MARCH 22, 1864:
On February 28, 1861, in the waning days of his Presidency, James Buchanan had signed
an Act creating the Colorado Territory. He had not, however, signed an Enabling
Act, allowing the Territory to formally organize itself.
With the crisis of the Civil War disrupting
most ordinary political business, the Colorado Enabling Act was put on the
bottom of President Lincoln’s to-do list. In the meantime, Coloradans behaved
as if the Enabling Act was in effect. They elected a Legislature and a
Governor, drafted a Constitution, and began forming county and local
governments. The Territorial capital was Golden.
Most Coloradans were Unionists and fought in
Colorado Companies attached to other States’ regiments, though a few Coloradans
in the south and east of the Territory fought in Confederate units.
On this day, President Lincoln belatedly signed
the Colorado Enabling Act. Given that the Territory had already largely
organized itself, the most important impact of the Enabling Act was that
Colorado could begin the process of applying for Statehood. Lincoln, who was planning on running for
re-election, had an eye to expediting the process and gaining Colorado’s
Electoral votes for himself.
Colorado, however, did not meet Lincoln’s
hopeful deadline. Political infighting in the Territory and Washingtonian
wheeling-and-dealing delayed Colorado’s admission to the Union until 1876.
