Florida drafts a postwar constitution

Convention Details. Delegates met in October 1865 to write a new constitution. The resulting document restricted voting rights to white male citizens. This restriction meant the constitution did not satisfy the requirements of the United States Congress for seating delegates from former Confederate states. As a result, the 1865 constitution was scrapped, leading to the adoption of the 1868 constitution, which conferred the franchise on all male persons.

Outcomes. The 1865 constitution did not meet the requirements of Congress for seating delegates from former Confederate states, and it was scrapped in favor of the Constitution of 1868. Florida became subject to the military authority of the federal government in 1867, and the Reconstruction era constitution returned civilian control of the state. The 1868 constitution conferred the electoral franchise upon "male persons" rather than "white male persons," as in the 1865 Constitution, and was adopted by the people of Florida in May 1868. Florida was readmitted to the Union on July 4, 1868.