Promoting public awareness of proposed amendments to the constitution of the State of Florida by means of public advocacy.
Intended to be the sacred document outlining the fundamental principles for the governing of our state, Florida’s Constitution is the easiest to amend in the United States. As a result, Florida’s Constitution is five times longer than the U.S. Constitution. “Protect Our Constitution” was created to do just that – protect Florida’s Constitution from special interest groups who have discovered just how easy and inexpensive it can be to amend our constitution. “Protect Our Constitution” seeks to promote public awareness of proposed constitutional amendments to Florida’s Constitution.
In preparation for statehood, fifty-six delegates from Florida’s twenty counties assembled in the Panhandle town of Saint Joseph (near Port St. Joe) to frame the 1838 Constitution (cover). The delegates were mainly planters and lawyers from thirteen of the nation’s twenty-six states and four foreign countries; only three were native Floridians. Three delegates would later become U.S. Senators; two, governors; and five, members of the state supreme court.
The constitution divided the government into the traditional three branches – an executive headed by the governor elected to a single four year term, a bicameral legislature that met annually, and a judiciary headed by a supreme court. The constitution was approved by popular vote in 1839 and served as Florida’s constitution from statehood in 1845 until Florida seceded from the Union in 1861.
The original 1838 Constitution, signed by forty-one delegates on January 11, 1839, has disappeared. The only surviving handwritten copy is a clerk’s copy signed by Reid and Joshua Knowles, convention secretary, found by the William N. “Bill” Galphin family in Fernandina Beach in 1982. The 1838 Constitution is one of many historical documents that may be found at the Florida State Archives. Located in the R.A. Gray Building in Tallahassee.