Indiana (December 11, 1816) was 19th State admitted to the Union. On August 7, 1789, President George Washington signed into law an Act of Congress which prohibited slavery from entering the territory, titled "An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio," Article VI. On April 13, 1816, President James Madison signed The Enabling Act for Indiana, which required the government being formed in that territory to be:
<...not repugnant to the [Northwest Ordinance].> 1816IN001 The Northwest Ordinance stated:
<SECTION 13. And, for extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics, their laws and constitutions are erected: to fix and establish those principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions and governments, which forever hereafter shall be formed in the said territory: to provide also for the establishment of states, and permanent government therein, and for their admission to a share in the federal councils in an equal footing with the original states, at as early period as may be consistent with the general interest:
SECTION 14. It is hereby ordained and declared by the authority aforesaid, That the following articles shall be considered as articles of compact, between the original states and the people and states of the said territory, and forever remain unalienable, unless by common consent, to wit:
ARTICLE I. No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly manner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments in the said territory....> 1816IN002
<ARTICLE III. Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.> 1816IN003
The Constitution of the State of Indiana, adopted 1851, stated:
<Preamble. We, the People of the State of Indiana, grateful to Almighty God for the free exercise of the right to chose our form of government, do ordain this Constitution.> 1816IN004
<Article I, Section 1. We declare, That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.> 1816IN005
<Article I, Section 2. All men shall be secure in their natural right to worship Almighty God.> 1816IN006
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1816IN001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Indiana, August 7, 1789, Article VI, "An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States Northwest of the River Ohio," prohibiting slavery from entering the territories; signed into law by President George Washington; introduced in Congress by Rufus King, a signer of the Constitution; received House approval, July 21, 1789; received Senate approval, August 4, 1789, during the same period that Congress was formulating the First Amendment; originally passed by the Congress of the Confederation, July 13, 1787. The Constitution of the United States (Trenton: Moore and Lake, 1813), p. 366. Acts Passed at a Congress of the United States of America (Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, 1791), p. 104. Rufus King (a signer of the U.S. Constitution), The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, Charles King, editor (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1894), Vol. I, pp. 288-289.
1816IN002. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Indiana, April 13, 1816, Congress passed The Enabling Act for Indiana. C. 56, 3 Stat. 289, signed into law by President James Madison. Frances Newton Thorpe, ed., Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Charters, and Other Organic Laws of the States, Territories, and Colonies now or heretofore forming the United States, 7 vols. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905; 1909; St. Clair Shores, MI: Scholarly Press, 1968).
1816IN003. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Indiana, April 13, 1816, Congress passed the Enabling Act of Indiana, C. 56, 3 Stat. 289, signed into law by President James Madison, extending "An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States Northwest of the River Ohio," signed into law by President George Washington, August 7, 1789; introduced in Congress by Rufus King, a signer of the Constitution; received House approval, July 21, 1789; received Senate approval, August 4, 1789, during the same period that Congress was formulating the First Amendment; originally passed by the Congress of the Confederation, July 13, 1787. The Constitution of the United States with the Latest Amendments (Trenton: Moore and Lake, 1813), pp. 364-366. Acts Passed at a Congress of the United States of America (Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, 1791), p. 104. Journal of Congress (ed. 1800) (early proposals of the bill) Vol. IX, pp. 109-110. Revised Statutes of the United States relating to the District of Columbia and Post Roads...together with the Public Treaties in force on the first day of December 1873 (ed. 1878). Life, Journal and Correspondence of Manasseh Cutler, Vol. I, chap. 8. Rufus King (a signer of the U.S. Constitution), The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, Charles King, editor (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1894), Vol. I, pp. 288-289. William MacDonald, Select Documents Illustrative of the History of the United States, 1776-1861 (NY: Macmillan Company, 1897, 1898), p. 26. Frances Newton Thorpe, ed., Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Charters, and Other Organic Laws of the States, Territories, and Colonies now or heretofore forming the United States, 7 vols. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905; 1909; St. Clair Shores, MI: Scholarly Press, 1968), Vol. I, pp. 957-962. Poole, North American Rev., (includes history of the act) CXXII: 229-65. Henry Steele Commager, ed., Documents of American History, 2 vols. (NY: F.S. Crofts and Company, 1934; Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1948, 6th edition, 1958; Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc., 9th edition, 1973), p. 131. Paul M. Angle, ed., By These Words (NY: Rand McNally & Company, 1954), pp. 91-93. William Benton, The Annals of America, 20 vols. (Chicago, IL: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1968), Vol. III, pp. 194-195. Lillian W. Kay, ed., The Ground on Which We Stand-Basic Documents of American History (NY: Franklin Watts., Inc, 1969), p. 38-39. Daniel L. Driesbach, Real Threat and Mere Shadow-Religious Liberty and the First Amendment (Westchester, IL: Crossway Books, 1987), Vol. I, pp. 427-428. Edwin S. Gaustad, Neither King nor Prelate-Religion and the New Nation, 1776-1826 (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1993), (complete text including drafts and proposals), pp. 153-158. Tim LaHaye, Faith of Our Founding Fathers (Brentwood, TN: Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers, Inc., 1987), p. 91. Diffine, Ph.D., One Nation Under God-How Close a Separation? (Searcy, Arkansas: Harding University, Belden Center for Private Enterprise Education, 6th edition, 1992), p. 3. Stephen McDowell and Mark Beliles, "The Providential Perspective" (Charlottesville, VA: The Providence Foundation, P.O. Box 6759, Charlottesville, Va. 22906, January 1994), Vol. 9, No. 1, p. 5.
1816IN004. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Indiana, 1851, Constitution, Preamble. Charles E. Rice, The Supreme Court and Public Prayer (New York: Fordham University Press, 1964), p. 169; "Hearings, Prayers in Public Schools and Other Matters," Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate (87th Cong., 2nd Sess.), 1962, pp. 268 et seq.
1816IN005. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Indiana, 1851, Constitution, Article I, Section 1. Charles E. Rice, The Supreme Court and Public Prayer (New York: Fordham University Press, 1964), p. 169; "Hearings, Prayers in Public Schools and Other Matters," Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate (87th Cong., 2nd Sess.), 1962, pp. 268 et seq.
1816IN006. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Indiana, 1851, Constitution, Article I, Section 2. Charles E. Rice, The Supreme Court and Public Prayer (New York: Fordham University Press, 1964), p. 169; "Hearings, Prayers in Public Schools and Other Matters," Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate (87th Cong., 2nd Sess.), 1962, pp. 268 et seq.