CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF IOWA, ADOPTED IN CONVENTION, AT IOWA CITY. MARCH 5TH, A.D. 1857. SUBMITTED TO THE PEOPLE FOR ADOPTION OR REJECTION AT THE ELECTION TO BE HELD IN AUGUST, 1857.
Muscatine, Iowa: Printed by Order of the Constitutional Convention, 1857. 26pp, stitched. Upper blank forecorner clipped on all pages, not affecting any text. Persistent light dampstain at upper quadrant, light scattered foxing. Good+.
Section 23 of Article I, the Bill of Rights, prohibited slavery or involuntary servitude, "unless for the punishment of a crime." Foreigners "shall enjoy the same rights" as native-born citizens to possess and sell property [Article 22]. No analogue to the Federal Constitution's Second Amendment, guaranteeing the right to bear and carry arms, was included. The suffrage was limited to adult white male citizens who satisfied a brief residency requirement.
The referendum approved the Constitution which, with numerous amendments, is today's Constitution of Iowa. "The main drawback of the first Iowa constitution was that it did not allow banks that could print and issue money (these were called 'banks of issue') ... They had no official currency. At one time, over 300 kinds of money circulated in Iowa. When the new Constitution of 1857 was adopted, a new bank with many branches was begun. This was called the State Bank because the state made the rules." [online, from Iowa's department of cultural affairs.]
Not in Cohen. OCLC records nine locations under several accession numbers as of July 2022. Item #38478
Price: $600.00