It was estimated, after the election, that ninety-six of the members of the convention were to be designated as Radicals, and four as Conservatives. Of the ninety-six, there were seventeen blacks; of the remainder, a large number were comparatively strangers in Alabama, and in no way identified with her people or her prosperity; thus making nearly half of the convention consist of blacks, and persons from the Northern States.

On October 18th Major-General Pope issued the following orders for the convention to assemble:

General Orders, No. 76. HEADQUARTERS THIRD MILITARY DISTRICT (GEORGIA, ALABAMA, AND FLORIDA), ATLANTA, GA., October 18, 1567.) Whereas, By General Orders, No. 59, from headquarters, dated August 31, 1867, an election was ordered to be held in the State of Alabama, on the first, second, and third days of October, 1867, at which election, in pursuance of an act of Congress, entitled "An Act to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel States," and the acts sup, plementary thereto, the registered voters of said State might vote "for a convention," or "against a convention," and for delegates to constitute the convention, in case a majority of the votes given on that question should be for a convention, and in case a majority of all the registered voters should have voted on the question of a convention;

Whereas, At an election held in pursuance of said order, and in conformity with said acts, there were polled, on the question of convention, votes to the number of ninety-five thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, being more than one-half of one hundred and sixty-five thousand eight hundred and thirteenthe whole number of registered voters in said State, including those registered during the five days mentioned in said order; of the whole number of votes polled on the question of convention, ninety thousand two hundred and eighty-three, being a majority of the same, were cast for a convention;" And Whereas, At said election the following-named persons were elected as delegates to said convention from the respective election districts in which they

were chosen :

[Here follows a list of the names.]

It is Ordered, That the persons above named do meet in convention, at Montgomery, Ala., at the Capitol, on Tuesday, the fifth day of November, 1867, and proceed to frame a constitution and civil government for the State of Alabama, according to the provisions of the acts above referred to, and that when the same shall have been so framed, the said constitution be submitted for ratification to the

registered voters of said State, as further required by law.

JOHN POPE, Brevet Major-General U. S. A. The convention, accordingly, assembled at Montgomery, on November 5th. Eighty-nine delegates were present, and organized by the selection of E. W. Peck, of Tuscaloosa, as permanent president, and other officers. The president had been a lawyer by profession, in the State, for nearly thirty years, a Northern man by birth, formerly a Whig, opposed to secession, and a Union man during the war. Α resolution was then adopted to take simply an oath to support the Constitution, and discharge their duties faithfully as members of the convention. The business was allotted to committees; General Swayne was invited to a seat in the convention; the president was instructed

to procure two Federal flags, with which to drape his seat. The following resolution was offered by a colored delegate, and adopted:

Resolved, That this convention do memorialize Congress to remove all the political disabilities of those citizens of Alabama, at its next session, who State on the plan proposed by Congress. have materially aided in the reconstruction of said

Another resolution was adopted, to make the existing constitution of Alabama the basis of the new one, with such changes as were necessary to comply with the requisitions of the Military Bill and to insure the full enjoyment of equal civil and political rights to all, without distinction of color. Major-General Pope was invited to take a seat in the convention. Whereupon he appeared, and spoke as follows: Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention:

I

Be pleased to accept my thanks for this cordial greeting. It is especially grateful to me, as it indicates your feeling of approval of the manner in which I have discharged my duties amongst you. I congratulate you upon the success which has thus far and its restoration to the Union-results due altocrowned your efforts at the pacification of this State gether to the firmness and fearlessness with which you have conducted the late political campaign. Whilst I disclaim any purpose whatever to attempt to influence your deliberations in any manner, trust I may be permitted to say that moderation of counsel and temperance of action are peculiarly becoming in a convention vested with the power which is in your hands. I trust, and believe, that your deliberations and the action consequent upon them will lay the foundation for the permanent welfare and interest of the State of Alabama, and for the general welfare of the country. In this view I rest Content, and I congratulate you upon the respectable and orderly body which I see before me.

A resolution was offered to appoint a committee of five to confer with Major-General Pope in regard to organizing a provisional government for the State, and vacating ali offices of the pretended government within the next twenty days. It was laid on the tableyeas 45, nays 42. Nearly all the colored delegates voted yea.

A resolution was offered and referred to the appropriate committee, for an ordinance "removing all laws, regulations, or customs heretofore or at present in existence wherein distinctions are made on account of color, caste, or former condition of servitude. Another was referred, which provided that all laborers should have a lien upon the crops and all other personal property of their employers for the payment of wages. Subsequently, on the fourth day of the session, the following ordinance was offered:

Whereas, Since the 10th day of January, 1861, no loyal government has existed in Alabama and whereas, such illegal or pretended government as now exists therein is administered by men who have been elected to power and authority on account of services rendered in behalf of treason and rebellion; and whereas, said pretended government does not adequately protect loyal men in their rights of life, liberty, and property: Therefore,

Resolved, That this convention should proceed to organize a provisional government for the State, and to this end all important offices in this State

should be declared vacant within thirty days after the 1st day of December, 1867.

