Nevada vs Federal Government: Balance of Power

Essay by lipps1lvCollege, UndergraduateB+, March 2007

download word file, 5 pages 0.0

Checks and Balances: Nevada vs Federal GovernmentIn 1851, the first Nevadans began to settle into the Carson Valley. The first settlers whom were mainly miners were separated from the Utah territorial government in Salt Lake City by five hundred miles. It is no wonder the Mormon leader, Brigham Young essentially ignored the settlement and left it vulnerable to Indian raids and bandit attacks. For those that were not Mormon, life was difficult. Mormonism seemed to dominate the government, and for many, that was too much power the church had over the state. By 1861, in the mists of the rise of Abraham Lincoln and the resulting secession of the pro-slavery states and, Congress had formally recognized the area that was once western Utah as the Nevada territory.

In 1862, the hard-fought citizens of the Nevada territory met in a legislative session to discuss statehood. In 1863, in an election unauthorized by Congress, support for statehood was eminent as 6,600 voters voted for it against 1,502 opposing voters .

In a series of attempts through legislation to gain statehood, a main concern that arose was the responsibilities required of becoming a state as opposed to the lesser needs of staying as a territory. Among the topics discussed in Carson City were issues regarding government funding and taxation on the mining industry as well as drafting a constitution. There would be two state-constitutions drafted, one in 1863 and one in 1864. On October 31, 1864, during the Civil War, Nevada officially became the “Battle-born” state, throwing support for President Lincoln and the Republican Party. Today, Nevada operates under the New York and California influenced 1864 constitution which had been amended 140 times throughout its history. Consisting of nineteen articles that structured the Nevada government, the Constitution of the State of Nevada can...