Oklahoma Journeys
Week of September 2, 2007
Constitution for State of Sequoyah Accepted
Two states are better than one this week on Oklahoma Journeys. Before Oklahoma became a state it was made up of two territories Oklahoma and Indian. As the territories grew in population and statehood became a possibility, many people thought that the two territories should become two states and that story is the topic of this week's Oklahoma Journeys: Celebrating our Centennial from the Oklahoma Historical Society.
From the Oklahoma Historical Society, this is Oklahoma Journeys: Celebrating our Centennial. I'm Michael Dean.
What is today Oklahoma was at one time Indian Territory, with ongoing white encroachment a separate region, Oklahoma Territory. By 1905 Oklahoma Territory consisted of the western half of the present state and Indian Territory occupied the eastern half. For almost eighteen years between 1889 and 1907, these twin territories, as they were called, existed side by side. For a variety of reasons a group of Indian Territory residents began advocating the creation of two separate states, based on the already extant separate territories. Advocates of two separate states began working on the details necessary to create the proposed State of Sequoyah, basically the eastern half of what is today Oklahoma. Forty-eight counties were created and named, rules and regulations laid out, and September of 1905, a convention met in Muskogee to create the constitution for the proposed new state of Sequoyah. It was in this week of 1905 that the constitution for the new state was voted on and officially approved. The document created 102 years ago this week was a model of progressive thought and action. Included in the document were such items as child-labor legislation, business, monopoly and trust regulation, as well as laws concerning banking and economic matters and land development. So forward thinking and progressive was the Sequoyah Constitution that some states copied entire sections of it verbatim. Despite the quality of the constitution, opposition to the creation of a separate state of Sequoyah was strong.
Theodore Roosevelt was president at that time and as a Republican he did not favor the creation of two separate states, Oklahoma and Sequoyah that were both bound to be strongly democratic. Two states would mean twice the number of democratic senators and representatives, something that the Republican president was definitely against. On the other hand, built into the treaties signed with the five major tribes was a clause stating that the Indian Nations could not be included or forced to become part of any US state without their approval. Legally, the tribes were correct in assuming that they could start their own state; however, as with all other agreements and treaties, the powers that be saw no problem with ignoring or breaking various treaty rules and regulations. Sequoyah never became a state but the constitution written and approved in this week of 1905 did become a large part of Oklahoma's constitution, a document that was held up around the world as an example of enlightened and progressive thought. You can learn more about the twin territories when you visit the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City just east of the State Capitol. Oklahoma Journeys: Celebrating our Centennial is a production of the Oklahoma Historical Society dedicated to the collection, preservation, and sharing of our state’s past. I'm Michael Dean.