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This collection comprises citizen petitions written to the legislatures of the Wisconsin Territory and later the State of Wisconsin, from 1836 to 1891. At the time, petitions were the only direct means for citizens to communicate with the government.
From requesting dams, roads, and money to build schoolhouses, to recording views on slavery, suffrage, and statehood, these petitions reveal what settlers wished to achieve for their communities, and the ways in which they hoped to connect Wisconsin to the expanding commerce and intellectual life of the United States. These petitions are mostly handwritten in blue and iron gall ink; most petitions comprise a title page, the petition itself, and signature pages.
For more information about this Collection, visit its Online Finding Aid and View the Online Collection.
The work of flattening, scanning, and describing these petitions was funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commissions (NHPRC) of the National Archives.
Works
All works are fully transcribed.
Petition for altering the territorial road from Milwaukee to Madison
Petition for altering the voting act to include foreigners who live in the Territory
Petition for altering the way land owners bear the tax burden
Petition for altering the way taxes are assessed in Walworth County
Petition for altering treatment of convicts to include reform and paid work
Petition for amending a charter for a bridge on Nepasuik Lake at Wheatland
Petition for amending a law authorizing a dam on the Fox River
Petition for amending a law relating to roads in Clark County
