In this landmark study, Jean Bickmore White provides the first comprehensive history of Utah's various attempts at constitution writing as well as a detailed study of the final successful document. Taking a broad, comparative perspective, White examines the key areas of Utah's first six draft constitutions and their relationship to other documents being written across the West. In addition to the legal and linguistic details of each document, the author explains the various political steps of accommodation that were taken by Utahns and the federal government before the stage was set for the successful constitutional convention of 1895. The core of this volume is a detailed account of that 1895 convention. White's vivid narrative brings to life the characters and the conflicts that emerged throughout the months of the convention. The 107 delegates' task, after a turbulent territorial period when Mormons and non-Mormons eyed each other over a chasm of mistrust, was to write a charter for a new era. Emphasizing the key issues that had stalled statehood in the past and would continue to preoccupy citizens in the future - woman suffrage, polygamy, separation of church and state - the author describes the delegates' debates and shows how Utah's discussions were related to broader regional and national questions. She also explains how other states had resolved these issues in their constitutions. The final chapter of this informative book analyzes how the constitution has fared over the past 100 years of statehood, showing where its language has stood the test of time and where historical circumstances have demanded some change. The book is richly illustrated with photographs and line drawings of the period and includes an entertaining appendix with biographical sketches of each of the delegates to the 1895 constitutional convention.