No other territory in the United States has had requests for statehood denied or ignored by Congress as many times as Utah. Utah's territorial government unsuccessfully applied for statehood six times before the Constitutional Convention of 1895. To Congress, Utah was un-American for several reasons, including
theocracy, economy, polygamy, and slavery.
1849 constitution and the actual border for the
Territory of Utah. The first attempt at a constitution was initially just to govern a territory, but leaders decided to apply for statehood instead in hopes of attaining greater autonomy, as territorial leaders would have been appointed by the United States President. The
Council of Fifty, a political council originally established by Joseph Smith, produced the initial Constitution for the provisional
State of Deseret. The Constitution was made up of eight articles and a preamble defining the proposed boundaries. The articles established three branches of government, limited voting rights to white men, and mentioned the separation of church as well as the freedom of religion. Slavery was not mentioned. The provisions on religion were written to persuade congress that the state would not be a Latter-day Saint theocracy. Stephen A. Douglas presented the proposed Constitution before Congress, and
John M. Bernhisel and
Thomas L. Kane lobbied Congress for Utah statehood. While its request for statehood was denied, Utah did become a United States territory as part of the
Compromise of 1850, and
President Millard Fillmore appointed Brigham Young, who was still the president of the church, to be the governor of the territory. The territory's borders were considerably smaller than what was proposed, but still spanned across present-day Utah, Nevada, and a small portion of Colorado. At the time of application, United States Congress was busy trying to resolve the issue of slavery, but Utah's small population also contributed to its denial of statehood, as a minimum number of 60,000 eligible voters was a standard benchmark in creating a new state and Utah only had around 11,380 residents.
1856 constitution Discontent between the people of Utah and their federally appointed government leaders and judges contributed to another attempt at gaining statehood. This time, the people of Utah faced obstacles much greater than just having a small population; Two of the major roadblocks to statehood were the practices of
slavery and
polygamy, what
Republicans referred to as the
twin relics of barbarism. In 1852, Latter-day Saints openly acknowledged the practice of polygamy within the territory, igniting nationwide hostilities against them. Utah had also voted to become a slave territory in 1852 and remained one until Congress prohibited slavery in all U.S. territories in 1862. The statehood application was rejected, and President
James Buchanan went on to accuse Brigham Young of being a theocratic dictator in Utah and stirring up an insurrection. Thousands of federal troops were sent to depose Young, leading to the
Utah War, and resulted in
Alfred Cumming replacing Young as the territorial governor. However, Brigham Young, still president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, retained great power in the Mormon-dominant population of Utah.
1862 constitution A third Constitution, virtually the same as the previous two, was sent to Congress and denied in 1862. That same year, Congress passed the
Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act, which penalized anyone married to more than one spouse, disincorporated the Church, and limited the amount of property the Church could possess to $50,000. These measures were not thoroughly enforced. The Utah legislature sent a slightly-altered version of the Constitution to Congress in 1867, but it was ignored.
1872 constitution By 1870, Utah had gained a population of over 86,000, despite having lost territory to the new state of Nevada. The demographics of the territory had changed as other people began pouring in, primarily because of mining opportunities in the
Wasatch Mountains. In 1872 a constitutional convention was held to draw up a brand new constitution for the state of Deseret, one that could gain support from the increasing non-Mormon population. Beginning in the 1860's, Brigham Young pushed for Latter-day Saints to become more economically self-sufficient, which led to boycotts of non-Mormon businesses, adding to existing tensions. The 1872 iteration of the constitution was more complex than the previous versions, having based much of it on Nevada's constitution. Utah had voted to allow women voting rights in 1870, and this constitution protected voting rights for men and women over the age of twenty-one. Legislation regarding education would be impartial to all, regardless of gender, citizenship-status, race, or religion. Slavery was officially outlawed, jury trial provisions amended, a state prison established, institutions for the disabled would be supported by the state, lending state money to companies and corporations would be prohibited, and the roster for voter-elected state officials would be expanded. A provision was also attached that, if the draft was accepted, allowed Congress to prescribe a condition of admission, possibly leaving room for the subject of polygamy to be debated later, though the
Deseret News, a newspaper published by the church, denied the notion of giving up polygamy for statehood. Further, Congress' imposed provision would have to be approved in a territorial election, which was unlikely. This convention was held just after the passage of the
Edmunds Act, which strengthened the enforcement of the anti-polygamy laws in effect from the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act. Once again, the draft failed in a congress committee. By this time, the Non-Mormon
Liberal Party was actively opposing statehood, as it would give voting power to the Mormon electorate instead of having officials chosen by the federal government. In June 1887, the
People's Party, composed mostly of Latter-day Saints, joined with the Liberal, Republican, and
Democratic parties to draft another constitution, with great resistance from the Liberal party. The new draft included an anti-polygamy provision, while church leaders still clung to the practice. The new draft included provisions to veto parts of a bill, ten-year tax exemption status for mines, individual and corporate irrigation facilities would not be taxed, and strict limits on local government debt. Once again, the draft failed in congressional committee. In 1890,
Wilford Woodruff, the fourth President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, issued a
manifesto in which the practice of polygamy was prohibited in the Utah territory. In the following years, the People's Party and the Liberal Party would disband. Church leaders were working with national Republican officials on progressing towards statehood. == Enabling Act of 1894 ==