Arkansas Territory Arkansaw Territory (renamed Arkansas Territory, circa 1822) was split from the
Missouri Territory on July 4, 1819. As territorial secretary from 1819 to 1829,
Robert Crittenden served as
acting governor whenever the appointed governor was not in the state. This meant that Crittenden was the first person to perform the duties of governor, since
James Miller did not arrive in the territory until nine months after his appointment.
State of Arkansas Arkansas was
admitted to the Union on June 15, 1836. The state
seceded on May 6, 1861, and was
admitted to the Confederacy on May 18, 1861. When
Little Rock, the state capital, was captured on September 10, 1863, the state government relocated to
Washington, Arkansas, and a
Union government was installed in its place, causing an overlap in the terms of Confederate governor
Harris Flanagin and Union governor
Isaac Murphy. The
Arkansas Constitution of 1836 established four-year terms for governors, which was lowered to two years in the 1874, and current, constitution. An amendment in 1984 increased the terms of both governor and
lieutenant governor to four years. Governors were originally limited only to serving no more than eight out of every twelve years, Until 1864, the constitutions provided that, should the office of governor be rendered vacant, the
president of the senate would serve as
acting governor until such time as a new governor was elected or the disability removed, or the acting governor's senate term expired. This led to some situations where the governorship changed hands in quick succession, due to senate terms ending or new senate presidents being elected. For example, after
John Sebastian Little resigned in 1907, 3 senate presidents acted as governors before the next elected governor took office. Should the president of the senate be similarly incapacitated, the next in line for the governorship was the speaker of the state house of representatives. The 1864 constitution created the office of lieutenant governor who would also act as president of the senate, and who would serve as acting governor in case of vacancy. The 1868 constitution maintained the position, but the 1874 constitution removed it and returned to the original line of succession. An amendment to the constitution, passed in 1914 but not recognized until 1925, The governor and the lieutenant governor are not officially elected on the same
ticket. Arkansas was a strongly
Democratic state before the
Civil War, electing only candidates from the Democratic party. It elected three
Republican governors following Reconstruction, but after the Democratic Party re-established control, 92 years passed before voters chose another Republican. ==Timeline==