Arizona Statehoodv and Constitution

I found our reading this week to be very informative and interesting. Arizona’s Constitution just like the U.S. Constitution has pros and cons. “Arizona, like many Western states, adopted referendum, recall, and initiative in the early 20th century. Twenty-four states have a referendum provision of some kind, and many states have referendum, recall, and initiative expressly called for in their state constitution” (Potts, D., 2012). When amending the Arizona Constitution it involves a few steps, such as; “first, the amendment must be formally proposed in one of three different ways: (1) the voters can propose amendments using the constitutional initiative process; (2) the legislature can propose amendments using the constitutional referendum

The United States Constitution and Nevada constitution are important for the citizens of Nevada. For many, the first thought of the word constitution is often associated with the United States Constitution. The word constitution is often a document of fundamental principles according to not just the United States, but states, corporations, and organizations. The Nevada constitution is the law that governs the people of Nevada and the United States Constitution applies to all states in the union. Despite them both being constitutions, the United States Constitution and the Nevada constitution have many differences and similarities.

As the United States progressed, it grew in size, reaching to its full continental area by 1850. At first, only a few people came through, trappers, and missionaries. Later came white settlers to see what else the United States had to offer. As this happened, territories began to form. There

Back in 2007 there were several concerns over immigration as a whole and exploding proportions of illegal immigrants crossing the border in the Arizona area. Arizona attempted to resolve the influx of people across the border by imposing heavy fines on employers hiring illegal immigrants. At that time in Arizona there was a democratic governor Janet Napolitano that continually vetoed the Arizona’s legislature attempt to reduce illegal immigration. In 2009 the state replaced the Democratic governor with a Republican governor Jan Brewer who was supportive of reforms for immigration in Arizona. In 2010 the immigration problem was so sever that Arizona passed legislation allowing the state to enforce federal law for identification of legal immigration into the United States. This sparked a nation wide discussion on illegal immigration and immigration reform.

Going into the 17th century, many territories started to join the United States of America. Indiana was the 19th state to be admitted into the union on December 11, 1816 and still exists today. The French first discovered Indiana in 1679, but later was taken over by George Rogers Clark who led the American army in the Revolutionary War. Indiana became a very agricultural state majoring in growing corn. With its ample history, Indiana has transformed from a dull state to a thriving state in the Mid-West.

When the constitution was written, the idea of universal suffrage was too radical for our founding fathers to address. They decided to leave the states with the authority to decide the requirements for voting. (Janda) By allowing the states to decide who voted, the authors had not intended for each state's discriminations to prevent the country from maintaining true democracy. However, by not setting up a nationwide regulation, the authors launched the country into a century and a half long fight for freedom and equality for all.

Because of the principles of direct democracy, the Arizona’s Constitution was created. With direct democracy citizens were responsible for governing themselves, not the elected representatives. America’s founders felt that direct democracy was impractical and unwise when they wrote the United Constitution in 1787. Although, the Progressive movement believed the government was no good and the only way to restore a fair government was to give power to the citizens. They struggle for the adoption of the initiative, citizens did not have to get permission from officials establish their own statues and constitutional measures; they needed 15% vote to get on ballot. Adoption of referendum, citizens could reject statues and constitutional measures adopted by official; they needed majority vote by Legislature to get on ballot, with the adoption of recall, official could be removed from office before the end of their term; they needed 25% to call a recall election. Finally, at the peak of the Progressive Movement Arizona became a state. The reasons the

The Constitution of the State of Texas is the document representing the structure and function of the Texas government. The current Constitution took effect on February 15, 1876 and is the sixth Constitution in the history of Texas. When first constructed, the Texas Constitution was a poorly organized document that did not explain clearly the responsibility for government actions. Since its conception (through June 2011), there have been 646 proposed amendments and 476 adopted amendments added to this document. The Texas Constitution is also highly restrictive; it only grants enumerated powers to the State of Texas and does not allow for implied powers. The constant change to this Constitution has added to its poor organized condition that is extremely difficult to understand, even by the courts.

After the Midwest had been substantially developed, the national focus turned toward the far west. The territory of Texas, controlled by the Spanish, was settled by Americans, who eventually undertook the Texas Rebellion in efforts to win independence. When the United States admitted Texas to the Union in 1845, the Mexican government was outraged, and from 1846 to 1848, the two nation's squared off in the Mexican War. With a resounding victory, the United States gained control of Texas, New Mexico, and California. The Oregon territory was annexed in 1846 as well, and the US controlled the land all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

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).

One of the laws created in the Compromise of 1850 was allowing California to be a free state. This allowed other territories including Utah and New Mexico to be determined by popular sovereignty (Doc

As soon as Arizona achieved statehood in 1912, Arizona women’s suffrage supporters began an initiative campaign for women’s suffrage. The key here was that the new state constitution included the people’s power to make laws by initiative and referendum. Supporters filed enough petitions to place women’s suffrage on the ballot, and both Republicans and Democrats supported the initiative. The Democratic support was far more important however, because of the extreme Democratic dominance in the state. Suffrage passed overwhelmingly in November of 1912, carrying every county (Kelly 8).

Arizona’s historical development dates back to thousands of years ago. Arizona holds the second largest amount of indigenous/ Native American population of any other state in the United States. One of the first groups of people to live on Arizona’s land was the Native Americans, or otherwise called the American Indians. These Natives came much before any of the Europeans, or the Spanish settlers came to Arizona. There were three main Native American groups that truly began the exploration of Arizona. These groups include the Anasazi, Hohokam, and Mogollon tribes. Each of their tribes settled in different sections of Arizona ranging from Northeastern to Southeastern parts of the land.

Arizona continues to add jobs at a very fast pace, comparing the 2nd quarter of 2012 to the same quarter in 2013. During the last year, hospitality, leisure, and construction added the most employment with each one increasing by over 10,000 positions (Hammond, 2013). Health services, professional and business services, financial activities, and education are in the top five and represent 85% of job gains. Arizona’s economy is still making very solid economic growth and continues to improve (Hammond, 2013).

You are sitting in your social studies class, bored to death. As your teacher rambles on, your eyes turn to a map of the united states on the wall in need of mental stimulation. It is a big map and satisfying to look at. You examine the borders and wonder why there are as many as there are. Mildly interested, you ask your teacher why we don't have more states than we do. He tells you to not ask questions in the middle of a lesson. But you are still a little curious. We haven't admitted a state to the US since the addition Alaska and Hawaii in 1959. That was about 58 years ago. There was a time when generations saw multiple new state additions in their lifetimes, so how come we still have 50 stars on our flag? Will there be another American