Malcolm Rivera
The 1875 Missouri Constitution, also known as the state's third constitution, was drafted during the fourth constitutional convention, which took place from May 5 to August 2. This constitution addressed the need for an intermediate appellate court to alleviate the congested docket of the state's supreme court. It also made provisions for separate schools for African-American children. The 1875 Constitution was amended in the early 1900s to allow constitutional amendments through a public initiative process.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date of constitution | 1875 |
| Type of court created | First intermediate appellate court |
| Location of the court | St. Louis |
| Court's jurisdiction | Lincoln, St. Charles, St. Louis and Warren counties and the city of St. Louis |
| Number of judges | Three |
| Presiding judge | Judge with the oldest license to practice law in Missouri |
| Number of terms per year | Two |
| Date of first term | First Monday in January 1876 |
| Date of amendment | 1976 |
| Amendment details | Appellate jurisdiction was taken from the St. Louis Court of Appeals and placed in a consolidated court of appeals |
| Date of constitution amendment | Early 1900s |
| Amendment details | Allowed constitutional amendment by the initiative process |
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What You'll Learn
Creation of the first intermediate appellate court
The 1875 Missouri Constitution created the first of what is now known as the state's intermediate appeals court. This court was called the St. Louis Court of Appeals and heard appeals from and had superintending control over inferior courts in Lincoln, St. Charles, St. Louis, and Warren counties, as well as the city of St. Louis.
The creation of this court was in response to the congested docket of the Supreme Court, which, by the 1870s, was more than two years in arrears due to the state's growing population, commerce, and wealth. Reporter A. Moore Berry noted in the first Missouri Appeal Reports that the Supreme Court's heavy caseload "demanded an amount of judicial labor which no single tribunal could possibly perform." As about one-third of Missouri's population, wealth, and commerce were located in St. Louis and its surrounding counties, the St. Louis Bar Association urged delegates to create an intermediate appellate court for the area when they gathered for the 1875 constitutional convention.
The 1875 Constitution determined that the new appeals court would have three judges chosen from within the territory the court covered. The constitution designated that the judge with the oldest license to practice law in Missouri would be the presiding judge. The court was required to hold two terms each year, with the first term directed to be held on the first Monday in January 1876.
Eight years after its establishment, voters passed a constitutional amendment expanding the St. Louis Court of Appeals' territorial jurisdiction to 51 additional counties to further relieve the congestion of cases at the Supreme Court. Through a 1976 constitutional amendment, the state's judicial branch was unified, and appellate jurisdiction was taken from the St. Louis Court of Appeals and the other two appeals courts in existence at the time. This consolidated court of appeals now sits in three geographic districts, and what was the St. Louis Court of Appeals is now known as the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District.
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Separate schools for African-American children
The fourth constitutional convention in Missouri, which took place from May 5 to August 2, 1875, drafted the state's third constitution. This constitution provided for, among other things, separate schools for African-American children.
The establishment of separate schools for African-American children in Missouri's 1875 Constitution was a reflection of the racial segregation prevalent in the United States during that period. Following the American Civil War and the ratification of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments, which ended slavery and guaranteed equal protection under the law, efforts were made to integrate society. However, discrimination and segregation persisted, particularly in the South, where most African Americans lived.
Prudence Crandall's admittance of an African American girl to her all-white Canterbury Female Boarding School in 1832 and the subsequent conversion of the school to one exclusively for African American girls, met with public backlash and protests. Similarly, in 1835, Noyes Academy, an integrated school in Canaan, New Hampshire, was attacked and destroyed by an anti-abolitionist mob. These incidents highlight the strong resistance to racial integration in education during the pre-Civil War era.
During the Reconstruction era, there were some efforts towards integration in the South, but discriminatory laws were also passed, including the segregation of public schools. The Supreme Court's ruling in 1883, which struck down the Civil Rights Act of 1875, further enabled discrimination by individuals and private businesses. The passage of Jim Crow laws in the 19th century further codified segregation, with secondary schools for African Americans being called "training schools" instead of high schools to appease racist sentiments.
The 1875 Missouri Constitution's provision for separate schools for African-American children was a reflection of the racial segregation and discrimination prevalent in the United States at the time, particularly in the South. It is important to note that while the Constitution provided for separate schools, the quality of education and resources allocated to these segregated schools for African-American children may not have been equal to those provided to white students, contributing to systemic racial inequality in education.
