Organic Laws of Oregon: Difference between revisions

The '''Organic Laws of Oregon''' were two sets of legislation passed in the 1840s by a group of primarily American settlers based in the [[Willamette Valley]]. These laws were drafted after the [[Champoeg Meetings]] and created the structure of a white government in the [[Oregon Country]]. At the last Champoeg Meeting in May 1843, the majority of the male European descendants present voted to create what became the [[Provisional Government of Oregon]]. Laws were drafted by the committee and accepted by a popular vote in July. These laws were reformed by a second version in 1845.

In 1841 a series of meetings were held at [[Champoeg, Oregon|Champoeg]] on [[French Prairie]] in the [[Willamette Valley]]. The first meetings were held in part as a response to the death of Ewing Young who had died without a [[Will (law)|will]].<ref name="Horner">Horner, John B. [httphttps://booksarchive.google.comorg/details/books?id=IG8UAAAAYAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_sbub_gb_J8IdAAAAMAAJ ''Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature.''] Portland: The J.K. Gill Co. 1919</ref> In February 1841 a [[Probate Court|probate]] judge was appointed along with a few other positions, but no further movement towards a government occurred.<ref name=Brown>{{cite book

| url = httphttps://books.google.com/books?id=8kcOAAAAIAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s

On February 2, 1843, a new series of meetings began with a gathering at the [[Oregon Institute]] in what is now [[Salem, Oregon|Salem]] to discuss problems with predatory animals attacking livestock.<ref name=Horner/> An assembly with Americans and French-Canadian men, numbering less than 150,<ref name="Victor">[[Hubert Howe Bancroft|Bancroft, Hubert]] and [[Frances Fuller Victor]]. [httphttps://books.google.com/books?id=l-gNAAAAIAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s ''History of Oregon''], San Francisco: History Co., 1890</ref> was held at Champoeg on 2 May 1843.<ref>Clarke, S. A. [httphttps://books.google.com/books?id=teRYAAAAMAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s ''Pioneer Days of Oregon History, Volume 2.''] J.K. Gill Co.: Portland. 1905</ref> Measures presented to form a government were tabled, though no record exists of the subsequent voting. The first vote held rejected the presented report due to the inclusion of a governor.<ref name=Loewenberg/> A succession of votes were then held for each individual article put forth.<ref name="Loewenberg">Loewenberg, Robert J. ''"Creating a Provisional Government in Oregon: A Revision."'' The Pacific Northwest Quarterly 68, No. 1 (1977), pp. 20–22</ref> [[William H. Gray (Oregon politician)|William H. Gray]] states that the tally was 52 in favor of the measures and 50 against them.<ref name=Gray/> Another witness, [[Robert Newell (Oregon politician)|Robert Newell]], agrees that 50 men were against the formation, but 55 voted the legislation.<ref name="Loewenberg"/> According to Newell, the five tie breakers were all French-Canadians, while Gray's account labels the two tie breakers as Americans.<ref name=Loewenberg/><ref name=Gray/> Regardless of exact figures of those supporting the presented laws, these votes are held to have created the Provisional Government of Oregon.<ref name=Brown/>

With the formation of the Provisional Government, a committee of nine individuals were elected to frame the laws of the government.<ref name=Gray>[[William H. Gray (Oregon politician)|Gray, William H.]] [httphttps://booksarchive.google.comorg/details/books?id=RnsUAAAAYAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_scu31924028885164 ''A History of Oregon, 1792–1849, Drawn from personal observation and authentic information.''] Portland, OR: Harris & Holman. 1870.</ref> This Legislative Committee consisted of [[David Hill (Oregon politician)|David Hill]], [[Robert Shortess]], [[Alanson Beers]], [[William H. Gray (Oregon politician)|William H. Gray]], [[James A. O'Neil]], [[Robert Newell (Oregon politician)|Robert Newell]], [[Thomas J. Hubbard]], William Dougherty, and [[Robert Moore (Oregon pioneer)|Robert Moore]] who was elected as the chairman of the committee.<ref name=Gray/> Each member was to be paid $1.25 per day for their services with the first meeting held May 15, 1843.<ref name=Gray/> On July 4 a new gathering began at Champoeg with speeches for and against the proposals of the committee.<ref name=Gray/> Then on July 5, 1843 the Organic Laws of Oregon are adopted by popular vote after being recommended by the Legislative Committee, with the laws modeled after Iowa’s Organic Law and the [[Ordinance of 1787]], creating the ''[[de facto]]'' first Oregon constitution.<ref name=Champ>{{cite book

