The Spirit of 1889: Restoring the Lost Promise of the High Plains and Northern Rockies

＂This book explores the loss of the commonweal inclusivity once found in the Great Plains and Northern Rockies. The book demonstrates how the original states of the Dakota 1861 Territory-North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho-focused on classic republican values. When statehood approached, the constitutional conventions held in August 1889 furthered a commonwealth agenda. The delegates banned child labor, promoted suffrage, curbed the power of railroads and grain monopolies, mandated state ownership of running water, opened voting eligibility, and (later) created state-owned banks. Today, these five states, the 89ers, as the book calls them, are not only among the most politically conservative, but lean toward authoritarianism. Legislators restrict voting, disenfranchise Native Americans, limit protests, squash public education, and curb immigration. These are in direct contradiction of the values found in the 1889 constitutions＂--