REPORT OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE WITH REFERENCE TO THE DIVISION OF THE STATE

[Sacramento]: B.B. Redding, 1855. 8pp. Dbd. Light tanning. Very good. An intriguing document, submitting a proposal entitled, "An Act to Create Three States Out of the Territory of California." The states are to be named California, Colorado, and Shasta. The state of California is to occupy the territory between the forty-second and thirty-fifth parallels; Colorado is to exist roughly between the mouth of the Pajaro River and the Sierra Nevadas, extending south to Mexico; Shasta is to be comprised of the remaining territory. The purpose of the proposed division was twofold: it would be far easier to collect revenue from California's booming population if the territory had three separate administrative governments; and secondly, California's tremendous coastline was represented in Congress by only two senators, in contrast to the ten senators representing the eastern coastal states. The authors do raise the serious issue of whether or not slavery will be permitted in the new states. It is their contention that only the middle state would profit from the institution, its economy most likely based entirely on agriculture, and they reject the argument that the issue is critical to the balance between North and South. They maintain that balance is destroyed already, and that the fabric of the Union is held together only by the failing patriotism of its citizens. Not in Greenwood. Quite scarce, with OCLC locating only six copies. OCLC 11847469, 21618433.