Each August 26 is Illinois Constitution Day, as designated by the state’s General Assembly. The date honors the ratification of the first Illinois state constitution, on Aug. 26, 1818.

Illinois has had four constitutions in its history – 1818, 1848, 1870, and 1970. It is hardly unusual for states to update their constitutions; as times change, governing procedures change as well.

Illinois is considerably more stable than other states on new constitutions. Louisiana has had eleven state constitutions in its history, while Georgia has had nine.

Compared to the U.S. Constitution, the Illinois document is twice as long and much more detailed. While the first two efforts, in 1818 and 1848, were flawed, the last two have been much effective and long-lasting.

As Illinois prepared for statehood in 1818, a proposed constitution had to be drawn, and a convention of thirty-three delegates met in early August at tavern in Kaskaskia, the territorial capital, in present-day southwestern Illinois.

It only took twenty-one days to create a document, thanks to the efforts of Elias Kent Kane, a twenty-four-year-old Kaskaskia lawyer who dominated the convention and wrote most of the constitution of eight articles himself. Kane County is named in his honor.

The first constitution concentrated power to the legislature, leaving the governor’s position fairly weak. Slavery was the fiery issue of the convention, and a convoluted compromise was reached. Rights for existing slaveholders were protected, though the future introduction of slavery was mostly banned.

A new constitution in 1848 offered some remedies to prevent the financial disaster that had rocked the state in the previous decade. Public borrowing had to be approved by referendum, and salaries for state offices were set at surprisingly low levels.

Banking, another hot-button issue of the day, was also addressed; state banks were banned, but corporations with banking powers could be permitted with voter approval. The convention awarded voting privileges only to citizens, but voting rights for blacks, not surprisingly, were soundly defeated.

Township government was also authorized, while amendments could be by popular vote, with no convention needed. Satisfied, over 75 percent of voters ratified the document on March 6, 1848, though the flaws in that constitution soon became obvious as well.

An effort to re-write the constitution in 1862 failed amid rancorous debate, and the effects lingered. In the elections to call a new convention in 1868, voters, in a light turnout, passed the measure by a mere 704 votes.

The Constitution of 1870 reflected the changes in population and economics that defined Illinois in the Civil War era. In 1848, the state was still overwhelmingly agricultural, and parts of the state were still being developed. The coming of railroads, along with water traffic, dramatically altered the landscape of the state.

The delegates indicated the demographic shift of Illinois. Of the eighty-five in attendance, fifty-three were lawyers, whereas in the two previous conventions, farmers were dominant.

The 1818 and 1848 conventions had stringently limited gubernatorial privilege. Now, for the first time, governors could be re-elected, and had much stronger veto power. The legislature was required to have a two-thirds majority to override a veto, a difficult task.

The executive branch was set at seven elected offices, and the legislature was given authority to set salaries, a reaction to the 1848 constitution that set payments at inflexible, low levels. Local governments, however, came away with restricted power.

Special interests induced the lengthening of the 1870 constitution, which was three times longer than its 1848 predecessor. Under the old system, private bills, such as divorces, requests to change names, and corporate matters, were allowed to be brought to Springfield, which severely clogged the system. In the 1867 assembly reports, there were twelve times the number of private bills than public acts.

The delegates finished on May 13, 1870 and sent the constitution to voters on July 2, who ratified the document decisively on August 8. The Constitution of 1870 served the state until a new document was written in 1970 – a hundred years later.

Unlike the usual vitriol of Illinois politics, the Constitutional Convention of 1970 was described by one writer as “splendid bipartisan cooperation.”

The 116 convention delegates, two from each senate district, were a diverse lot, at least for the time. Democrats and Republicans were almost evenly divided, while there were thirteen blacks and fifteen women among the group. Fifty-six were Protestant and thirty-five were Catholic, while professions such as teachers, farmers, and businesspeople were fairly represented, unlike earlier state conventions.

The convention opened in the House chamber on Dec. 8, 1969. One of the earliest decisions was the intent to focus only on basic state laws, a departure from previous conventions that dealt with some of the smallest issues, a detriment to effective state government.

Unlike previous conventions, the 1970 gathering produced a new document in only eight months. Voters ratified the constitution on December 15 with 57 percent, and the document went into effect on July 1, 1971.

Among the key provisions was home rule, which increased taxing authority to cities of over 25,000 and counties with over 200,000. Home rule was a prime example of the new constitution’s goal of simplifying state government.

The constitution also included a provision banning “discrimination on the basis of race, color, creed, national ancestry, and sex in the hiring and promotion practice of any employer or in the sale or rental of property.” Protective measures for women and the disabled were also included.

A state income tax was included in the new constitution, while personal property taxes were to be abolished by 1979. The governor was also required to annually submit a balanced budget for approval in the legislature. The governor also received authority for line-item vetoes, though the percentage of vote in the legislature to override a veto was dropped from 66 to 60 percent.

In addition, governors and lieutenant governors were required to be from the same party, while a new office, the comptroller, replaced the state auditor.

Fifteen amendments have since been added to the document, but the 1970 constitution has been hailed for its vision and its sweeping improvements in the government of the state.

• Tom Emery is a freelance writer and historical researcher from Carlinville, Illinois. He may be reached at 217-710-8392 or ilcivilwar@yahoo.com.