Restored Alabama Constitutions
Work is part of the the state's Bicentennial Celebration.
Members of The “Friends of The Alabama Archives” group were given a first look at the “Ordinance of Secession” and two early Alabama Constitutions today.
The documents been in Massachusetts for some much needed restoration. The other constitutions are now being restored and all of them will be back in the state in time for display in Huntsville next year. Later the display will return to Montgomery for an archives display.
The first was written in 1819—just before Alabama was granted statehood. It included the laws of slavery, of course:
SEC. 1. The General Assembly shall have no power to pass laws for the emancipation of slaves, without the consent of their owners, or without paying their owners, previous to such emancipation, a full equivalent in money for the slaves so emancipated. (follow the link below for the entire constitution).
Immediately after the Civil War, another Alabama Constitution was written, describing Alabama, once again as a state.
The Ordinance of Secession declared Alabama no longer a state.
The restoration experts are also working on the existing constitution—-said to be the longest in the world because it has been amended almost 900 times.
Fortunately the restoration will only involve the actual document, not the amendments. Members of The Alabama Constitutional Convention that wrote the 1901 document intended it to solidify power in Montgomery by making it harder for local governments to make law.
Visit this archives page for full information about state of Alabama constitutions and other legal documents.
