Arkansas Territory

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Map of Arkansas Territory.

The Arkansas Territory (initially organized as the Territory of Arkansaw) was a historic organized territory of the United States from July 4, 1819, until June 15, 1836, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the state Arkansas, the 25th U.S. state.^[1]

Arkansas Territory was created from the portion of the Missouri Territory lying south of a point on the Mississippi River at 36 degrees north latitude running west to the St. Francois River, then followed the river to 36 degrees 30 minutes north latitude, then west to the territorial boundary. This included all of the present state Oklahoma south of the parallel 36°30' north. The westernmost portion of the territory was removed on 1824-11-15, a second westernmost portion was removed on 1828-05-06, reducing the territory to the extent of the present state of Arkansas.

Arkansas Post was the first territorial capital (1819-1821) and Little Rock was the second (1821-1836).

[edit] See also

Historic regions of the United States

[edit] Notes

^ The name Arkansas has been pronounced and spelled in a variety of fashions. The region was organized as the Territory of Arkansaw on July 4, 1819, but the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Arkansas on June 15, 1836. The name was historically pronounced as IPA: /ˈɑrkənsɔː/, /ærˈkæn.zəs/, and several other variants. In 1881, the Arkansas General Assembly passed the following concurrent resolution (Arkansas Statutes, Title 1, Chapter 4, Section 105):

Whereas, confusion of practice has arisen in the pronunciation of the name of our state and it is deemed important that the true pronunciation should be determined for use in oral official proceedings.

And, whereas, the matter has been thoroughly investigated by the State Historical Society and the Eclectic Society of Little Rock, which have agreed upon the correct pronunciation as derived from history, and the early usage of the American immigrants.

Be it therefore resolved by both houses of the General Assembly, that the only true pronunciation of the name of the state, in the opinion of this body, is that received by the French from the native Indians and committed to writing in the French word representing the sound. It should be pronounced in three (3) syllables, with the final "s" silent, the "a" in each syllable with the Italian sound, and the accent on the first and last syllables. The pronunciation with the accent on the second syllable with the sound of "a" in "man" and the sounding of the terminal "s" is an innovation to be discouraged.

Citizens of the State of Kansas often pronounce the Arkansas River as IPA: /ærˈkænzəs ˈrɪvər/ in a manner similar to the common pronunciation of the name of their state.

[edit] References

"Act of March 2, 1819, ch. 49". Statutes at Large. Acts of the Fifteenth Congress of the United States, 2nd Session. pg. 493-496. From Library of Congress, A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875. (accessed 2007-06-16). This act of Congress established the territory of "Arkansaw".
"Act of April 21, 1820, ch. 48". Statutes at Large. Acts of the Sixteenth Congress of the United States, 1st Session. pg. 565. From Library of Congress, A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875. (accessed 2007-06-16). This act of Congress modifies the act of March 2, 1819, and refers to the territory of "Arkansas". Thereafter, federal statutes describe it as the territory of Arkansas, although journals of both the House and Senate both continue to occasionally use "Arkansaw".