CIVICS OF OHIO

CHAPTER I

EARLY HISTORY

1. The Genesis of Civil Government in Ohio. Civil government in Ohio dates back to a period before the French and Indian War, earlier than that which saw the organization of the Ohio Company for the purpose of colonizing the country west of the Alleghenies. The luminous reports of Christopher Gist, the first English explorer of the Ohio country, had aroused the spirit of colonization among the settlers of the Atlantic seaboard. At least a dozen settlements were planted along the upper Ohio by these adventurers, who had taken the squatter's right of domain. In some of these settlements the germ of civil government was planted. Towns were established, lots were sold, and officers chosen with the power of enforcing rules of government. 2. Western Territory. Owing to the confusion of title growing out of the vague knowledge of the country beyond the mountains, disputes were constantly coming up between contesting claimants. The most critical objection to the ratification of the articles of confederation grew out of this western land question (Boynton, School Civics, pp. 66–67). Virginia claimed all of that part known as the territory northwest of the Ohio River; other states claimed portions of it, while a few states, as Maryland and Delaware, asserted no claim.

With the increasing prospects of the vast West the contests became so bitter that no equitable adjustment seemed probable. The nonclaimant states contended for the absolute cession of all the western territory to the general government, to be used for the general good. Maryland persistently refused her consent to the articles, which rendered them useless, since the ratification of all the colonies was necessary to make them effective. The insistence of Maryland, in the face of the threatened separation of the colonies, especially during the progress of the war for independence, finally produced the desired result. New York took the first step in 1780, when it ceded its claim to the confederation. Other states followed, and by 1785 the title to all the territory claimed by individual states was transferred to the confederation. In 1781 Maryland ratified the articles, thus fulfilling the requirements for placing them in operation.

3. The Confederation. The confederation was a government primarily for thirteen colonies, each of which maintained a separate colonial existence, with sufficient sovereignty to dispute the authority of the confederation in almost every detail. To this confederation of sovereign states came the title to a vast unoccupied country beyond the mountains, which was soon to be peopled from the older states. To properly govern this country became an important problem.

4. The Township. In 1785 congress provided a system of land surveys and also made provision for a commonschool system. Ranges of townships of uniform size were planned. Each township was subdivided into sections of six hundred and forty acres, and numbered. One section

in each township was reserved for the support of schools. These plans and other inducements led to new settlements in this territory, the most conspicuous being Marietta, by the Ohio Company of Massachusetts.

5. Ordinance of 1787. Congress provided a system of government for all this Northwest Territory in the famous. instrument known in history as the ordinance of 1787 (Boynton, School Civics, p. 143), and sometimes as the northwest ordinance, which provided for both central and local government. At the outset the territory was placed under a governor, three judges, and a clerk, who were appointed by the president of the United States. Most of the administration was in the hands of the governor, judges assisting him in the enactment and enforcement of the civil and criminal laws necessary for the security of person and property. The ordinance provided for partial local government when the population should have reached at least five thousand free male inhabitants twenty-one years of age or older. A check was placed upon the local authority by giving the governor veto power. Another check to democratic tendencies was found in a property qualification, both for voting and holding office.

6. Centers of Population. Three distinct sections of the eastern part of the territory were rapidly settled, and in due time became centers: Washington County, with Marietta as the center; Hamilton County, with Cincinnati as the center; and Cuyahoga County, with Cleveland as its chief center. The sales of lands increased and population grew until a demand was made to form a state with all the rights of local government from that portion of the territory including these centers. The ordinance had provided for the

creation of not more than five nor less than three new states. New counties were organized, so that by 1801 there were nine in what is now Ohio. In 1800 Adams had signed the act defining the eastern boundary of Indiana Territory, over which a bitter dispute arose, which continued until 1802, when congress fixed the boundary where it now lies.

7. Importance of the Ordinance. The ordinance is regarded as one of the most important features in the development of American government. It has won the eulogy of British as well as of American statesmen. In the United States it has served as the model for most of our territorial government, while in the British empire the local-government feature has played an important part. In the comparative study of government it is regarded as of more importance as a plan of national expansion, but in American history its value lies in its declaration of principles, namely, freedom of worship, trial by jury, the privilege of habeas corpus, public provision for education, prohibition of slavery, and the inviolability of the integrity of the Union.

8. Ohio as a State. In accordance with the ordinance a new state may be created, upon an equal footing with the original ones, when the population within the limits of the proposed state has reached sixty thousand. The enabling act, granting the privilege of forming a constitution for the first state, was approved by congress on April 30, 1802. In November, 1802, the first constitution was adopted at a convention held in Chillicothe, and on February 19, 1803, the act recognizing the state was passed by congress. This fixed 1803 as the year for the admission of Ohio to the

Union. The first constitution did not differ in the main from the usual state constitution. It provided for the three departments of government, with well-defined duties and powers of each. The eighth and last article consisted of a bill of rights (Boynton, School Civics, pp. 265–268).

9. Early Growth. The bitter controversies between the people and the governor under the territorial system, which gave the veto power to the executive, led to such limitation of the power of the governor under the constitution of the new state that he was little more than a mere figurehead, with no legislative power whatever. This constitution was in force until it was superseded by a second in 1851. The necessity for a new constitution was due to the rapid development of the state. The population had increased from about fifty thousand in 1800 to over one and three quarters millions in 1850, which gave Ohio the third place among the states. The number of counties had increased from nine to eighty-five.

Under the constitution of 1851 the state steadily progressed, keeping pace with the wonderful growth of the nation at large. Her area remained intact, but her population increased normally. The growth of cities, such as Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Toledo, Dayton, Youngstown, Akron, Springfield, Canton, Lima, Hamilton, Portsmouth, etc., indicates the industrial activities outside the field of agriculture.

QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT

1. How early did civil government begin in Ohio?

2. What form of government is best adapted to a new state? 3. Why was the government of the western territory regarded as an important problem? How was it solved?