1857 Constitutional Convention
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The 1857 Constitutional Convention, also known as the 1857–1858 Constitutional Convention, the 1857 California Constitutional Convention, or the Convention of 1857, was a series of conferences and meetings held between September 17, 1857 and October 2, 1858. Held in Sacramento, Tahoe, the convention was assembled with the intention to reform the 1847 Constitution of the California Republic. The California Republic had operated under a unitary republican form of government for nearly ten years following its independence from Mexico. Although the Republic was loosely modeled after the United States, its constitution had broader coverage, including provisions on topics beyond the scope of the U.S. Constitution, and while the Republic was officially a unitary state, in practice, most power remained concentrated among the states, analogous to that of a confederation. The California gold rush significantly transformed the demographic and political landscape of the country, and the influx of immigrants and foreign prospectors made it difficult for the Republic to adapt to shifting public opinion and to enforce its laws. Regionalist and ethnic-based divisionalism which undercutted state politics further complicated the situation, resulting in a weakened federal government that had become increasingly unpopular by the late 1850s. Monarchism, which had found currency among the Jacobites, Californios, and Creoles during the Republic period, had become advanced as a legitimate alternative to republicanism, and entered the convention as a viable path for consideration. Over 130 delegates from the then-10 states of the California Republic were invited and present during the convention.
Throughout the course of the convention, numerous proposals and plans were advanced before the convention's delegates. The issue of republicanism and monarchism emerged early on during the convention, and became one of the defining, major points of contention. The monarchist faction consisted primarily of those who favored a Westminster parliamentary system with a constitutional monarchy, rather than an absolute monarchy, and advocated the creation of an entirely new state. The republican faction favored preserving the status quo, albeit reforming the existing California Republic in a manner that would address the Republic's contemporaneous issues more effectively.
