Books and Manuscripts

A scarce contemporary printing of Alabama's Reconstruction Constitution

"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."

(Washington, D.C.: Printed at the Great Republic Office, ca. 1867-68). 8vo. 16 pp. Disbound; scattered soiling; offsetting from an inscription from when bound, at top of first page.

Following Congress's rejection of Alabama's 1865 post-Confederate constitution (the state's third following its first, in 1819, and second, in 1861) and the 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 and this new constitution was drafted (its fourth), 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, p. 168, Colonists, Citizens, Constitutions: Creating the American Republic, New York, 2020). Echoing the language of the Declaration of Independence, this new Alabama constitution states in 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 in Article I go on to 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). The constitution further delineates the borders of the state, and establishes the powers of the executive, judicial, and legislative branches, as well as the establishment of a Board of Education using state taxes to finance public education.

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. This edition was likely printed by supporters of its adoption, sometime before its ratification in 1868.