WHEREAS, the people of the Territory of Iowa did, on the seventh
day of October, eighteen hundred and forty-four, by a convention of
delegates called and assembled for that purpose, form for themselves
a constitution and State government; and whereas, the people of the
Territory of Florida did, in like manner, by their delegates, on the
eleventh day of January, eighteen hundred and thirty-nine, form for
themselves a constitution and State government, both of which said
constitutions are republican; and said conventions having asked the
admission of their respective Territories into the Union as States,
on equal footing with the original States;
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That the States of
Iowa and Florida be, and the same are hereby, declared to be States
of the United States of America, and are hereby admitted into the
Union on equal footing with the original States, in all respects
whatsoever.
SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the following shall
be the boundaries of the said State of Iowa, to wit: Beginning at the
mouth of the Des Moines river, at the middle of the Mississippi,
thence by the middle of the channel of that river to a parallel of
latitude passing through the mouth of the Mankato or Blue-Earth
river, thence west along the said parallel of latitude to a point
where it is intersected by a meridian line, seventeen degrees and
thirty minutes west of the meridian of Washington city, thence due
south to the northern boundary line of the State of Missouri, thence
eastwardly following that boundary to the point at which the same
intersects the Des Moines river, thence by the middle of the channel
of that river to the place of beginning.
SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the said State of
Iowa shall have concurrent jurisdiction on the river Mississippi, and
every other river bordering on the said State of Iowa, so far as the
said rivers shall form a common boundary to said State, and any other
State or States now or hereafter to be formed or bounded by the same:
Such rivers to be common to both: And that the said river
Mississippi, and the navigable waters leading into the same, shall be
common highways, and forever free as well to the inhabitants of said
State, as to all other citizens of the United States, without any
tax, duty, impost, or toll therefor, imposed by the said State of
Iowa.
SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That it is made and
declared to be a fundamental condition of the admission of said State
of Iowa into the Union, that so much of this act as relates to the
said State of Iowa shall be assented to by a majority of the
qualified electors at their township elections, in the manner and at
the time prescribed in the sixth section of the thirteenth article of
the constitution adopted at Iowa city the first day of November, anno
Domini eighteen hundred and forty-four, or by the legislature of said
State. And as soon as such assent shall be given, the President of
the United States shall announce the same by proclamation; and
therefrom and without further proceedings on the part of Congress,
the admission of the said State of Iowa into the Union, on an equal
footing in all respects whatever with the original States, shall be
considered as complete.
SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That said State of
Florida shall embrace the territories of East and West Florida, which
by the treaty of amity, settlement and limits between the United
States and Spain, on the twenty-second day of February, eighteen
hundred and nineteen, were ceded to the United States.
Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That until the next
census and apportionment shall be made, each of said States of Iowa
and Florida shall be entitled to one representative in the House of
Representatives of the United States.
Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That said States of
Iowa and Florida are admitted into the Union on the express condition
that they shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the
public lands lying within them, nor levy any tax on the same whilst
remaining the property of the United States: Provided, That the
ordinance of the convention that formed the constitution of Iowa, and
which is appended to the said constitution, shall not be deemed or
taken to have any effect or validity, or to be recognized as in any
manner obligatory upon the Government of the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That the laws of
the United States, which are not locally inapplicable, shall have the
same force and effect within the State of Iowa as elsewhere within
the United States.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said State
shall be one district, and be called the district of Iowa; and a
district court shall be held therein, to consist of one judge, who
shall reside in the said district, and be called a district judge. He
shall hold, at the seat of government of the said State, two sessions
of the said district court annually, on the first Monday in January,
and he shall, in all things, have and exercise the same jurisdiction
and powers which were by law given to the judge of the Kentucky
district, under an act entitled "An act to establish the judicial
courts of the United States." He shall appoint a clerk for the said
district, who shall reside and keep the records of the said court at
the place of holding the same; and shall receive, for the services
performed by him, the same fees to which the clerk of the Kentucky
district is by law entitled for similar services.
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That there shall be
allowed to the judge of the said district court the annual
compensation of fifteen hundred dollars, to commence from the date of
his appointment, to be paid quarterly at the treasury of the United
States.
Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That there shall be
appointed in the said district, a person learned in the law, to act
as attorney for the United States; who shall, in addition to his
stated fees, be paid annually by the United States two hundred
dollars, as a full compensation for all extra services: the said
payments to be made quarterly, at the treasury of the United States.
Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That a marshal shall be
appointed for the said district, who shall perform the same duties,
be subject to the same regulations and penalties, and be entitled to
the same fees, as are prescribed and allowed to marshals in other
districts; and shall, moreover, be entitled to the sum of two hundred
dollars annually, as a compensation for all extra services.
Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That in lieu of the
propositions submitted to the Congress of the United States, by an
ordinance passed on the first day of November, eighteen hundred and
forty-four, by the convention of delegates at Iowa city, assembled
for the purpose of making a constitution for the State of Iowa, which
are hereby rejected, the following propositions be, and the same are
hereby, offered to the legislature of the State of Iowa, for their
acceptance or rejection; which, if accepted, under the authority
conferred on the said legislature, by the convention which framed the
constitution of the said State, shall be obligatory upon the United
States:
First. That section numbered sixteen in every township of the
public lands, and, where such section has been sold or otherwise
disposed of, other lands equivalent thereto, and as contiguous as may
be, shall be granted to the State for the use of schools.
Second. That the seventy-two sections of land set apart and
reserved for the use and support of a university, by an act of
Congress approved on the twentieth day of July, eighteen hundred and
forty, entitled "An act granting two townships of land for the use of
a university in the Territory of Iowa," are hereby granted and
conveyed to the State, to be appropriated solely to the use and
support of such university, in such manner as the legislature may
prescribe.
Third. That five entire sections of land, to be selected and
located under the direction of the legislature, in legal divisions of
not less than one quarter section, from any of the unappropriated
lands belonging to the United States within the said State, are
hereby granted to the State for the purpose of completing the public
buildings of the said State, or for the erection of public buildings
at the seat of government of the said State, as the legislature may
determine and direct.
Fourth. That all salt springs within the State, not exceeding
twelve in number, with six sections of land adjoining, or as
contiguous as may be to each, shall be granted to the said State for
its use; the same to be selected by the legislature thereof, within
one year after the admission of said State, and the same, when so
selected, to be used on such terms, conditions, and regulations, as
the legislature of the State shall direct: Provided, That no salt
spring, the right whereof is now vested in any individual or
individuals, or which may hereafter be confirmed or adjudged to any
individual or individuals, shall, by this section, be granted to said
State: And provided, also, That the General Assembly shall never
lease or sell the same, at any one time, for a longer period than ten
years, without the consent of Congress.
Fifth. That five per cent. of the net proceeds of sales of all
public lands lying within the said State, which have been, or shall
be sold by Congress, from and after the admission of said State,
after deducting all the expenses incident to the same, shall be
appropriated for making public roads and canals within the said
State, as the legislature may direct: Provided, That the five
foregoing propositions herein offered are on the condition that the
legislature of the said State, by virtue of the powers conferred upon
it by the convention which framed the constitution of the said State,
shall provide, by an ordinance, irrevocable without the consent of
the United States, that the said State shall never interfere with the
primary disposal of the soil within the same by the United States,
nor with any regulations Congress may find necessary for securing the
title in such soil to the bona fide purchasers thereof; and that no
tax shall be imposed on lands the property of the United States; and
that in no case shall non-resident proprietors to be taxed higher
than residents; and that the bounty lands granted, or hereafter to be
granted, for military services during the late war, shall, while they
continue to be held by the patentees or their heirs, remain exempt
from any tax laid by order or under the authority of the State,
whether for State, county, township, or any other purpose, for the
term of three years from and after the date of the patents,
respectively.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That the following
shall be, and they are hereby, declared to be the boundaries of the
State of Iowa, in lieu of those prescribed by the second section of
the act of the third of March, eighteen hundred and forty-five,
entitled "An Act for the Admission of the States of Iowa and Florida
into the Union," viz. Beginning in the middle of the main channel of
the Mississippi River, at a point due east of the middle of the mouth
of the main channel of the Des Moines River; thence up the middle of
the main channel of the said Des Moines River, to a point on said
river where the northern boundary line of the State of Missouri, as
established by the constitution of that State, adopted June twelfth,
eighteen hundred and twenty, crosses the said middle of the main
channel of the said Des Moines River; thence, westwardly, along the
said northern boundary line of the State of Missouri, as established
at the time aforesaid, until an extension of said line intersect the
middle of the main channel of the Missouri River; thence, up the
middle of the main channel of the said Missouri River, to a point
opposite the middle of the main channel of the Big Sioux River,
according to Nicollet's map; thence, up the main channel of the said
Big Sioux River, according to said map, until it is intersected by
the parallel of forty-three degrees and thirty minutes north
latitude; thence east, along said parallel of forty-three degrees and
thirty minutes, until said parallel intersect the middle of the main
channel of the Mississippi River; thence, down the middle of the main
channel of said Mississippi River, to the place of beginning.
