Why Is The Nevada Constitution Longer Than The Us Constitution

The Nevada State Constitution has nineteen articles. The U.S. Constitution only has seven. The significant purpose behind why the Nevada Constitution is longer than the U.S. Constitution is best explained through national sovereignty and state sovereignty. To understand where both sovereignties derived from a brief gloss over on how state constitution was implemented and how the U.S. Constitution was put into service is necessary. Before the Revolutionary War started the colonies in America were beginning to become restless and angry over the abuse of power that the British Parliament served to them through unfair taxes and acts back in England. In retaliation to the British’s heavy handed actions, a Continental Congress was created by “delegates

Constitution compared to the lack of state authority mentioned. The reason being is that at the time the states were expected to hold their power. Thus, states are given sovereignty by the reserved power in the tenth amendment, which states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people” (The Constitution). This amendment not only acknowledges that the states have a handle on domestic affairs within the state before the ratification of the U.S. Constitution but also gives the states control of police powers and ordinary daily matters of the citizens. So, the significance behind why Nevada’s Constitution is longer than the U.S. Constitution is because states weren’t given specific sovereignty and the federal government was, which allows the states to oversee daily matters within the state and with the citizens. Such as: conduct of local, state and national elections, established republican forms of government, criminal laws and insurance laws, build and maintain infrastructure, administer family laws, provide education, tax estate and inheritance, protect public health, safety, and property rights, regulate occupations, professions, intrastate commerce, bank, credit, charity and land use, and conduct public works. States have more intimate connections to the land they govern and to the citizens of the

Due to the excitement of the Union supporters at the chance statehood and eager to make it before the Presidential election in November, the whole Nevada constitution was telegrammed over to Washington D.C. in an effort to hasten the process. Of course, there was also a fact that the occupied land in Nevada mostly consisted of republicans, which would benefit Lincoln in his re-election. The document was ratified two months later on September 7 1864 and thus the Silver State was born. On the day of all hallows eve, President Abraham Lincoln declared Nevada a state in 1864. The culture of Nevada with the main occupations of mining, gambling and nuclear weapons testing helped shape the structure of the constitution of the state throughout the years. Mining was the first profession that started the state up and for decades after continued to do so. For example, in article ten section five sub section three of the Nevada Constitution it states, “Each patented mine or mining claim must be assessed and taxed as other real property is assessed and taxed, except that no value may be attributed to any mineral known or believed to underlie it, and no value may be attributed to the surface of a mine or claim if one hundred dollars’ worth of labor has been actually performed on the mine or claim during the year preceding the assessment” (Bowers 113). This is to inspire people and companies to seek out mining privileges rather than