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Essay On Arizona Statehood

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Arizona Statehood and Constitution
Monica Williams
Grand Canyon University: POS 301
November 20, 2011

Arizona Statehood and Constitution
Part I: Arizona Statehood It is quite a remarkable journey that Arizona embarked upon to make it the forty-eight state of the United States of America. On February 14, 2012 it became an integral part of this new found world of democracy and freedom. Along with its vast cultures and heated temperatures, the architectural design of the city is a pure reflection of the inhabitants who were established here before to make it their own homeland. This essay will examine the road to statehood and analyze the events to make Arizona become a state.
The Preterritorial Period …show more content…

because the need for access to the Pacific Ocean for trading. In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe was signed. For 15 million, Mexico ceded more than one-third of its territory and the U.S. acquired all of Arizona north of the Gila River (McClory, 2001). Unfortunately, southern Arizona still was in control by Mexico, which included Tucson. Arizona and New Mexico became one territory called the Territory of New Mexico. Soon after, the United States paid another 10 million for 30,000 square miles of the Mexican territory that included Tucson. Congress thought the purchase was meaningless because it was just desert land. The Gadsden Purchase gave the final boundary that Arizona has today. In 1860, along with the constitution, a governor and other elected officials were established. That was unfortunately short lived because of the Civil War. In 1862, Union troops entered the state and placed it under martial rule, this action further delayed Arizona’s official admission as a state (McClory, 2011).
The Territorial Period Congress finally pushed for Arizona to have separate territorial status because of the discovery of precious metals. On February, 24, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Organic Act, which officially created Arizona’s territory (McClory, 2001). The first official governor, John Goodwin, took the oath of office on December 29, 1863. Prescott became the capital in 1864, then to Tucson (1867), then back to Prescott

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