shall be existing or depending in the said district court, shall be continued over and returnable to the said district court to be holden at Columbus as aforesaid, and shall be proceeded with in due form of law.
Approved, March 4, 1820.
Statute Ⅰ.
Chap. XXII.—An Act to authorize the people of the Missouri territory 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, and to prohibit slavery in certain territories.[1]
The inhabitants of Missouri authorized to form a constitution and state government, to be admitted into the Union.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the inhabitants of that portion of the Missouri territory included within the boundaries hereinafter designated, be, and they are hereby, authorized to form for themselves a constitution and state government, and to assume such name as they shall deem proper; and the said state, when formed, shall be admitted into the Union, upon an equal footing with the original states, in all respects whatsoever.
Boundaries.Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said state shall consist of all the territory included within the following boundaries, to wit: Beginning in the middle of the Mississippi river, on the parallel of thirty-six degrees of north latitude; thence west, along that parallel of latitude, to the St. Francois river; thence up, and following the course of that river, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the parallel latitude of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes; thence west, along the same to a point where the said parallel is intersected by a meridian line passing through the middle of the mouth of the Kansas river, where the same empties into the Missouri river, thence, from the point aforesaid north, along the said meridian line, to the intersection of the parallel of latitude which passes through the rapids of the river Des Moines, making the said line to correspond with the Indian boundary line; thence east, from the point of intersection last aforesaid, along the said parallel of latitude, to the middle of the channel of the main fork of the said river Des Moines; thence down and along the middle of the main channel of the said river Des Moines, to the mouth of the same, where it empties into the Mississippi river; thence, due east, to the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi river; thence down, and following the course of the Mississippi river, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the place of- ↑ Acts relating to the territory of Missouri: An act providing for the government of the territory of Missouri, June 4, 1812, ch. 95. An act for the appointment of an additional judge for the Missouri territory, and for other purposes, Jan 27, 1814, ch. 8. An act to alter certain parts of the act providing for the government of the territory of Missouri, April 29, 1816, ch. 155. An act further to regulate the territories of the United States, and their sending delegates to Congress, March 3, 1817, ch. 42, sec. 2. State of Missouri.—An act to authorize the people of the Missouri territory 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, and to prohibit slavery in certain territories, March 6, 1820, ch. 22. Resolution providing for the admission of the state of Missouri into the Union, on a certain condition, March 2, 1821. An act to provide for the due execution of the laws of the United States within the state of Missouri, and for the establishment of a district court therein, March 16, 1822, ch. 12. An act respecting the jurisdiction of certain district courts, Feb. 19, 1831, ch. 28. An act to extend the western boundary of the state of Missouri to the Missouri river, June 7, 1836, ch. 86. An act to authorize the President of the United States to cause the southern boundary line of Iowa, to be ascertained and marked, June 18, 1838, ch. 116. An act to provide for the adjustment of land claims within the state of Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana, and in those parts of the states of Mississippi and Alabama, south of the thirty-first degree of north latitude, and between the Mississippi and the Perdido river, June 17, 1844, ch. 95.
