initially, he wrote a constitution in the 1870s. By the time of the 1890s, the Washington Territory had become ripe with loggers, and the land was politically controlled by Liberals. Primarily bankrolled by Liberal businessmen in Seattle using the Territory status to bend some rules. Washington was by far the least populist state entering the Union in 1892.
Grant: 'The Rocky State' is made up of mostly mountainous terrain. The Grant Territory was split from the Adams and Idaho territories in 1885 after a referendum was held among the people living in the rocky parts of both territories who felt disconnected from the flatland territorial administrations, arguing that the geographical difference made it hard for the politicians to understand their plight. Many freedmen had moved to the Grant territory after the discovery of gold in the region soon after the admission of Lincoln. It was these freedmen who suggested the name Grant for the new territory. It would stick, moving into statehood. Grant has a strong Republican, Populist, and even Freedmen party all within its borders.
North/South Dakota: What used to be the large 'Dakota Territory' was split up by the 'Frontier States Admission Act'. This was due to another referendum. The North and South were quite different, and many feared that such a large state in terms of size would be difficult to govern. The North is a political safehaven for the populist movement, while the South has near-total Republican dominance.
Yellowstone: Named for the national park of the same name. Yellowstone is unique among the rest of the 92' states for its demand to the Federal Government in exchange for admission. Yellowstone Territory allowed women the right to vote. The state refused entry into the Union if this provision was not carried over. Considering it's miniscule size, most people in Congress didn't care, and Yellowstone became known as the 'Equality State.'
Adams-Adams Territory used to be known as Montana Territory. It was named such for the rocky mountains in its west; however, after almost all of those mountains joined the new Grant Territory, the name no longer seemed very fitting. After the assassination of President Adams in 1888, Montana Territory officially changed its name to the 'Adams Territory'. Not only in honor of JQA II but also in honor of all four Adams presidents. Ironically, for being so commemorative of famed Liberal leaders, the Liberals didn't have a very large presence in the Adams Territory. Instead, populists and Republicans had free speech.
Idaho- Idaho? What on earth is an Idaho, you might be saying? Well, Idaho used to be a territory in the US and applied for statehood along with the other states previously mentioned. Like the Montana Territory, Idaho lost a lot of its land to the Grant Territory. After this loss, Idaho Territory became even more obscure. When it applied for statehood, Congress had other plans; they hoped to carve the territory up instead. This was a compromise. Idaho was full of Chinese immigrants and populists, and as they were already admitting multiple populist states, they saw no use in admitting a small state that would produce two radical senators. So the Frontier States Admission Act split the territory between Grant, Oregon, Nevada, and Yellowstone. Most people in Idaho were unhappy, but there wasn't much they could do."
from the States of Our Union
By Jack Kirk, published in 1988
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HERE'S A BASIC MAP OF THE NEW STATES. (Minus Nevada and Oregon, they were already in the Union just gaining land.)
I'll do the Sequoyah stuff next chapter. I wanna try and mad dash to the 1892 Election so here's hoping we can get through the Grant Chapter and Conventions by the weekend!
