This page contains the Preamble and Articles I & II of the 1820 Missouri Constitution.
To read the full text of the corresponding webpage of the Constitution subsection, please click
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We, the people of Missouri, inhabiting the limits hereinafter designated, by our representatives in convention assembled, at St. Louis, on Monday, the 12th day of June, 1820, do mutually agree to form and establish a free and independent republic, by the name of "The State of Missouri," and for the government thereof do ordain and establish this constitution.
Article I. Of Boundaries
We do declare, establish, ratify, and confirm the following as the permanent boundaries of said state, that is to say: "Beginning in the middle of the Mississippi river, on the parallel of thirty-six degrees of north latitude; thence, west, along the said parallel of latitude, to the St. Francois river; thence, up, and following the course of that river, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the parallel of latitude of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes; thence, west, along the same, to a point where the said parallel is intersected by a meridian line passing through the middle of the mouth of the Kansas river, where the same empties into the Missouri river; thence, from the point aforesaid, north, along the said meridian line, to the intersection of the parallel of latitude which passes through the rapids of the river Des Moines, making the said line correspond with the Indian boundary line; thence, east, from the point of inter- section last aforesaid, along the said parallel of latitude, to the middle of the channel of the main fork of the said river Des Moines; thence, down, and along the middle of the main channel of the said river Des Moines, to the mouth of the same, where it empties into the Mississippi river; thence, due east, to the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi river; thence, down, and following the course of the Mississippi river, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the place of beginning."
Article II. Of The Distribution Of Powers
The powers of government shall be divided into three distinct departments, each of which shall be confided to a separate magistracy; and no person charged with the exercise of powers properly belonging to one of those departments, shall exercise any power properly belonging to either of the others, except in the instances hereinafter expressly directed or permitted.