Georgia Constitutional Convention of 1867–1868
The 1867–1868 Georgia State Constitutional Convention was held for the purpose of constructing a constitution for the state following the end of the American Civil War. Held in Atlanta, the convention started on December 9, 1867 and ran through March 1868.[1][2]
Its delegates included 137 white men and 33 African American men.[1] It was the first constitutional convention to involve the participation of African-American delegates. It created a new constitution for Georgia that included suffrage for African-American males; this was a mandate of the congressional Reconstruction Acts.[1]
Final draft
The new state constitution aimed to provide rights for African Americans and promote racial equality in the state. Its bill of rights incorporated the 14th Amendment into the state constitution, and suffrage was granted to all males over the age of 21 regardless of race. The state government also was tasked with creating a system of public education. Additionally, the governor's term of office was extended to four years, with no limit, and the practice of electing judges was ended. The document also required amendments to be approved by popular vote rather than just by the state legislature and moved the state capital to Atlanta.[3]
Delegates
Delegates to the convention were elected by district.[2] Its members included the following:[2]
First Election District
- M. H. Bentley
- Aaron Alpeoria Bradley
- Walter L. Clift
- A. L. Harris
- C. H. Hopkins
- W. H. D. Reynolds
- Isaac Seeley
- James Stewart
Second Election District
- Tunis G. Campbell
- William A. Goulding
Third Election District
- A. M. Moore
Fourth Election District
- F. M. Smith
Fifth Election District
- P. B. Bedford
Sixth Election District
- Levi J. Knight
- Lewis H. Roberts
Seventh Election District
- W. C. Carson
- J. L. Cutler
- M. C. Smith
Eighth Election District
- John Higden
- B. F. Powell
- Richard H. Whiteley
Ninth Election District
- H. H. Christian
- William W. Dews
- Charles C. Martin
Tenth Election District
- Philip Joiner
- John Murphy
- Benjamin Sikes
- F. O. Welch
Eleventh Election District
- Robert Alexander
- J. A. Jackson
- W. H. Noble
- John Whitaker
Twelfth Election District
- J. E. Blount
- G. W. Chatters
- Thomas Crayton
Thirteenth Election District)
- Jesse Dinkins
- J. E. Hall
- Robert Lumpkin
- H. K. McCoy
- F. Snead
Fourteenth Election District
- J. M. Buchan
- S. F. Salter
- Simeon Stanley
- J. W. Trawick
Fifteenth Election District
- A. J. Cameron
Sixteenth Election District
- E. W. Lane
- George Linder
Seventeenth Election District
- Malcolm Claiborne
- H. H. Glisson
- J. A. Madden
- J. M. Rice
- Robert Whitehead
Eighteenth Election District
- Simeon Beaird
- Foster Blodgett
- J. E. Bryant
- Rufus B. Bullock
- Benjamin Conley
- John Neal
- Alexander Stone
Nineteenth Election District
- Joseph Adkins
- D. P. Baldwin
- John W. T. Catchings
- Robert Crumbley
- Henry Strickland
Twentieth Election District
- William Henry Harrison
- Daniel Palmer
- Charles H. Prince
- C. C. Richardson
- W. C. Supple
- George Wallace
Twenty-first Election District
- Thomas Gibson
- Samuel Gove
- William Griffin
- Charles Hooks
Twenty-second Election District
- F. Wooten
- A. Bowdoin
- M. Cooper
- W. J. Howe
- M. A. Potts
- T. J. Speer
- Henry McNeal Turner
- G. G. Wilbur
Twenty-third Election District
- J. H. Anderson
- S. A. Cobb
- William P. Edwards
- Posey Maddox
- O. H. Walton
Twenty-fourth Election District
- George W. Ashburn
- J. C. Casey
- Thomas Gilbert
- Van Jones
- J. G. Maul
Twenty-fifth Election District
- T. J. Costin
- William Guilford
- E. J. Higbee
- L. L. Stanford
- Samuel Williams
Twenty-sixth Election District
- S. T. W. Minor
- W. H. Rozar
- W. H. Whitehead
Twenty-seventh Election District
- James C. Barton
- J. W. Christian
- C. D. Davis
- John Harris
- N. P. Hotchkiss
Twenty-eighth Election District
- A. G. Foster
- H. S. Glover
- J. R. Hudson
- William F. Jordan
- T. P. Saffold
Twenty-ninth Election District
- D. G. Cotting
- James Knox
- Romulus Moore
- Lewis Pope
- Josiah Sherman
Thirtieth Election District
- Amos T. Akerman
- J. Bell
- E. S. Cobb
- J. McWhorter
Thirty-first Election District
- William F. Bowers
- S. W. Crawford
- Philip Martin
Thirty-second Election District
- Milton Moore
- J. A. Woody
Thirty-third Election District
- Madison Bell
- Benjamin Dunnigan
- William L. Marler
Thirty-fourth Election District
- J. R. Bracewell
- Shadrick Brown
- S. E. Dailey
- J. Mathews
- B. D. Shumate
Thirty-fifth Election District
- Nedom L. Angier
- H. G. Cole
- James L. Dunning
- J. H. Flinn
- David Irwin
- W. C. Lee
- H. V. M. Miller
Thirty-sixth Election District
- J. S. Bigby
- J. C. Bowden
- P. W. Chambers
- J. W. Key
- W. C. Smith
Thirty-seventh Election District
- John H. Caldwell
- A. H. Harrison
- George Harlan
- E. B. Martin
- Robert Robertson
Thirty-eighth Election District
- T. J. Foster
- R. B. Hutcherson
- J. D. Waddell
Thirty-ninth Election District
- A. W. Holcombe
- S. T. Houston
- J. G. Lott
Fortieth Election District
- John Bryson
- W. T. Crane
Forty-first Election District
- C. A. Ellington
- Wilkey McHan
Forty-second Election District
- George B. Burnett
- William A. Fort
- W. L. Goodwin
- J. R. Parrott
- Wesley Shropshire
Forty-third Election District
- S. E. Fields
- John H. King
- Leander Newton Trammell
Forty-fourth Election District
- John M. Shields
- Presley Yates
See also
References
- ^ a b c "Dec. 9, 1867: Georgia Constitutional Convention". Zinn Education Project. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
- ^ a b c Journal of the proceedings of the Constitutional Convention of the people of Georgia : held in the City of Atlanta in the months of December, 1867, and January, February and March, 1868, and ordinances and resolutions adopted / published by order of the Convention. Augusta, Georgia: E. H. Pughe Book & Job Printer, 1868. Accessed January 18, 2023.
- ^ "1868 Georgia Constitution". GeorgiaInfo. University of Georgia (published 2018). 1868. Archived from the original on 27 June 2020. Retrieved 25 June 2020.