The Papers Of Thirteen Early Ohio Political Leaders

The second edition of The Ohio State Constitution begins with a detailed summary and analysis of the history of the Ohio Constitution, including the pre-statehood Northwest Ordinance of 1787 (i.e., the Northwest Ordinance), the adoption of the 1802 Constitution, which resulted in Ohio's admission as the 17th state in the Union, and the adoption of the 1851 Constitution, Ohio's current constitution. In-depth attention is given to the 34 amendments that have their origins in the work of the Progressive-era 1912 Constitutional Convention, which proposed the initiative and referendum, and the home rule amendment. The historical commentary also covers the modern efforts to use commissions to revise the constitution, and the emergence of the new judicial federalism in Ohio. In Part Two, the book contains detailed commentaries on each of the 220+ sections of the constitution, and the commentary on each of the 19 Articles begins with an article-specific introductory essay.

Arthur St. Clair, Governor of the Northwest Territory, warned friends in Congress that the frontier settlers of Ohio were too indigent and ignorant to form a constitution and government for themselves. This is the story of the men who proved him wrong. The author describes the beginning of Ohio through the lives of its founding fathers. Founding fathers include the thirty-five delegates to the convention held in Chillicothe in November, 1802, which decided that Ohio should become a state and then drafted its first constitution, as well as twenty additional men whose activities before and after the convention round out the story of the state's beginning. Revolutionary War veterans, Indian fighters, eastern aristocrats, Appalachian mountain men, and immigrants from Scotland, Ireland, and England combined their talents to lay the foundation for one of the greatest states in the nation.

The Federalist Frontier traces the development of Federalist policies and the Federalist Party in the first three states of the Northwest Territory—Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois—from the nation’s first years until the rise of the Second Party System in the 1820s and 1830s. Relying on government records, private correspondence, and newspapers, Kristopher Maulden argues that Federalists originated many of the policies and institutions that helped the young United States government take a leading role in the American people’s expansion and settlement westward across the Appalachians. It was primarily they who placed the U.S. Army at the fore of the white westward movement, created and executed the institutions to survey and sell public lands, and advocated for transportation projects to aid commerce and further migration into the region. Ultimately, the relationship between government and settlers evolved as citizens raised their expectations of what the federal government should provide, and the region embraced transportation infrastructure and innovation in public education. Historians of early American politics will have a chance to read about Federalists in the Northwest, and they will see the early American state in action in fighting Indians, shaping settler understandings of space and social advancement, and influencing political ideals among the citizens. For historians of the early American West, Maulden’s work demonstrates that the origins of state-led expansion reach much further back in time than generally understood.

Recounts the arrival in Ohio of Iroquois-speaking Indians, the entry of white fur traders and missionaries, the slaughter and expulsion of the Indians, and settlement by New Englanders and others.

For more than 200 years no institution has been more important to the development of the American democratic polity than the state legislature, yet no political institution has been so neglected by historians. Although more lawmaking takes place in the state capitals than in Washington D.C., scholars have lavished their attention on Congress, producing only a handful of histories of state legislatures. Most of those histories have focused on discrete legislative acts rather than on legislative process, and all have slighted key aspects of the legislative environment: the parliamentary rules of play, the employees who make the game possible, the physical setting--the arena--in which the people's representatives engage in conflict and compromise to create public policy. This book relates in fascinating detail the history of the Ohio General Assembly from its eighteenth-century origins in the Northwest Territory to its twenty-first-century incarnation as a full-time professional legislature. Democracy in Session explains the constitutional context within which the General Assembly functions, examines the evolution of legislative committees, and explores the impact of technology on political contests and legislative procedure. It sheds new light on the operations of the House and Senate clerks' offices and on such legislative rituals as seat selection, opening prayers, and the Pledge of Allegiance. Partisan issues and public policy receive their due, but so do ethics and decorum, the election of African American and female legislators, the statehouse, and the social life of the members. Democracy in Session is, in short, the most comprehensive history of a state legislature written to date and an important contribution to the story of American democracy.

"This research guide describes Ohio sources for family history and genealogical research. It also includes extensive footnotes and bibliographies, addresses of repositories that house Ohio historical and genealogical records and oral histories, and addresses of chapters of the Ohio Genealogical Society. Valuable Ohio maps conclude this work ... This new edition describes many Ohio sources on the Internet and compact discs, as well as additional genealogical and historical sources and bibliographies of Ohio sources"--Preface.

Although William Henry Harrison died a month after becoming President, he lived a full and accomplished life before assuming the presidency. As a member of Congress, he sponsored legislation dividing the Northwest Territory. As governor of the Indiana Territory, he led a movement to suspend the provisions of the Northwest Ordinance and earned a reputation for acquiring large land cessions from the Indian tribes, winning the affection of white settlers and the animosity of Native Americans. Serving as brigadier general during the War of 1812, he then served in the Ohio legislature and the U.S. Senate, and was named minister to Colombia. This bibliography provides a guide to the literature on his extensive career.