Tracking Michigan's Constitution

Michigan has approved four constitutions over the course of the state’s history. The state’s first constitution was drafted during the summer of 1835 by 91 elected delegates meeting in Detroit. Despite warnings from President Jackson and Congress that Michigan could not be admitted to the Union because of an unsettled boundary dispute with Ohio, delegates drafted a constitution, which was later ratified by voters. True to its warnings, Congress rejected Michigan’s bid for statehood. Congress instead passed a bill that would cede the disputed Toledo Strip to Ohio and grant Michigan the western two-thirds of what is now the Upper Peninsula. Michigan initially rejected this compromise in an 1836 “Convention of Assent,” at which time tensions had escalated into the Toledo War. Michigan mobilized its militia to prevent Ohio from setting up local governments, but the “war” involved more political posturing than armed conflict—there was only one casualty, which occurred during a tavern brawl. At the same time, the Michigan Territory was suffering a financial crisis and could not afford to support this standing militia indefinitely. Spurred on by the territory’s fiscal difficulties, a “Second Convention of Assent,” later coined the “Frostbitten Convention,” passed a resolution to accept Congress’s compromise. Subsequently, on January 26, 1837, Michigan was formally admitted as the 26th state in the Union. 

Michigan’s current constitution was adopted in 1963. It can be amended by legislative or citizen-initiated proposals, both of which require approval by popular vote. In addition, the constitution gives Michiganders the chance to vote every 16 years on whether to hold a constitutional convention to revise or replace the constitution, and the legislature can also place a convention request on the ballot at any time.