Oregon Ratifies the Constitution

As the delegates cast their mostly party line votes on the enrolled constitution at the end of the convention, they were already looking forward to taking their arguments for or against ratification to the people. The issue of slavery once again dominated the debate as partisans hurled accusations through the newspapers. Once the votes were counted it became clear that Oregonians liked the constitution. They also rejected slavery and nearly nine out of ten voters didn't want free blacks in their state.

On the last day of the convention, September 18, 1857, the delegates held to the partisan script and voted 35 to 10 in favor of the completed constitution. The Salem Clique had maintained its control to the end. Anti-Democrats such as Thomas Dryer and David Logan voted against the constitution, joined also by a small number of "soft" Democrats such as Martin Olds. Others opposing the process or the product of the convention were among the 15 names listed as "absent or not voting." These included Jesse Applegate and Levi Scott, who had abandoned the convention weeks earlier, and Republican John McBride. Interestingly, most of those who were opposed or absent signed the document, with some signatures added later. In total, 52 of the 60 delegates signed the constitution.(1)

Campaigning for voters
Both sides waged a campaign for voters in the short period between the end of the convention and the November 9th ratification election. Several newspapers were arrayed against passage of the constitution. These included the free-state Oregonian, Oregon Argus, and the Standard as well as the intensely pro-slavery Messenger. Oregon Argus editor William Adams described the constitution as "a huge viper, with poisonous fangs in its head, a legion of legs in its belly and a deadly sting in its tail." He continued with the metaphor: "It is now coiled up, labeled from head to tail with Democracy, trying to charm the people to take it into their bosom, when it will instill its poison into the body politic and render it as completely paralyzed as under the odious principle of caucus sovereignty."(2)

Oregonian editor Thomas Dryer soon weighed in as well. In spite of his considerable presence at the convention, Dryer lambasted the "Salem conspirators," claiming that "the truth is, none but the Salem Clique had anything to do with drafting that instrument. It was prepared in advance at Salem, to subserve the interest and preserve the controlling power in the hands of that little band known as the 'Salem Inquisition.'" He accused Democratic delegates of "surrender[ing] their birthright and manhood, as well as the interests of their constituents to the ordeal of the Salem 'party caucus.' In doing this they have fixed the seat of government at Salem for all time; have tied up the hands of future legislatures; [and] have prevented any amendments to the constitution for at least eight years by taking all power from the people, and placing it in the hands of the party caucus. In short, [they] became slaves and serfs to a petty party monarchy, comprising a half score of reckless office-hunting knaves in and about Salem, who have too long controlled the political rights of the people of Oregon."(3)

Those in favor of passage were not silent either. Of course, the Democrats responded in kind with Asahel Bush leading the charge through the pages of the Oregon Statesman and Delazon Smith delivering plenty of stump speeches. Meanwhile, other voices, such as the Oregon Weekly Times newspaper, appealed for progress:

A decisive vote
Oregon's electorate voted decisively on all three questions. Their viva voce votes (oral votes in public view) left no doubt that the convention had indeed reflected their attitudes. Oregonians endorsed the constitution by more than two to one. Their votes against slavery and free blacks, expressing their ideal of an Oregon with only free white labor, were even more striking—with 75 percent voting down slavery and 89 percent in favor of prohibiting the immigration of free blacks to the state. Two counties, Columbia and Wasco, voted against the constitution. No county was even close to voting in favor of allowing free blacks in Oregon. Likewise, no county voted in favor of slavery. However, Jackson County narrowly voted it down 426 to 405.(5)

The Oregon Statesman published the following official returns on the November 9, 1857 vote:

	Constitution		Slavery		Free blacks
Counties	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
Benton	440	215	283	368	132	459
Clackamas	530	216	98	655	113	594
Clatsop	62	37	25	71	25	65
Columbia	30	66	11	84	24	66
Coos	68	26	19	72	10	79
Curry	117	14	35	95	8	121
Douglas	419	203	248	377	23	560
Jackson	465	372	405	426	46	710
Josephine	445	139	155	435	41	534
Lane	591	362	356	602	97	783
Linn	1111	176	198	1092	113	1095
Marion	1024	252	214	1055	76	1115
Multnomah	496	255	96	653	112	587
Polk	528	188	231	484	53	584
Tillamook	23	1	6	22	1	25
Umpqua	155	84	32	201	24	181
Wasco	55	89	58	85	18	122
Washington	265	226	68	428	80	393
Yamhill	371	274	107	522	85	521
	----------------	----------------	----------------	----------------	----------------	----------------
Total	7195	3215	2645	7727	1081	8640
Majorities	3980			5082		7559
						(6)

Reaction to the vote
Once the voters had spoken, reaction came from all sides. Seeking to heal potential wounds, Asahel Bush declared that Oregon Democrats would regard the vote as a settled question. There would be no retribution—no difference in standing or influence—based on how party members voted in the election: "The watchword shall be harmony." He went on to issue a warning to eastern newspapers not to misinterpret Oregon's overwhelming vote against slavery. Bush claimed that Oregonians did not seek to elevate slaves at the expense of whites: "Let not Black Republicanism lay the flattering unction to its soul that we are free soilish here."(7) Despite the vote, Thomas Dryer doubted "that any free state" could be admitted to the union with pro-slavery James Buchanan as president. And, he worried that "the constitution contains provisions which will be regarded by even a locofoco Congress, in direct violation of the liberal principles set forth in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States."(8)

Meanwhile, the Corvallis pro-slavery Messenger newspaper simply refused to accept the vote as final. It argued that according to the doctrine of equal rights between the states, the territories were common property. Therefore, the people of a territory had no power to exclude slave-holders, since doing so would invalidate the common partnership. It pondered the extreme:

"As great an evil as disunion would be, we consider there is still a greater, and that is, submission to the unrestricted will of a reckless fanaticism which overrides the barriers erected by the Constitution for the protection of the minority, and tramples with ruthless iron heel, upon the plainest principles of justice and liberty."(9)

Fate would provide Oregon newspapers with plenty of time to write editorials and publish letters to the editor about the prospects of statehood. All sides of the question locally would be forced to endure over a year of uncertainty before receiving an answer from Washington D.C. The question appeared to be hopelessly tangled with the politics of slavery on the national level.

Notes:
1. Carey, Oregon Constitution, 397, 35.
2. Walter Carleton Woodward, The Rise and Early History of Political Parties in Oregon, 1843-1868 (Portland: J.K. Gill Company, 1913) 119.
3. Oregonian, October 24, 1857.
4. Claudia Burton, "A Legislative History of the Oregon Constitution of 1857—Part III," Willamette Law Review 40 (2004): 425.
5. Walter Carleton Woodward, The Rise and Early History of Political Parties in Oregon, 1843-1868 (Portland: J.K. Gill Company, 1913) 120.
6. Ibid., Appendix 1.
7. Ibid, 120-121.
8. Oregonian, November 14, 1857.
9. Walter Carleton Woodward, The Rise and Early History of Political Parties in Oregon, 1843-1868 (Portland: J.K. Gill Company, 1913) 121.

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