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Option to call a new constitutional convention
The Missouri Constitution of 1875 was drafted during the state's fourth constitutional convention, which took place from May 5 to August 2. This constitution provided for, among other things, the establishment of separate schools for African-American children. Notably, this constitution also created the state's first intermediate appellate court, known as the St. Louis Court of Appeals. This court was established to address the growing caseload of the state's supreme court, particularly in the populous region of St. Louis and its surrounding counties.
The constitution of 1875 has been amended several times since its inception. In the early 1900s, it was amended to allow constitutional amendments by initiative. This process was utilised in the early 20th century to combat political corruption in Missouri, leading to the calling of the sixth constitutional convention and the ratification of a new constitution in 1945. This 1945 constitution remains the current constitution of Missouri and has undergone at least 119 amendments as of 2025.
The people of Missouri are given the option to call for a new constitutional convention every 20 years through an automatic referendum, as outlined in Article XII of the current constitution. This referendum has appeared on the ballots in 1962, 1982, 2002, and 2022, and will appear again in 2042. However, none of these referendums have passed to date.
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![Constitution, 1875, with All Amendments to 1901; Comp. and Pub. by S.B. Cook 1901 [Leather Bound]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/617DLHXyzlL._AC_UY218_.jpg)
Three branches of government
The 1875 Missouri Constitution was the state's third constitution, drafted during the fourth constitutional convention. This constitution provided for three branches of government: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial.
The legislative branch, also known as the Missouri General Assembly, is responsible for creating and passing laws. The executive branch is headed by the Governor of Missouri, who is in charge of enforcing the laws and managing the state's resources. The judicial branch, on the other hand, interprets the laws and consists of the Supreme Court of Missouri and the state's intermediate appellate court, which was established by the 1875 Constitution.
The creation of the St. Louis Court of Appeals, or the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, was a response to the growing caseload of the Supreme Court due to the state's increasing population, commerce, and wealth. The new appeals court had jurisdiction over inferior courts in Lincoln, St. Charles, St. Louis, and Warren counties, as well as the city of St. Louis. The constitution mandated that the court have three judges from within the court's territory and that the judge with the oldest license to practice law in Missouri preside. The court was required to hold two terms per year, with the first term commencing on the first Monday in January 1876.
The 1875 Constitution of Missouri also made provisions for separate schools for African-American children. This constitution remained in effect for ten years and was amended in the early 1900s to allow constitutional amendments through the initiative process.
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Abolition of slavery
The 1875 Missouri Constitution was the state's third constitution, drafted during the fourth constitutional convention. This constitution built on the progress made by the second Missouri state constitution, which abolished slavery and was ratified on June 6, 1865.
The second constitution, also known as the ""Draconian Constitution", was drafted by a constitutional convention elected in November 1864. This convention met in January 1865, and the constitution they produced abolished slavery and included loyalty oath provisions, which were later struck down by the US Supreme Court in Cummings v. Missouri (1867).
The first Missouri state constitution was written in 1820 as a result of the Missouri Compromise. This legislation admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a non-slave state, maintaining the balance between slave and free states in the nation. The Missouri Compromise also prohibited slavery in the remaining Louisiana Purchase lands north of the 36°30′ parallel.
Despite the existence of this first constitution, Missouri's admission to the Union as a slave state was not straightforward. The Missouri statehood bill was debated in the House of Representatives in 1819, with Representative James Tallmadge Jr. of New York proposing amendments to prohibit the further introduction of slavery and to ensure that all children born in the state after its admission to the Union would be free at the age of 25.
The Missouri debates saw Northern Jeffersonian Republicans embrace the Jeffersonian anti-slavery legacy, citing the Declaration of Independence as an argument against expanding slavery. Southern leaders, on the other hand, renounced the document's universal egalitarianism and its declaration that "all men are created equal".
In the end, Missouri was admitted as a slave state, and its first constitution specifically excluded "free negroes and mulattoes" from the state. This "exclusion clause" initially delayed Missouri's admission to the Union, but it was chosen to be interpreted vaguely to allow for eventual admission.
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Frequently asked questions
To reduce the caseload of the Supreme Court, the 1875 Missouri Constitution created the first intermediate appellate court, the St. Louis Court of Appeals.
The 1875 Missouri Constitution also provided for separate schools for African-American children.
The fourth and current Missouri Constitution was adopted in 1945.
![Constitution of the state of Texas adopted by the Constitutional convention begun and held at the city of Austin on the sixth day of September, 1875, with amendments declared adopted O [Leather Bound]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61IX47b4r9L._AC_UY218_.jpg)
