Overview

Tracing over 200 years of constitutional tradition in Florida As historical documents, constitutions represent a unique window into the economic, social, and political contexts of the people who debated, drafted, and ratified them. This comprehensive volume examines all constitutions drafted in Florida, from the territorial era to the most recent version from 1968. In addition to the 6 constitutional revisions implemented by the state government, chapters in this book include discussions of the West Florida Republic Constitution of 1810 and the East Florida Patriot Constitution of 1812, both created before Florida became a state, as well as the constitutions of the Seminole and Miccosukee People. Contributors show what aspects of each constitution were borrowed from existing traditions and what parts were influenced by circumstances of the time. Florida has the twelfth most-revised constitution in the nation, offering a useful case study both in comparison to other states and in the flexibility of state constitutions compared to the US Constitution. This volume presents a complete history of the drafting of constitutions and the creation of governments across people and movements in Florida. It provides background information for today's debates about whether the 1968 constitution should be revised and what the next steps are for the state in this 200-year tradition. A volume in the series Government and Politics in the South, edited by Sharon D. Wright Austin and Angela K. Lewis-Maddox Contributors: M.C. Mirow James M. Denham Robert Cassanello Samuel C. Hyde, Jr. Andrea L. Oliver Christopher Day Mary E. Adkins R. Boyd Murphree Andrew K. Frank

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9780813079370

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CONTENTS List of Tables vii Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 Robert Cassanello 1. A Florida Constitution in the State of Louisiana: The 1810 Constitution of the State of Florida 16 Samuel C. Hyde 2. The Patriot Constitution and International Constitution-Making 33 M.C. Mirow 3. Florida's First State Constitutional Convention in 1838 60 James M. Denham 4. The Constitution of 1861: Florida's Confederate Constitution 86 R. Boyd Murphree 5. The 1865 Convention and Constitution 112 Robert Cassanello 6. In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union: The Drafting and Crafting of the 1868 Florida Constitution 134 Andrea L. Oliver 7. The 1885 Constitution 157 Christopher Day 8. Florida's Indigenous Constitutions: Being and Becoming Seminoles and Miccosukee in the Mid-Twentieth Century 174 Andrew K. Frank 9. Crafting Florida's 1968 Constitution 189 Mary Adkins Conclusion: The Twenty-First Century and a New State Constitution 203 Robert Cassanello Selected Bibliography 209 List of Contributors 215 Index 217

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Robert Cassanello, associate professor of history at the University of Central Florida, is the author of To Render Invisible: Jim Crow and Public Life in New South Jacksonville.

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