02722nam a22004093i 4500 22061503 20250607105740.8 m |o d | cr ||||||||||| 210525s1838 xx |||||o|||||||| ||eng 22061503 0 ibc orignew u ncip 20 y-gencatlg LCAP batch update 2025-06-02-04:00: LCAPM-988 2021667637 (WDL)03937 DLC eng DLC eng 342 Florida Constitution of 1838. [place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 1838. 1 online resource. text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier Title devised, in English, by Library staff. Original resource extent: 14 pages; 54 x 45 centimeters. On December 3, 1838, delegates from across the Territory of Florida gathered in the town of Saint Joseph to draft a constitution in preparation for statehood. Although Saint Joseph was to disappear from the map within a decade, after suffering a devastating hurricane and repeated outbreaks of yellow fever, the work of the constitutional convention survived, resulting in this document. The 1838 constitution established a one-term governor, a bicameral legislature, tight restrictions on banking (a response to the national banking crisis of 1837), and a strict separation of church and state (no clergyman could serve as governor or legislator). Delegates used the constitutions of several other southern states as models. This constitution, approved in 1845 by the United States Congress, remained the basic governing document of the state through the Civil War. Confederate Florida amended, but did not replace, the 1838 constitution. In 1865, Reconstruction delegates adopted a new constitution as part of the process of restoring Florida to the Union. The original constitution, signed by the delegates, has never been found. Considered a "secretary's copy," this document is the only known copy of the 1838 constitution. Original resource at: State Library and Archives of Florida. Content in English. Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions. 1838 Constitutions Politics and government Florida Constitutional Convention Author. United States of America Florida gdcwdl wdl_03937 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.wdl/wdl.3937 wdl/wdlpartner/wdlflorida s-Online Electronic Resource