< Browse to Previous Essay | Browse to Next Essay >

Washington is admitted as the 42nd state to the United States of America on November 11, 1889.

HistoryLink.org Essay 5210 : Printer-Friendly Format

On November 11, 1889, Washington becomes the 42nd state of the United States of America.

On February 22, 1889, the United States Congress passed an act enabling the territories of Washington, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana to seek statehood. This was the first enabling act passed by Congress since Colorado became the 38th state in 1876.

One of the conditions established for statehood was approval of a state constitution. The 75 men  elected to the State Constitutional Convention included 21 lawyers, 13 farmers, 6 merchants, 6 doctors, 5 bankers, 4 cattlemen, 3 teachers, 2 real-estate agents, 2 editors, 2 hop farmers, 2 loggers, 2 lumbermen, 1 minister, 1 surveyor, 1 fisherman, and 1 mining engineer. Between July 4 and August 24, 1889, delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Olympia drafted the state constitution. On October 1, 1889, Washington citizens approved the State Constitution by a vote of 40,152 to 11,879.

On November 11, 1889, U.S. President Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901) signed the bill admitting Washington to the United States.

Sources:
Dorothy O. Johansen and Charles M. Gates, Empire of the Columbia: A History of the Pacific Northwest (New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1957), 407; Mary W. Avery, Government of Washington State (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1966), 21, 27; Clinton A. Snowden, History of Washington: The Rise and Progress of an American State, Vol. 4 (New York: The Century History Company, 1909), 386-387.

By Greg Lange, February 15, 2003

Travel through time (chronological order):
< Browse to Previous Essay | Browse to Next Essay >

Related Topics: Government & Politics |

Licensing: This essay is licensed under a Creative Commons license that encourages reproduction with attribution. Credit should be given to both HistoryLink.org and to the author, and sources must be included with any reproduction. Click the icon for more info. Please note that this Creative Commons license applies to text only, and not to images. For more information regarding individual photos or images, please contact the source noted in the image credit.

Major Support for HistoryLink.org Provided By: The State of Washington | Patsy Bullitt Collins | Paul G. Allen Family Foundation | Museum Of History & Industry | 4Culture (King County Lodging Tax Revenue) | City of Seattle | City of Bellevue | City of Tacoma | King County | The Peach Foundation | Microsoft Corporation, Other Public and Private Sponsors and Visitors Like You