Arizona Organic Act facts for kids
The Arizona Organic Act was an important organic act (a law that creates a new territory) passed in the United States. This law was introduced on March 12, 1862. It was proposed by Representative James Mitchell Ashley from Ohio.
This Act created the Arizona Territory by splitting the New Mexico Territory into two parts. The new border became the one we see today between New Mexico and Arizona. On February 24, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the bill after the Congress approved it.
The law set up a temporary government for the new Arizona Territory. It also made slavery illegal in this new territory. However, it did not end slavery in the part that remained the New Mexico Territory. Before this, in the 1850s, Congress had been hesitant to make Arizona a territory. This was because they worried it would become a slave state.
Why Was the Arizona Organic Act Passed?
According to Marshall Trimble, who is Arizona's official historian, the idea for the Arizona Organic Act came from an older law called the Northwest Ordinance.
- Silver Mining: Business people from Ohio had interests in silver mines in the Arizona area. They asked Congress to make Arizona a territory.
- Civil War Needs: The American Civil War was happening at this time. The Union (the northern states) needed silver to help pay for the war. Trimble explains that this need for silver was a big reason why the Act was passed.
Slavery in the New Mexico Territory
The New Mexico Territory had a long history of Native American people being enslaved. First, different Native American groups enslaved each other. Later, Hispanic settlers also enslaved Native Americans (like the Genízaros).
Even though there were not many African American slaves in New Mexico in 1860, the local government officially allowed slavery just before the Civil War started.
The Confederacy and Arizona
During the Civil War, the Confederate States of America (the southern states that left the Union) also claimed a part of Arizona. They called it the Arizona Territory, but its borders were different from modern Arizona.
Historians believe that when Confederate troops invaded, they brought some enslaved African Americans with them into the territory. One historian, Donald S. Frazier, estimates that as many as fifty Black slaves were brought by Confederate officials and soldiers.
