The Constitution Of The State Of Florida As Revised In 1968 And Subsequently Amended January 1995

Author : Florida Department Florida Department of State
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 80 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (841 download)

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Download or read book The Constitution of the State of Florida (As Revised in 1968 and Subsequently Amended November 2016) written by Florida Department Florida Department of State and published by . This book was released on 2021-09-25 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In preparation for statehood, fifty-six delegates from Florida's twenty counties assembled in the Panhandle town of Saint Joseph (near Port St. Joe) to frame the 1838 Constitution (cover). The delegates were mainly planters and lawyers from thirteen of the nation's twenty-six states and four foreign countries; only three were native Floridians. Three delegates would later become U.S. Senators; two, governors; and five, members of the state supreme court. The convention was called to order on December 3, 1838 and elected Robert Raymond Reid of St. Augustine as president. The constitution divided the government into the traditional three branches - an executive headed by the governor elected to a single four year term, a bicameral legislature that met annually, and a judiciary headed by a supreme court. It banned bank officers, clergymen, and duelists from election to the legislature and governorship; and declared free men equal while at the same time preserving slavery. The constitution was approved by popular vote in 1839 and served as Florida's constitution from statehood in 1845 until Florida seceded from the Union in 1861. The original 1838 Constitution, signed by forty-one delegates on January 11, 1839, has disappeared. The only surviving handwritten copy is a clerk's copy signed by Reid and Joshua Knowles, convention secretary, found by the William N. "Bill" Galphin family in Fernandina Beach in 1982. The family inherited the copy from Galphin's grandfather William Thompson. Thompson married the niece of Judge John C. McGehee, a delegate to the 1838 convention and president of the Secession Convention of 1861. The 1838 Constitution is one of many historical documents that may be found at the Florida State Archives. Located in the R.A. Gray Building in Tallahassee, the Archives is mandated by law to collect and preserve documentation of Florida's past; including photographs, state records, and private papers of individuals and organizations.