Releed, That a provisional Governor should be appointed by this convention, whose first duty should be to fill by appointment all offices thus vacated with competent men who can take and subscribe the oath prescribed by Act of Congress approved July 2, 1862.

Resolved That during the existence of said provisional government, and after the various offices are filled as required by the preceding resolution, all vacancies occurring in said offices shall be filled by election: Provided, however, That no person shall be eligible to fill any office whatever under said provisional, government who cannot take and subscribe the aforesaid oath.

The convention refused to lay the ordinance on the table-yeas 26, nays 57, when it was referred to the appropriate committee. A resolution was offered by a colored delegate from Mobile and adopted, requiring the sergeant-atarms to set apart a place in the galleries and lobbies for the ladies. A resolution declaring that there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the State except for crime, etc., was referred; also another, making registration a permanent law of the State.

Mr. Dustan (late brigadier-general, United States Army) offered the following resolution: Resolved, That the several committees to which subjects relating to the formation of the constitution shall be referred are hereby instructed, that it is the sense of this convention that the new constitution shall be, in no degree, proscriptive, but that the convention intends, with charity toward all and malice toward none, to so conduct its deliberations that its action may enure to the general welfare of the people of Alabama and of the United States.

The resolution was amended by striking out the words "that it is the sense" down to "intends." A motion to lay on the table was then lost, by yeas 30, nays 50. It was then moved to insert a provision that the new constitution should leave the question of disfranchisement where it had been left by the Military Bill. If the convention went beyond the requirements of the Military Bill, the new constitution would not be ratified. The resolution and amendment were finally defeated, by 63 to 22. A resolution was adopted, making it the duty of the convention to provide a system of free schools which should place in the reach of all children of the State the means of acquiring a good English education.

A large number of resolutions on various other subjects were introduced by members, and referred to appropriate committees. On the sixth day of the session, November 11th, the Committee on the Elective Franchise made a majority report. It required all persons, before registering, to take an oath to support the Federal and State Constitutions; to abandon all belief in the right of secession; to accept the civil and political equality of all men, agree not to attempt or to countenance any attempt by others to deprive any person, on account of race, color, or previous condition, of any political or civil right, privilege or immunity enjoyed by any other class of men; to promise

not to injure in any way, or countenance others in the attempt to injure, any person for present or past support of the Federal Constitution and the policy of Congress, or the principle of the civil and political equality of all men, or of affiliation with any political party.

any cruel or unusual punishment upon soldiers All persons were disfranchised who caused or others in the employment of the United States during the war; or violated the usages of civilized warfare; or had been guilty of treason, embezzlement of public funds, crimes, etc.; or registered persons who should refuse to vote for or against this constitution, etc., etc. A minority report made all persons electors who were citizens over twenty-one years of age, and had resided in the State a year, and had not been guilty of certain crimes, nor had violated the rules of civilized warfare, and who should take an oath to support, obey, protect, and defend the Federal and State Constitutions.

On the next day an amendment was proposed to the majority report that no person should be deemed a qualified elector before 1875 who ever held a military office above the rank of captain, or a seat in any Legislature, or any office under any government opposed to the United States, or acted in any way as civil or military agent of such authority, or voted for or against any ordinance of secession, or abused citizens of Alabama because they were friends of the Union, or treated prisoners other than as prisoners of war.

The argument made by the author of the amendment was that "unless a sweeping clause of disfranchisement as proposed by him was adopted, the rebels would very soon gain entire control of the State government, and the Union men demanded that the leading rebels should be deprived of the right of suffrage, at least until 1875."

A large number of amendments were now offered and laid over until the next day, when Mr. Lee (colored), of Perry, said:

I advocate the adoption of the minority report, because this report grants equal civil and political rights to all men, of every race and every color. This is all that I, as a colored man, can ask for my race.

To ask for more would be wrong and unjust. I have no desire to take away any of the rights of the white man; all I want is equal rights in the court-house and equal rights when I go to vote. I think the time has come when charity and moderation should characterize the actions of us all. Besides, the minority report is confined strictly to the reconstruction measures of Congress, which measures define the powers and limit the action of this convention. To go beyond these would be to endanger the ratification of the constitution formed by this convention, both by the people and by Congress, and I besecured without delay, the probability is they will lieve that, if the colored race do not get their rights never get them. I therefore hope the principles contained in the majority report will not pass, but that the minority report will be adopted.

Mr. Keffer contended that the majority report did not disfranchise any one not already disfranchised by the military bills. In reply to

those who demanded further disfranchisement, he said the time for punishment had gone by. If the Republican party further attempt to stay the tide of popular opinion, it will be swept away.

