Act of March 21, 1864, Public Law 38-30, 13 STAT 30, which admitted Nevada as a state in the Union and enabled its people to form a constitution and state government
3/21/1864
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page 1][handwritten top left of page offset by half box] 96
[handwritten top of page] Recd. 22 nd March Pub. 30. 1046
AC
[typeset] Thirty- [handwritten] Eighth [end handwritten] Congress of the United
States of America;
Begun and held at the City of Washington, on Monday, the [handwritten] seventh [end
handwritten] day of December, one thousand eight hundred and sixty- [handwritten]
three. [end handwritten]
[line across center of page]
AN ACT
[end typeset] [handwritten] To enable the people of Nevada to form a constitution and
State government, and for the admission of such State into the Union on an equal
footing with the original States. [end handwritten]
[line across entire page]
[typeset] Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
That [end typeset] [remainder of document handwritten] the inhabitants of that portion of
the Territory of Nevada included in the boundaries hereinafter designated be, and they
are hereby, authorized to form for themselves, out of said Territory, a State government,
with the name aforesaid, which said State, when formed, shall be admitted into the
Union upon an equal footing with the original States, in all respects whatsoever. Sec. 2.
And be it further enacted, That the said State of Nevada shall consist of all the Territory
included within the following boundaries, to wit: Commencing at a point formed by the
intersection of the thirty-eighth degree of longitude west from Washington with the thirty-
seventh degree of north latitude; thence due west along said thirty-seventh degree of
north latitude to the eastern boundary line of the State of California; thence in a
northwesterly direction along the said eastern boundary line of the State of California to
the forty-third degree of longitude west from Washington; thence north along said forty-
third degree of west longitude and said eastern boundary line of the State of California
to the forty-second degree of north latitude; thence due east along the said forty-second
degree of north latitude to a point formed by its intersection with the aforesaid thirty-
eighth degree of longitude west from Washington; thence due south down said thirty-
eighth degree of west longitude to the place of beginning. Sec. 3. And be it further
enacted, That all persons qualified by law to vote for representatives to the General
Assembly of said Territory, at the date of the passage of this act shall be qualified to be
elected, and they are authorized to vote for and choose representatives to form a
convention, under such rules and regulations as the governor of said Territory may
prescribe; and also to vote upon the acceptance or rejection of such constitution as may
be formed by said convention, under such rules and regulations as the said convention
may prescribe; and if (any of)
[page 2]
[missing pages containing rest of Section 3, Section 4, Section 5, Section 6, Section 7,
Section 8, and first part of Section 9]
in legal subdivisions, as aforesaid, shall be, and they are hereby, granted to said State
for the purpose of erecting a suitable building for a penitentiary or State prison in the
manner aforesaid. Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That five per centum of the
proceeds of the sales of all public lands lying within said State, which shall be sold by
the United States subsequent to the admission of said State into the Union, after
deducting all the expenses incident to the same, shall be paid to the said State for the
purpose of making and improving public roads, constructing ditches or canals, to effect
a general system of irrigation of the agricultural land in the State, as the legislature shall
direct.-- -- Sec. 11. And be it further enacted, That from and after the admission of the
said State of Nevada into the Union, in pursuance of this act, the laws of the United
States, not locally inapplicable, shall have the same force and effect within the said
State as elsewhere within the United States, and said State shall constitute one judicial
district, and it shall be called the district of Nevada.
[signed] Schuyler Colfax
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
[signed] H. Hamlin
Vice President of the United States
and President of the Senate.
[signed] Approved, March 21, 1864 Abraham Lincoln
This primary source comes from the General Records of the United States Government.
National Archives Identifier: 299819
Full Citation: Act of March 21, 1864, Public Law 38-30, 13 STAT 30, which admitted Nevada as a state in the Union and enabled its people to form a constitution and state government; 3/21/1864; General Records of the United States Government, Record Group 11. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/documents/document/act-of-march-21-1864-public-law-3830-13-stat-30-which-admitted-nevada-as-a-state-in-the-union-and-enabled-its-people-to-form-a-constitution-and-state-government, May 31, 2023]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.
