Constitutional-Convention

Alabama Constitutional Convention: White Supremacy Constitution Becomes Blueprint for Southern Disenfranchisement

1901-05-21 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 8/10

The Alabama Constitutional Convention adopted a new state constitution explicitly designed to eliminate Black voting while maintaining white political supremacy through facially neutral provisions. Convention president John Knox declared in his opening address that the convention’s purpose was …

John Knox Alabama Legislature Democratic Party Black Belt Planters voting-rights disenfranchisement alabama constitutional-convention jim-crow +1 more

Gouverneur Morris Condemns Slavery as Curse of Heaven at Constitutional Convention

1787-08-08 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 7/10

Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania delivers a powerful moral condemnation of slavery during Constitutional Convention debates over representation, attacking the Three-Fifths Compromise and challenging southern delegates who profess little willingness to end slavery in their states. Morris declares …

Gouverneur Morris James Madison Southern state delegates Pennsylvania delegation slavery constitutional-convention moral-opposition three-fifths-compromise slave-power