Jefferson Territory
The Jefferson Territory was illegal and not recognized territory of the United States that existed on February 28, 1861 of 24 October 1859 to the creation of the Colorado Territory. It included a part of the Kansas Territory, of the Nebraska Territory, the New Mexico Territory, of the Utah Territory and Washington Territory, but away from the governments of these five territories. The Government of the Jefferson Territory, although democratically elected, was never legally recognized by the federal government, although it 's territory for 16 months undisturbed managed. Many of the laws enacted by the Jefferson Territorial Legislature were set after the creation of the Colorado Territory in force again and officially approved by the new Colorado General Assembly in 1861.
Origins
On August 25, 1855 created the Kansas Territory to Arapahoe County, a huge County, which included the whole western part of the territory. The boundaries of the Arapahoe County were defined as follows:
Beginning at the northeast corner of New Mexico, the border north to the southern border of Nebraska and northern boundary of Kansas, and from there to the eastern border of Utah Terrtoriums, then along the border between Utah and Kansas Territories to New Mexico and thence back along the border between New Mexico and the Kansas territory to the starting point.
Since the Arapahoe County was inhabited mainly by Cheyenne and Arapaho with only a few white settlers, the County was never organized. A remnant of this County is today, preserved as a Colorado Arapahoe County.
The Pikes Peak Gold Rush began with the discovery of gold in July 1858 at Dry Creek Diggings in Arapahoe County, Kansas Territory to. The gold rush brought prospectors 100,000 in the area, which was known as Pike 's Peak Country and the Arapahoe County included in the Kansas Territory and the unorganized southwestern corner of the Nebraska Territory. The leaders of the Kansas Territory were too busy with the brutal events of Bloody Kansas in the populous eastern part of the territory, so that little time or attention to the needs of the far western part of the territory were present. The U.S. Congress was also employed by the secession of the slave states.
The settlers in the region were trying to organize the Arapahoe County by itself. On March 28, 1859 election was held to select officers for the County. A total of 774 voters cast their votes from, including 231 of 144 Auraria and Denver City, without knowing that the Kansas Territorial Legislature on February 7, 1859 the Arapahoe County into six new unorganized counties. However, when there was no news of the officials of the Kansas Territory, many settlers decided that they should create a separate government.
Foundation
In April 1859 a small convent at Wootton 's Hall was held in Auraria on the need for local government. The name Jefferson was selected and planned a Constitutional Convention obtainable for June 6, 1859. The meeting participants met that day and adjourned until August 1, 1859, where the 37 deputies of districts met to draft a constitution for the State of Jefferson, which was then rejected by referendum on 24 September. The original poster specified on 3 October to hold another convention to draft a provisional constitution for the Jefferson Territory, named in honor of Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the U.S. Constitution. As the third U.S. President Thomas Jefferson authorized the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, which included much of this territory.
The planned Jefferson Territory closed up the entire present-day state of Colorado, but it was more extensive by 70 percent. The territory had the same southern boundary as the present state of Colorado, the 37th parallel, but 138.1 miles ( 222.2 km ) extended further north to latitude 43, about 2.7 miles ( 4.3 km ) further east to the 102 longitude and about 50 miles ( 81 km ) further west to the 110th degree of longitude. The territory was divided into eight local districts and 19 deputies districts.
On October 24, 1859 election was held to rubberstamp the formation of a Provisional Government in Jefferson territory and territorial officials to choose. The formation of a provisional government was approved by a vote of 1852 to 280, and elected the following officers:
On November 7, 1859 Governor Robert W. Steele opened the first session of the Provisional Jefferson Territorial Legislature in Denver City with the following announcement:
Let us then approach the task with a mindset that overcomes all difficulties: work for the benefit of the whole Commonwealth, encourages moderation and conservation in all our laws, that we may be ashamed never a modest part in the organization of a provisional government for the to have made Jefferson territory.
During the first session, the Legislature organized 12 counties. ( The Colorado General Assembly would create 1861 17 counties with approximately the same limits. ) The Legislature adjourned on December 7, 1859.
Many settlers from eastern Kansas preferring to be governed by the territory. Opponents of self-government of the Jefferson Territory held on December 8, 1859 election from where Captain R. Sopris as her deputy for the Kansas territorial legislature was elected.
Governor Steele announced the second session of the Provisional Jefferson Territorial Legislature in Denver City on 23 January 1860.
Many disappointed prospectors left the region in 1860. The U.S. Census of 1860 counted approximately 35,000 people in the region of the Jefferson Territory. Governor Steele emphasized, however, that many prospectors were working in their claims in remote areas and, therefore, estimated the total number of people in the Jefferson Territory to 60,000.
Governor Steele tried to achieve a balance with the officials of the Kansas Territory. On August 7, 1860 Steele made a proclamation in which he sought the merger of the Provisional Government of Jefferson Territory with the Kansas Territory. But the government of Kansas was not ready to unite with something they saw as an illegal government, and so everything remained the same.
On November 7, 1860 Abraham Lincoln ran for the U.S. presidential election a victory, sparking the secession of seven slave states and the formation of the Confederate States. These events destroyed any chance for a federal confirmation of the Jefferson Territory, as well as the chances of Governor Steele, a decided pro- Union Democrats and vociferous opponent of Lincoln and the Republican Party to play a role in the new government.
To strengthen the political power of the free states, the Republicans took the U.S. Congress on January 29, 1861 in a hurry to part of the Kansas Territory east of the 25th degree of longitude as the free State of Kansas into the Union. Kansas ' statehood, leaving the western portion of the Kansas Territory, now extinct, which the Jefferson Territory claimed, officially disorganized. While the federal government formally refused to support the Jefferson Territory, it had effectively recognized the eastern border of the region.
Counties
On November 28, 1859 Jefferson Territory created 12 counties:
Capitals
- Denver City - October 24, 1859 to the November 12, 1860
- Golden City - November 13, 1860 to the June 6, 1861
The most of the administrative affairs of the Jefferson Territory were done in the house of Governor Steele at Mount Vernon and later apex.
Resolution
On February 26, 1861, the U.S. Congress passed a bill for the creation of the Colorado Territory. The bill was signed by U.S. President James Buchanan two days later on 28 February 1861. On May 29, 1861 met William Gilpin, the newly appointed governor of the Colorado Territory, in Denver City. Most citizens of the region welcomed their new government. On June 6, 1861 Governor Steele made an announcement where he declared the dissolution of the Jefferson Territory as well as all workers and residents asked to abide by the applicable laws of the United States.