[p. 79 Colton Hall, Monterey, 1908e. p. 79]
A year had passed since the treaty of peace was signed, but Congress had done nothing for California. The pro-slavery element in that body was determined to fasten the curse of slavery on a portion of the territory acquired from Mexico and all legislation was at a standstill. The people were becoming restive under the mixed military and civil government. The question of calling a convention to form a state constitution had been agitated for some time. Conforming to the expressed wish of many leading men of the territory, Governor Riley called an election August 1st, 1849, to elect delegates to form a state constitution, or a territorial government, if that should be seen best, and to elect judges, prefects and alcaldes for the principal municipal districts. The convention was to consist of thirty-seven delegates, but forty-eight were elected, and when it met at Monterey, September 1st, 1849, in Colton Hall, this number was seated. Colton Hall was a stone building erected by Alcalde Walter Colton for a town hall and schoolhouse. The money to build it was derived partly from fines and partly from subscriptions and the greater part of the construction work was done by prisoners. It was at that time the most commodious public building in the territory.
Of the forty-eight delegates, twenty-two were from the northern states, fifteen from the slave states, four were of foreign birth and seven were native Califorians. Several of the latter neither spoke nor understood English and Wm. E.P. Hartnell was appointed interpreter. Dr. Robert Semple of Bear Flag fame was elected president; Wm. G. Marcy secretary, and J. Ross Browne reporter. Early in the session the slavery question was disposed of by adopting a section declaring that "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, unless for the punishment of crimes, shall ever be tolerated in this state." The question of fixing the boundaries of the future state excited the most discussion. The pro-slavery faction was led by Wm. M. Gwin, who had recently come to the territory with the avowed intention of representing the new state in the United States senate. The scheme of Gwin and his southern associates was to make the Rocky mountains the eastern boundary. This would create a state with an [p. 80] area of about four hundred thousand square miles. They reasoned that when the admission of the state came before Congress the southern members would oppose the admission of so large a territory under a free state constitution and that ultimately a compromise would be affected. California would be split in two from east to west, the old dividing line, the parallel of 36° 30" would be established, and Southern California would come into the Union as a slave state. There were, at this time, fifteen free and fifteen slave states. If two states, one free and one slave, were made out of California territory, the equilibrium would be preserved. The Rocky mountain boundary was adopted at one time, but in the closing days of the session the free state men discovered Gwin's scheme and it was defeated. The present boundaries were established by a majority of two.