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xxx pp. A few mild fox spots, short closed margin tear [no loss]. Bound in modern red cloth with a defunct institution's bookplate. Very Good. This revolutionary Constitution abolishes slavery, proclaims the equality of all before the law, renders all residents citizens of the State of Alabama, and explicitly repudiates the right of secession. After Congress rejected Alabama's 1865 constitution and passage of the Reconstruction Acts in March 1867, Alabama was placed under military government until it passed a new constitution that recognized the rights of African Americans. On November 5, 1867, a constitutional convention was held in Montgomery. This Constitution is the result, the first in the State's history with the participation of African Americans. "It was a remarkable moment, then, when eighteen black delegates took their seats in the Alabama convention. . . Just six years earlier, the city had seen a convention write a constitution for the Confederate States of America." (James F. Hrdlicka: Colonists, Citizens, Constitutions: Creating the American Republic, New York, 2020. Page 168). Echoing the language of the Declaration of Independence, this Constitution states [Article One, Clause 1]: "We Declare: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Clause 2, echoing the soon-to-be ratified Fourteenth Amendment, states: "That all persons resident in this State, born in the United States, or naturalized, or who shall have legally declared their intention to become citizens of the United States, are hereby declared citizens of the State of Alabama, possessing equal civil and political rights and public privileges." Other clauses state that "no form of slavery shall exist in this State" (Clause 35) and that "this State has no right to sever its relations to the Federal Union" (Clause 37). Congress approved this constitution in June 1868. On July 13, 1868 the Alabama legislature ratified the Fourteenth Amendment and Alabama was readmitted to the Union on the same day. Two more constitutions would be drafted and ratified in Alabama following this one: in 1875, marking the end of Reconstruction in the state, and in 1901,Alabama's current constitution. This constitution was originally published by Barrett & Brown in Montgomery in 1867. Owen 880.
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