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Permanent LinkIowa Constitution - Conventions
Iowa has held three constitutional conventions, in 1844, 1846, and 1857, all held in Iowa City, with the first proposed constitution rejected by the voters and the second and third constitutions ratified by the voters. The document proposed by the 1857 convention is the current, original Constitution of the State of Iowa.
Choose year of convention to access that convention's information.
Iowa’s second proposed constitution, adopted in convention on May 18, 1846, and adopted by the voters on August 3, 1846, by a vote of 9,492 to 9,036, was the constitution by which Iowa became a state. The constitution was accepted by Congress and approved by President James K. Polk and Iowa was admitted as the 29th state on December 28, 1846.
Convention Members
- Curtis Bates (D)
- George Berry (D)
- Samuel Augustus Bissell (D)
- George Washington Bowie (N)
- Wareham Clark (D)
- John Conrey (N)
- William Greyer Coop (D, District 5, Council)
- Thomas Dibble (D)
- David Galland (N)
- Stewart Goodrell (N)
- James Grant (D)
- Sanford S. Harned (D)
- Henry Haun (D)
- Joseph Hedrick (W)
- George Hobson (N)
- Erastus Hoskins (N)
- William Hubbell (N)
- Josiah Kent (D)
- Shepherd Leffler (D, District 3, Council)
- Enos Lowe (D)
- Sylvester G. Matson (R)
- Thomas McCraney (N)
- David Olmstead (N)
- Francis O’Ferrall (N)
- J. Scott Richman (R)
- John Ronalds (N)
- Sulifand Ross (N)
- Alvin Saunders (R)
- John Jackson Selman (D)
- Stephen Bovell Shelledy (W, District 6, House)
- William Steele (N)
- Socrates Tryon (N)