Sec. 2. { { { { {
Sec. 3. { { { { {
Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That so much of the act
of the third of March, eighteen hundred and forty-five, entitled "An
Act for the Admission of the States of Iowa and Florida into the
Union," relating to the said State of Iowa, as is inconsistent with
the provisions of this act, be and the same is hereby repealed. [9
Stat. L. 52]
Whereas, the people of the Territory of Iowa did, on the
eighteenth day of May, anno Domini eighteen hundred and forty-six, by
a convention of delegates called and assembled for that purpose, form
for themselves a constitution and State government -- which
constitution is republican in its character and features -- and said
convention has asked admission of the said Territory into the Union
as a State, on an equal footing with the original States, in
obedience to "An Act for the Admission of the States of Iowa and
Florida into the Union," approved March third, eighteen hundred
forty-five [5 Stat. L. 742, 743.], and "An Act to define the
Boundaries of the State of Iowa, and to repeal so much of the Act of
the third of March, one thousand eight hundred and forty-five as
relates to the Boundaries of Iowa," which said last act was approved
August fourth, anno Domini eighteen hundred and forty-six [9 Stat. L.
52.]; Therefore--
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That the State of
Iowa shall be one, and is hereby declared to be one, of the United
States of America, and admitted into the Union on an equal footing
with the original States in all respects whatsoever.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That all the provisions
of "An Act supplemental to the Act for the Admission of the States of
Iowa and Florida into the Union," approved March third, eighteen
hundred and forty-five [5 Stat. L. 788-790.], be, and the same are
hereby declared to continue and remain in full force as applicable to
the State of Iowa, as hereby admitted and received into the Union.
Approved, December 28, 1846. [9 Stat. L. 117.]
Section 1. Be it enacted and ordained by the General
Assembly of the State of Iowa, That the propositions to the State
of Iowa on her admission into the Union, made by the act of Congress,
entitled "An act supplemental to the act for the admission of the
States of Iowa and Florida into the Union," approved March 3, 1845,
and which are contained in the sixth section of that act, are hereby
accepted in lieu of the propositions submitted to Congress by an
ordinance, passed on the first day of November, eighteen hundred and
forty-four, by the convention of delegates which assembled at Iowa
City on the first Monday of October, eighteen hundred and forty-four,
for the purpose of forming a Constitution for said State, and which
were rejected by Congress: Provided, The General Assembly shall
have the right, in accordance with the provisions of the second
section of the tenth article of the Constitution of Iowa, to
appropriate the five percent. of the net proceeds of sales of all
public lands lying within the State, which have been or shall be sold
by Congress from and after the admission of said State, after
deducting all expenses incident to the same, to the support of common
schools.
Section 2. And be it further enacted and ordained, as
conditions of the grants specified in the propositions first
mentioned in the foregoing section, irrevocable and unalterable
without the consent of the United States, that the State of Iowa will
never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil within the same
by the United States, nor with any regulations Congress may find
necessary for securing the title in such soil to the bona fide
purchasers thereof; and that no tax shall be imposed on lands, the
property of the United States; and that in no case shall non-resident
proprietors be taxed higher than residents; and that the bounty lands
granted, or hereafter to be granted, for military services during the
late war with Great Britain, shall, while they continue to be held by
the patentees or their heirs, remain exempt from any tax laid by
order or under the authority of the State, whether for State, County,
Township, or other purposes, for the term of three years from and
after the dates of the patents respectively.
Section 3. It is hereby made the duty of the Secretary of
State, after the taking effect of this act, to forward one copy of
the same to each of our Senators and Representatives in Congress, who
are hereby required to procure the consent of Congress to the
diversion of the five per cent. fund indicated in the proviso to the
first section of this act.
Section 4. This act shall take effect from and after its
publication in the weekly newspapers printed in Iowa City.