STATES AND TERRITORIES OF THE UNITED STATES (ARKANSAS)

In this post we will looking at Arkansas and its territories, Its present and past governors and House of representative’s members.

INTRODUCTION.

Arkansas is the 29th largest by area and the 34th most populous state, with a population of just over 3 million at the 2020 census. The capital and most populous city are Little Rock, in the central part of the state, a hub for transportation, business, culture, and government. The northwestern corner of the state, including the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers Metropolitan Area and Fort Smith metropolitan area, is a population, education, and economic center. The largest city in the state’s eastern part is Jonesboro. The largest city in the state’s southeastern part is Pine Bluff.

Previously part of French Louisiana and the Louisiana Purchase, the Territory of Arkansas was admitted to the Union as the 25th state on June 15, 1836. Much of the Delta had been developed for cotton plantations, and landowners there largely depended on enslaved African Americans’ labor. In 1861, Arkansas seceded from the United States and joined the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. On returning to the Union in 1868, Arkansas continued to suffer economically, due to its overreliance on the large-scale plantation economy. Cotton remained the leading commodity crop, and the cotton market declined. Because farmers and businessmen did not diversify and there was little industrial investment, the state fell behind in economic opportunity. In the late 19th century, the state instituted various Jim Crow laws to disenfranchise and segregate the African-American population. During the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, Arkansas and particularly Little Rock were major battlegrounds for efforts to integrate schools. Following World War II in the 1940s, Arkansas began to diversify its economy and see prosperity. During the 1960s, the state became the base of the Walmart corporation, the world’s largest company by revenue, headquartered in Bentonville. In the 21st century, Arkansas’s economy is based on service industries, aircraft, poultry, steel, and tourism, along with important commodity crops of cotton, soybeans and rice. Arkansas’s culture is observable in museums, theaters, novels, television shows, restaurants, and athletic venues across the state. Notable people from the state include politician and educational advocate William Fulbright; former president Bill Clinton, who also served as the 40th and 42nd governor of Arkansas; general Wesley Clark, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander; Walmart founder and magnate Sam Walton; singer-songwriters Johnny Cash, Charlie Rich, Jimmy Driftwood, and Glen Campbell; actor-filmmaker Billy Bob Thornton; poet C. D. Wright; physicist William L. McMillan, a pioneer in superconductor research; poet laureate Maya Angelou; Douglas MacArthur; musician Al Green; actor Alan Ladd; basketball player Scottie Pippen; singer Ne-Yo; Chelsea Clinton; actress Sheryl Underwood; and author John Grisham.

ARKANSAS TERRITORIES.

Congress created Arkansas Territory on March 2, 1819, out of the Territory of Missouri after Missouri petitioned for statehood. Missouri’s southern boundary ran from the Mississippi River to the St. Francis River along the line of 36˚ north latitude and then north to 36˚ 30´ and then west along that line. The northern boundary of Arkansas Territory was the southern boundary of Missouri, as defined above, and running west across the Louisiana Purchase. Its eastern boundary was the Mississippi River, and on the south, it was the same line of 33˚ north latitude that had separated the Territory of Missouri from the State of Louisiana. By the terms of the Adams-Onís Treaty negotiated a few months later, the Louisiana Purchase was defined on the west by a line running along the 100th Meridian from the Red River north to the Arkansas River. Thus, Arkansas Territory technically included much of present Oklahoma. According to the census of 1820, there were 14,273 persons in Arkansas, about 11 percent of them slaves. Not included in those figures were about six hundred Quapaw living south of the Arkansas River in the eastern part of the territory and perhaps six thousand Cherokee in the northwest. Prodded by the territorial government, the United States forced the Quapaw to relinquish their claims by a treaty made in 1825 and in 1828 pushed the Cherokee across a line running from west of Fort Smith, Arkansas, to what is now the southwest corner of Missouri. That line is the northern portion of the present boundary between Arkansas and Oklahoma. A treaty made with the Choctaw in 1825 created the southern portion of the Arkansas-Oklahoma line. The boundary tilts slightly to the southwest because the surveyor, who was from Arkansas, wished to include as many white settlers as possible.

LIST OF GOVERNORS AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE’S MEMBERS.

The state has had 46 elected governors, as well as 11 acting governors who assumed powers and duties following the resignation or death of the governor. Before becoming a state, Arkansas Territory had four governors appointed to it by the president of the United States. Orval Faubus (1955-1967) served the longest term as governor, being elected six times to serve 12 years. Bill Clinton (1979-1981; 1983-1992), elected five times over two distinct terms, fell only one month short of 12 years, and Mike Huckabee (1996-2007) served 10 years for two full four-year terms. The shortest term for an elected governor was the 38 days served by John Sebastian Little before his nervous breakdown; one of the acting successors to his term, Jesse M. Martin, took office only three days before the end of the term, the shortest term overall. The current governor of Arkansas is Republican Asa Hutchinson, who was sworn in on January 13, 2015.

Territorial (1819–1836)

State (from 1836)

MEMBERS OF REPRESENTATIVES TO THE U.S. HOUSE FROM ARKANSAS.

The following is an alphabetical list of members of the United States House of Representatives from the state of Arkansas. For chronological tables of members of both houses of the United States Congress from the state (through the present day), see United States congressional delegations from Arkansas. The list of names should be complete, but other data may be incomplete.

List of representatives