"The organic law of a great commonwealth": the framing of the South Dakota constitution

South Dakota Law Review, Summer, 2008 by Jon Lauck

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Legal scholars have criticized the "poverty of state constitutional discourse" caused by its limited historical depth and by the absence of historical research into the people and events surrounding the framing of state constitutions. (1) James Gardner has found a "general unwillingness among state supreme courts to engage in any kind of analysis of the state constitution at all." (2) A better understanding of the origins of state constitutions, according to Gardner, would advance of the "goal of creating in every state a vigorous, independent body of state constitutional law capable of standing by itself as a basis for constitutional rulings by state courts." (3) Studying the unique political history of a state, in other words, will foster the development of state constitutional law. When analyzing a "state's constitutional identity," scholars have focused on the "relationship between a constitution and the corresponding polity," which "must be grounded in an identifiable state community, an entity whose inhabitants share distinctive ideals, customs, and traditions." (4) The analysis of a state's unique political history can shape the development of a state's constitutional law. As Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson once noted, "All the differences in our state constitutions are not accidents of draftsmanship. Some of these differences reflect differences in our tradition." (5)

The importance of historical analysis in the proper interpretation of the South Dakota Constitution has been recognized by the South Dakota Supreme Court. (6) When construing a constitutional provision, the South Dakota Supreme Court has held that "a court may look to the history of the times and examine the state of things existing when the constitution was framed and adopted." (7) Given the importance attached to the origins of state constitutions, this article seeks to promote a more complete understanding of the history and context of the framing of South Dakota's constitution.

I. INTRODUCTION

On July 4, 1889, the weather in Sioux Falls was fair and clear. (8) On the 113th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Sioux Falls was home to 12,000 people, close to the population of Boston at the time of the American Revolution. (9) During the 1889 Fourth of July celebration, Sioux Falls "entertained the largest crowd of people ever assembled at any one place in Dakota." The railroads ran special trains which transported an additional 9,000 people into the city and horse-drawn carriages rolled into the city carrying another 6,000 people. (10) At sunrise, the city woke to the thunder of a forty-two gun salute fired by the Sioux Falls Light Artillery company, the clang of the city's church bells, and the wail of steam whistles. At 10:00 a.m., a holiday ceremony commenced which featured speeches, music, an invocation by the Episcopalian Bishop, the reading of the Declaration of Independence, and the singing of "Hail Columbia." The festivities also included a parade, a baseball game at Base Ball Park, a band contest, tub races on the Big Sioux River, a greased pole climbing contest, sack races, a greased pig contest, a three-legged race, bicycle races, wheel-barrow races, horse races, and a grand balloon ascension featuring a man who would leap from the balloon basket in a parachute, all part of what the St. Paul Pioneer Press called a "monster celebration." (11) During the day, the balloon ascension had to be delayed due to high Dakota winds. When finally attempted, the wind caused an errant spark which caused the $450 balloon to go up in smoke, "a kind of ascension not fully satisfactory to the 5,000 spectators." (12)

At noon, after they had marched in the parade, the seventy-five delegates of the South Dakota Constitutional Convention gathered at Germania Hall, which was built in 1880 by the local Germania Verein (meaning "unite") to "foster art, to awaken the mind to liberty, to create a love for all that is good and beautiful, to encourage social intercourse and to aid in preserving the fruits of German culture." The hall was festooned with American flags and red, white, and blue bunting and the delegates' names and home counties were printed on a piece of white board in front of their designated desks. County maps were posted on the walls and parliamentary rules, statistical data, and volumes of Dakota history were available on every delegate's desk. (13) Four large stars hung on the walls designating the four new states, including South Dakota, which were on the verge of entering the Union. The prayer which opened the convention was given by Reverend Stratton of the First Congregational Church in Sioux Falls. The blessing of the Congregational Church, the original Puritan church in the new world, symbolized the transmigration of New England institutions and culture, often after a period of evolution in the Midwest, to Dakota Territory. Judge Alonzo Edgerton, who was elected president of the convention, thanked the convention for the honor and "expressed the joy which all felt that the rights so long denied and due the people of this great commonwealth were about to be realized." After they adjourned, many of the delegates proceeded to the baseball games, the various races, and a prohibition meeting. (14)