Mr. Morgan, of Wilcox, spoke in opposition to both reports. He said among other objections that he had to the majority report was that it required every man to vote on the ratification of the constitution, under a threat of disfranchisement if they did not. This was in violation of the spirit of the Reconstruction Bill, which provided in effect that the election on the ratification of the constitution should be "one at which all the registered and qualified electors in the State had an opportunity to vote freely and without fear or restraint."

Mr. Rapier (colored), of Lauderdale, introduced the following ordinance:

Whereas, The elective franchise of those persons known in the State of Alabama as colored persons rests solely upon the success of the Reconstruction Act of Congress:

Therefore, be it ordained, etc., That all colored male persons of the age of twenty-one years and upward are hereby declared citizens of the State of Alabama, and are entitled to all the privileges and immunities of the citizens thereof. Referred.

The subject was then postponed-yeas 50, nays 24.

Mr. Strother (colored), of Dallas, offered the following:

Resolved, That the Committee on Ordinances be required to inquire into the expediency of passing an ordinance giving the colored people of this State a fair equivalent for their services from those persons who held them in slavery from the 1st of January, 1863, to the 20th of May, 1865. Adopted-yeas 53, nays 31.

The first ordinance passed by the convention was to abolish the new County of Jones, created at the last session of the State Legislature. Another was presented to change the name of Claiborne to Lincoln County. It was referred to the Committee on Ordinances with instructions "to bring in an ordinance changing the name of every county in Alabama named in honor of the rebellion, and in glorification of traitors"-yeas 57, nays 33. Another was offered, to change the name of Colbert County to Brownlow, the name of the Governor of Tennessee. Laid on the table-yeas 76,

nays 12.

Two reports were presented by the Committee on the Executive Department, which differed chiefly in the terms of the officers.

The report of the Committee on the Militia mnade very little change in the old militia law of the State.

The Committee on Finance and Taxation reported an article of the constitution, that all taxes levied on property shall be assessed in exact proportion to the value of such property, and a poll-tax of $1.50 to aid the school fund might be levied. On the same day, November 18th, a substitute was offered for the majority report on the elective franchise, which provided

that every male citizen of the United States, without regard to race, color, or previous condition, and every male person who had declared his intention to become a citizen, twentyone years old or upward, who had resided in the State six months before an election, shall be deemed an elector. Federal soldiers and sailors were excepted, and those who participated voluntarily in the war against the United States, or gave aid and comfort to the same, or who had been convicted of crime, or disfranchised under the 14th article of the constitutional amendment, etc. Mr. Speed, of Perry, said:

were

The majority report proposed to disfranchise both friend and foe, not for any crime, but simply because of a refusal of a citizen to vote on a certain question. This clause of the report is in direct conflict with the Constitution of the United States, and is otherwise absurd and ridiculous. From 30,000 to 40,000 voters, who, though friendly to reconstruction under the bill, will be disfranchised because of their inability to reach the polls. This clause of the report is in direct antagonism to the Reconstruction Acts of Congress. I am opposed to going further than Congress requires, and urge the convention to reject the majority report and adopt the minority report, the latter being in accord ance with the requirements of Congress. My people have been persecuted enough by Congress, and I do not wish to persecute and heap additional burdens upon the people of Alabama. I want to forget and forgive. am opposed to secession, but many of my fellow-citizens have believed honestly in secession. The South is entirely stricken down; I am opposed to oaths, and I want to reconstruct the State as soon as possible. I will never take an oath which will prevent me from forever changing the constitution of the State, as the oath of the majority requires. I prefer disfranchisement to that. I ask the chairman of the committee (Mr. Griffin) if the oath does not require, in one of its provisions, that the voter shall never favor a change in the new constitution of Alabama.

Mr. Griffin said it did; that it was the determination of the committee to forever fasten this constitution upon the people of Alabama. He wanted cal equality should be secured to the negro. to tie the hands of rebels, so that complete politi

On a motion to substitute the minority for the majority report, Mr. Peck, the president of the convention, said:

