by jacquelyn horkan, editor
"We, the People of the Territory of Florida, ... do mutually
agree, each with the other, to form ourselves into a Free Independent State, by the name
of the State of Florida."
Constitution of 1838
Florida's first constitution, written in 1838 as a condition for
gaining statehood, was the product of a constitutional convention held in the Gulf Coast
boom town of St. Joseph. The town was a mere three years old at the time of the
convention, born of political machinations, frontier boosterism, and economic speculation.
By March 3, 1845, when Congress approved Florida's
admission to the union, St. Joseph was no more. In 1841, a yellow fever epidemic had swept
through city, decimating the population. Then, just six months before Florida achieved the
statehood, the lingering remnants of the once proud city were wiped out by a killer
hurricane.
All that remains to mark the spot of the 1838 constitutional
convention is a monument erected in 1922 on the spot where the delegates met. A small
museum was added to the site in 1955. Both are set back from a remote stretch highway on
the outskirts of tiny Port St. Joe, the successor to the vanquished city of St. Joseph.
There are no photographs, paintings, or sketches of St. Joseph,
the convention hall, or the proceedings. Lost to Floridians is our version of Philadelphia
and Independence Hall. Gone also is the original copy of our first constitution. Nobody
knows when it was lost, but lost it remains. In its place, we are left with a copy made by
the convention secretary, a tenuous link to our past.
May/June 1998 -- Florida Business Insight, 501 N.
Adams St., Tallahassee, Fla. 32302,
(850)224-7173, insight@aif.com |
