 A constitutional convention was assembled in the territory in July 1857 . Divisions between Republicans and Democrats led to the drafting of two separate <unk> . The larger cities of Saint Paul , Saint Anthony , and Stillwater were the domain of the Democrats whereas agrarian southern Minnesota was the domain of the Republicans . A single constitution was finally worked out between the two factions though the more powerful Democrats ultimately prevailed on most issues . The resentment between the two parties remained so <unk> that two separate copies of the constitution had to be used so that members of each party did not have to sign a copy signed by members of the other party . The copies were signed on August 29 , 1857 and an election was called on October 13 , 1857 to approve the document . 30 @,@ <unk> voters approved the constitution , while 571 rejected it . 
