Developing Politics on the Agricultural Frontier, 1803

Excerpt from the Ohio Constitution, Article VIII, Section 3, providing for religious freedom in Ohio, but insinuating that all Ohioans should be religious and should worship the “Almighty God.”

Ohio's new farmers were deeply religious, a value which shaped society in their new state, as well as the development of the state's government. As Arden Ramseyer noted, “It was the role of the church that brought our forefathers here.”¹

While many settlers came to Ohio for the fertile land, they often migrated to escape religious persecution.² Ohio’s 1803 Constitution allowed settlers the freedom to worship “Almighty God,” but did not encourage separation of church and state.³ In fact, the Constitution seemed to encourage a belief in God: “But religion, morality and knowledge being essentially necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of instructions shall forever be encouraged by legislative provision not inconsistent with the rights of conscience” (pictured).⁴

Ohio’s controversial motto “With God All Things Are Possible,” a quote from the New Testament, was established in 1959 and survived a federal constitutional challenge in 2001. It remains a symbol of the Christian Church’s influence on the Ohio government that has continued since 1803.

Though it mentioned religion, Ohio's 1803 Constitution did not mention agriculture.⁵ Federal land laws promoted agriculture in the West, but Ohio's early government was less involved directly in agriculture. Farmers viewed agriculture as a part of their independent way of life and were hesitant to ask the government for help, however, because they received federal lands, they were dependent on government help.⁶

While agriculture and politics interacted less in the first several decades of Ohio’s statehood, farmers shaped policy. Their individualism encouraged the separation of politics and agriculture as Ohio developed, and their religious beliefs provided for a religious culture that accepted settlers with Christian religions. These founding values of independence and religion shaped politics and agriculture throughout the nineteenth century and to the present day.

¹ Arden Ramseyer. “In Our Own Words: Residents of Smithville and the Smithville Area Tell Their Stories Interview Summary,” interview by William Burton and Margaux Day on June 15, 2006.
² R. Douglas Hurt, The Ohio Frontier: Crucible of the Old Northwest, 1720-1830 (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1996), 211, 232, 284, 291, 299, 302.
³ Ohio State Const., art. 8, § 3, 1803.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Fred A. Shannon, The Farmer’s Last Frontier: Agriculture, 1860-1897, Vol. 5, The Economic History of the United States (New York: Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., 1945), 6.