Impacted the Process of Arizona

¶ … impacted the process of Arizona becoming a state. Include the key events from the following periods in Arizona history?(1) the Mexican Period

Texas declared independence from Mexico in 1836, claiming for themselves many of the lands in northern Mexico. The U.S. annexed Texas in 1846 and claimed that formerly Mexican territory for themselves.

This led to the Mexican-American war (1846-1848) which the U.S. won and resulted in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848), where Mexico ceded to the U.S. approximately the northern 70% of Arizona (amongst many other territories). (2) U.S. Controlled Period

In 1849, approximately 50,000 people flocked to Arizona as a result of the California Gold Rush which led to an implosion in Arizona's population.

In 1850, Arizona and New Mexico formed the New Mexico Territory.

Still in 1853, most of today's Arizona was still part of Mexican territory. However, in that same year President Franklin Pierce sent James Gadsden to Mexico City to negotiate with Santa Anna, and the U.S.A. bought the rest of Arizona and new Mexico in what became known as the Gadsden Purchase. By 1855, Arizona as we know it today became part of American territory. ii) the Territorial Period

Arizona's actually becoming a separate territory occurred in 1856 when Mowry, one of the pioneers drew up a Memoir on the Proposed Territory of Arizona . Tucson was first proposed, and never came about as its territory,.

It was only on February 24, 1863,, however, after several bills had been drawn up and failed that Lincoln signed into law a bill proclaiming the territory of Arizona with borders seperating it form New Mexico.

The 1st Territorial Legislature convened in Prescott in September 1863 and established the Howell Code as well as appointive a Board of Regents for a proposed university, and appropriating funds for public education.

The early years of the Arizona territorial period were chaotic with war waged against the Navajo Indians and Apaches.

The string of governors, many of whom resigned or were displaced, mainly showed disfavor to the Indians, although one (Conrad Meyer Zulick) who regarded them as humans was criticized for doing so.

In 1898, the U.S. declared war on Spain and Arizona, wishing for statehood, signed up too

All this time and way up to the 20th century, Arizona was a wild place with violence (including robbery and shooting) frequent.

In 1911, Arizona became a state. iii) the impact of the Progressive movement on the creation of the Arizona constitution, including the declaration of rights, ballot initiatives, and recall of judges.

In the late 1890s, the Progressive Movement became critical of the corruption of state and local governments and called for the citizens to have more direct power in ruling their state. They therefore pushed for the adoption of the initiative (to allow citizens to bypass officials and to enact their own statutes and constitutional measures), the referendum (to allow citizens to reject statutes and constitutional measures that were adopted by officials), and the recall (that was meant to allow citizens to remove officials from office before the end of their terms).

Since most of the drafters of Arizona's Constitution were Progressives, the state's constitution included the initia-tive, referendum, and recall. However, since President Taft condemned recall of judges, and, a therefore, vetoed Arizona statehood, Arizona eliminated the recall of judges until after they became a state when they consequently pushed it through.

Part II-Write a reflective analysis on the amendment process for the Arizona Constitution. Is this a "fair" process? Does it give too much power to the people? Do you think the Progressive framers would approve of the way the process has been used thus far? Why? Defend your rationale.

The Arizona Constitution has undergone more amendments than the American Constitution itself has since Arizona became a state in 1912. Since the Progressive framers wanted to give rights to the people and since many of the amendments deal with curtailing the power of the judges and authorities, they would have approved with this. On the other hand, many of the amendments also reflect indecisiveness and lack of appropriate gravitas. The framers may have urged more resolution and thought before hastily employing an amendment only to redo that amendment in the form of further amendments later on.

As regards the Arizona constitution, conditions for amendment are that the state's legislature or citizens can suggest amendment, and the voters must approve all changes. 125 changes therefore have been perpetrated since 1912. Compare to the U.S. Constitution itself where amendment involves passage by two-thirds of the House and Senate and ratification by 38 states. Consequently only 25 amendments have been perpetrated in the U.S. Constitution since the founding of the U.S. This is a huge contrast!