I am in favor of the majority report, contending that this convention has the right to disfranchise Radical party, I assert, depends upon the passage and proscribe. The success and salvation of the by this convention of the disfranchising clauses of the majority report. I believe the majority report, while it might not rigidly be confined to the letter of the Reconstruction Acts, is framed in the spirit and adheres to their intent and purpose. The great object which ought to govern the action of the conven tion is to keep the State out of the control of disloyal men, and this object, I think, would be accomplished by the amended majority report. The oath protects the colored people of the State effectually against any have been recently granted, and secures for Alabama infringement of the civil and political rights which perfect civil and political equality. I do not see how a man can conscientiously take that oath if he enter tains any intention of depriving the colored people of the equality of the civil and political rights which of government-that all men should stand upon the they now enjoy. The essence of a republican form same broad platform of entire equal rights-would

be thus preserved, and the golden rule would be consistently practised. Most of the men who had entered into the scheme of secession, I believe, have

been honest, honorable, Christian men, and if they consented to take this oath they would keep it. In my poor judgment, under this oath, the Republican party would gain two votes where their enemies would get one. There were many good men who participated in the rebellion, who are now in favor of reconstruction, and would gladly take this oath. The oath does not require this class of men to renounce their belief in the right of secession, but to renounce the right. The question of secession has already been decided by the test of battle, and although some men might still believe in the original right of secession, they are, I think, if they are sensible and rational, content to abide by the decision arrived at before the dread tribunal of war. The meaning of the Reconstruction Act is undoubtedly that the State should be reconstructed by loyal mea, and no man, who insists not only in the belief, bat in the right of secession, ought to be regarded as a loyal man or intrusted with any political powers. In speaking of the third section of the report which disfranchises any man who, having been registered, declines to vote upon the ratification of the constitution to be submitted to the people by the convention, Mr. Peck said he had only one grand objection against it, and that was that it went beyond the provisions of the Reconstruction Acts.

The motion to substitute the minority report was lost-yeas 19, nays 76.

To the article on the legislative department the following section was added, which, by the use of the word "person," made the blacks eligible to any office in the State or United States:

Sec. 4. No person shall be a Representative unless he is eligible as an elector to vote for members of the General Assembly.

The article containing the declaration of rights scarcely differs from the usual form except in section 2, where, by the words "puble privileges," entire social, civil, and political equality on railroads, steamboats, and omnibuses, is secured to all blacks. It is as follows: Sec. 2. That all persons resident in this State, born, in the United States, or naturalized, or who shall bare legally declared their intention to become itizens of the United States, are hereby declared citizens of the State of Alabama, possessing equal civil and political rights and public privileges.

The following section was offered as a part of the declaration of rights:

Sec. 25. That common carriers shall make no discrimination on account of color between persons travelling in this State on public conveyances. It was strongly supported by all the colored delegates and opposed by the whites. The speeches created much excitement, and further sation was postponed from Saturday to Monday, November 25th. When the question again came the following was offered as an amendment to section 1:

Equality of civil rights is not invaded by the adoptio of such reasonable regulations by proprietors hotels, steamboats, railroads, and places of public asement, as may be necessary to furnish separate country, so long as such separation shall be demanded by the sentiment of the white race."

accommodations to the two races which inhabit our

VOL. VII.-8

An exciting discussion threatening, the resolution and amendment were hurried out of the Convention by referring to the Committee on the Constitution. The question was introduced again on the next day but laid on the table.

The report of the Committee on Education established schools in each township of the State for all children within certain ages, and a Board of Education. A substitute was offered which provided that separate schools should be established for white and colored children. This was laid on the table-yeas 58, nays 7. After some discussion the report was adoptedyeas 57, nays 35. The blacks voted against it, as they were opposed to sending their children to the same schools with the white children."

66

Several other less important articles of the constitution were reported and adopted. On November 29th the Committee on Franchise offered the following section, which, after some discussion, was laid on the table:

Sec. 4. The General Assembly shall have power at its first session, after the adoption of this constitution, to alter or amend this article: Provided, That such alteration or amendment shall not enfranchise any person or persons disfranchised by this article: be disfranchised by such alteration or amendment Provided further, That no person or persons shall who shall have aided in reconstructing this State under the laws of Congress, or who did not aid the enemies of the United States during the late rebellion.

The Judiciary Committee reported an ordinance declaring marriages between white and black persons void ab initio, to be embraced in the judiciary department. Mr. Semple urged the passage of the ordinance. He said that there was an effort on the part of some to hide this question away. He said he wanted the question voted upon now as a test question. If there were any in this house who believe amalgamation and miscegenation to be conducive to the best interests of Alabama, he wanted to know it. For one he wished to preserve the distinction as well as pride of races.

Mr. Carraway (colored) said he understood that this ordinance prohibited marriage between the whites and blacks, and if so it was in direct conflict with the Civil Rights Bill. He, therefore, wanted it printed, so he could thoroughly understand its intent and purpose-and also to offer an amendment. The motion to lay on the table and print prevailed-yeas 45, nays 31.

The amendment proposed by Mr. Carraway was as follows: "Provided, That any white man found cohabiting with a negro woman shall be imprisoned for life." The amendment was received with applause and clapping of hands by a large majority.

An ordinance was passed legitimatizing the marriages of freedmen and women.

Another was passed declaring the war debt of the State void.

A resolution was passed that the convention should finally adjourn, subject to the call of its president or the military commander of the district, and if not reconvened within one year, its adjournment was to be considered sine die.