In the preamble this "temporary government" was intended to exist "until such time as the United States of America extend their jurisdiction over us."<ref name=Grover/> The articles of the first Section were from the 14th section of the [[Northwest Ordinance]], with minor modifications.<ref name=Grover>''The Organic Act'' in [[Lafayette Grover|Grover, Lafayette]]. [httphttps://books.google.com/books?id=9143AQAAMAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s ''The Oregon Archives.''] Salem: A. Bush. 1853, pp. 26–35</ref><ref name=Yale>{{cite web|title=Northwest Ordinance; July 13, 1787|url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/nworder.asp|work=Avalon Project|publisher=Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School|accessdateaccess-date=February 17, 2014}}</ref> The first three articles were identical to the Ordinance, outside of a change related to relations with Indigenous peoples. Wars against the natives were to be commenced by "representatives of the people" instead of the Congress.<ref name=Grover/><ref name=Yale/> The fourth and final article was from the sixth article of the Ordinance, banning [[slavery]] outside use as a punishment. The portion of the sixth article related to restitution of runaways to slave states was not included in the Organic Laws.<ref name=Grover/><ref name=Yale/>

The Organic Laws authorised a maximum of {{convert|640|acre|km2}} to be claimed by male pioneers.<ref name=Grover/> This size was from legislation created by American [[Lewis F. Linn|Senator Linn]] in 1842, allowing "any white male" to take as much land in the Oregon Country.<ref name="Shippee1">Shippee, Lester B. [httphttps://www.jstor.org/stable/20610114 ''"The Federal Relations of Oregon—III."''] The Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society 19, No. 4 (1918), pp. 283–305</ref> Rejected in 1843, it was the basis for the later [[Donation Land Claim Act]].<ref>Bergquist, James M. ''"The Oregon Donation Act and the National Land Policy.''" Oregon Historical Quarterly 58, No. 1 (1957), pp. 17–35</ref>

The Provisional Government allowed one land patent per male settler, and required "permanent improvements" within six months of recording the claim.<ref name=Grover/> The original fourth article allowed six times as much land for "missions of a religious character" per claim, or {{convert|3840|acre|km2}}.<ref name=Grover/> Intertwined with this legislation was an ongoing dispute between [[Methodist Mission|Methodist missionary]] [[Alvin Waller]] and Chief Factor [[John McLoughlin]] of the British [[Columbia District]] over rights to [[Oregon City, Oregon|Willamette Falls]].<ref name="Loewenberg" /><ref name="Holman" /><ref name="Unite">Clark, Robert C. ''[https://archive.org/details/jstor-20609901 "How British and American Subjects Unite in a Common Government for Oregon Territory in 1844."''] ''The Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society 13'', No. 2 (1912), pp. 140–159''140–159÷</ref> The fourth article was controversial with American immigrants who arrived in 1843 and 1844, upset at how much land missionaries could occupy, and was subsequently repealed in 1844.<ref name="Holman" />

The American immigrants who arrived in 1843 and 1844 were unsatisfied with the laws.<ref name=Shippee2>Shippee, Lester B. [httphttps://www.jstor.org/stable/20610151 ''"The Federal Relations of Oregon—VII."''] The Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society 20, No. 4 (1919), pp. 345–395</ref> The second legislative committee, the majority of its members having arrived the previous year,<ref name=Bradley>Bradley, Mari M. [httphttps://www.jstor.org/stable/20609761 ''"Political Beginnings in Oregon. The Period of the Provisional Government, 1839–1849".] ''The Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society 9'', No. 1 (1908), pp. 42–72</ref> ruled the laws were statutory and thus could be repealed or revoked at the discretion of the assembly.<ref name="Holman" /> In an address sent from the Executive Committee to the Legislature in June 1844 it was recommended for "a more thorough organization" to be established.<ref name="Holman">Holman, Frederick V. [https://archive.org/details/jstor-20609900 "''A brief history of the Oregon Provisional Government and what caused its formation.''"] The Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society 13, No. 2 (1912) pp. 89–139</ref> They advised the creation of an executive branch with only one [[Governor of Oregon|Governorgovernor]].<ref name=Brown/> The legislature passed a bill that dissolved the Executive Committee, and announced an election for Governorgovernor to be held on 3 June 1845.<ref name=Brown/>

Upon the assumption of territorial power by Governor [[Joseph Lane]] in 1849, he approved the Organic Laws as the basis of law in the [[Oregon Territory]].<ref name=salem>[httphttps://web.archive.org/web/20070608125440/http://www.endoftheoregontrail.org/road2oregon/sa27Bsalemsteal.html Stealing the Capital]. End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. Retrieved on September 17, 2014.</ref> These laws would play a part in the determination of where the [[Oregon State Capitol|capital]] would be located.<ref name=salem/> The [[Oregon Constitutional Convention]] in 1857 created a new Constitution that was passed by the people of Oregon on November 9, 1857, and became effective upon statehood on February 14, 1859, usurping the Organic Laws of Oregon.<ref name="Corning">Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956, p. 60</ref>

* [https://archive.org/stream/recollectionsopi00burnrich/recollectionsopi00burnrich_djvu.txt Recollections of an Old Pioneer] [[Peter Hardeman Burnett|Peter H. Burnett]] autobiography. Page 193 refutes statements by William H. Gray, and page 195 begins a section on Burnett's recollections of the organic laws. Burnett's racist views have discredited his work.

[[Category:1843 in American law]]

[[Category:1845 in American law]]

[[Category:1849 in American law]]