State Constitutions Illustrated

With Election Day right around the corner, researchers can take the time to not only review what’s on the ballot but flip through their state constitution before heading to the polls. In HeinOnline’s State Constitutions Illustrated database, users can find the text of every constitution that has been in force for every state along with the original, consolidated, and current texts. Users can also discover amendments that have been approved for each state during scheduled elections. This year, constitutional amendments are on the 2023 ballot in the following states: Maine, New York, Ohio, and Texas.

The wildfires that ravaged the Hawai‘ian island of Maui and completely destroyed the city of Lahaina last month have rekindled conversations about the ethicality of tourism in Hawai‘i, a state where many of the world’s richest people have properties while many natives can no longer afford to live, as well as the controversial history of how Hawai‘i came to be an American state in the first place.

New York State’s Adirondack Park is the largest state park outside of Alaska, consisting of six million acres of protected land in Upstate New York. Centering on the Adirondack Mountains, the park encompasses vast areas of forest, including some of the largest old growth forests East of the Mississippi, dotted with hundreds of glacial lakes. The balancing act between preservation and exploitation has been one of the defining characteristics of the park since its establishment in 1892. Keep reading, as we explore the history of the Adirondack Park

Although they don’t usually draw as large of a turnout as presidential elections, midterms are important in determining the agendas and priorities of the U.S. government for the next two years. Several important issues were on the ballot in various states. Check out our recap of the results!

This summer, a landmark decision from the Supreme Court marked a historic win for Native American tribes, acknowledging their rights and forever transforming the justice system of the state of Oklahoma. In case you missed it, reports rang out through July and August that half of the state had been ruled Native American land. However, in many cases, the headlines were misleading. Yes, the Supreme Court came to a major decision about criminal jurisdiction in Oklahoma—but no, the Court did not rule specifically on land ownership. Curious about how it all went down?

More than 170 years ago, the course of American history was forever changed when millwright James W. Marshall discovered gold in the new U.S. territory of California. The discovery sparked an influx of travelers to the territory, rapidly increasing the area’s population and directly contributing to California’s eventual statehood. Keep reading to learn more about the gold rush and its role in the formation of “the Golden State.”