Ending the poll tax
Just fifty years ago today “Imagine,” a Library of Congress website suggests that schoolchildren ask themselves, “that you are finally old enough to vote in your first election. But, do you have enough money?”1 The fact is, it was just fifty years ago today that the...Paying the Bill
Genealogy and the Bill of Rights It is one of the defining legal documents, not just of our time, but of all time. It was ratified 222 years ago yesterday. And we are all — all — the better off for it. It is the Bill of Rights. The first 10 amendments to...The maybe anniversary
The odd history of the 14th amendment Today is the 145th anniversary of the ratification of the 14th amendment. Unless maybe it wasn’t ratified until the 21st. Or maybe even the 28th. It depends on how you count, you see, and on who’s doing the counting....State Constitutions: West Virginia
Happy birthday, West Virginia! It was 150 years ago today that West Virginia became the 35th of the United States of America’s 50 states. And the only state ever admitted under such conditions — born in war, torn from secessionist Virginia in a time of...The laws of the church
Look to the law So yesterday the Roman Catholic Church elected a new Pope. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, is now Pope Francis I, Bishop of Rome. So… could anybody have been elected Pope? No. Did the person elected have...State Constitutions: Idaho
The Gem State It became a territory 150 years ago today — but it took another 27 years to win admission to the Union as the 43rd state. It is the Gem State, the “14th most expansive, the 39th most populous, and the 7th least densely populated of the 50 United...The excluded elector
Territorial voting rights Michael John Neill on RootDig.com passes along a great question from his reader Liz, who posted on the Genealogy Tip of the Day Facebook page: “Could an 1864 Nebraska resident vote in federal elections?” Nebraska was a territory at the time;...State Constitutions: Utah
The Beehive State One hundred and seventeen years ago today, a 45th star was added to the United States flag when President Grover Cleveland signed the legislation that admitted Utah to the Union as the 45th state.1 It wasn’t the State that had been originally...Oh, to be in Tennessee
History on display Okay, dagnabit, this working-for-a-living-bit can be really annoying. Because there is absolutely nothing in this world The Legal Genealogist would like more than to be in Tennessee tomorrow. Or Friday. Or Saturday. Or Monday. Because on any one of...Subscribe by Email
