Dear Fellow Missourians, As your Secretary of State, it is my pleasure to provide you with a copy of both the Missouri Constitution and the Constitution of the United States. These are the documents that provide the framework for the freedoms and rights that we hold most dear. They represent both a celebration of our past, as well as a path for our journey into the future. Missouri became a state in 1821 and has adopted four constitutions in that time. The first was adopted in 1820, and the most recent was adopted in 1945. Since then, this document has been amended many times to reflect the changes in our collective experiences and expanding knowledge. Currently, the Missouri Constitution is more than eight times the length of the United States Constitution. The government has an obligation to serve the people, and these Constitutions form the parameters by which our government fulfills those obligations. Missourians have sworn oaths to these documents.