Constitution of the State of Minnesota

1858

Minnesota drafted its constitution in 1857 as a condition of statehood, and it took effect when Minnesota entered the Union on May 11, 1858. The document established a representative government modeled closely on the federal Constitution, with a strong bill of rights and a balanced separation of powers. Its framers debated intensely over voting rights and the status of mixed-race residents, resolving these questions in ways that reflected the tensions of the pre-Civil War era. Minnesota has amended the constitution more than 120 times since statehood, but the core framework of 1858 endures.