1. This week’s edition of #50Weeks50Constitutions explores the constitutional history of the state where Theodore Roosevelt earned his iconic nickname & created the “Teddy Bear” industry. Join us as we explore the constitutional history of Mississippi. 
2. The Mississippi Territory was formed in 1798. What is now the state was cobbled together over the next few years out of disputed bits & pieces w/ Spain & Georgia. It wasn’t until 1817 that President Madison signed legislation offering the people of the Mississippi statehood.
3. The people, through a convention of 48 delegates, took Madison up on the offer. The convention voted to become a state and then set to work on drafting a governing document. The drafters borrowed extensively from Kentucky and Tennessee in drafting their constitution.
4. The convention approved the constitution 45-1 but didn’t submit it for a popular vote. It set up the standard tripartite system of government & included a Declaration of Rights, placing it before the structural provisions which was actually a break from both KY and TN.
5. Members of the lower house served one-year terms, while senators served three-year terms & the popularly elected governor served a two-year term. Each office had its own property requirements. Miss. was one of the last states to enter the union w/ property requirements.
6. Under the original constitution the judges of the Supreme Court were appointed & served during good behavior. The constitution also banned dueling & ministers/priests from holding office, but contrarily all office holders had to profess belief in God.
7. The 1817 Constitution also included a “baby Tenth Amendment.” Interestingly though, the drafters did not create this as a “section” in the Declaration, but as the conclusion to the Declaration. Both Tennessee & Kentucky included a similar provision, but as a section.
8. It included stronger gun protections than the federal counterpart declaring that every citizen had the right to bear arms to defend himself. Greater protections were also given for speech. Regrettably, future versions have not been as explicitly protective.
9. This constitution was short lived. A convention drafted & adopted (again w/ no popular ratification) an updated version in 1832 w/ the focus being on more devolution of power to the “common man.” Also, it established Jackson as the permanent capital.
10. This 1832 constitution approved the partisan election of all judges & prohibited property qualifications for office holding & voting. So, the “common man” was given more of a say in the matters of the state, well that’s the theory at least.
11. This constitution lasted until 1868, after the civil war, but Mississippi was not quick on making the necessary revisions. The provincial governor first called a convention to draft a new constitution in 1865. But Mississippi refused to ratify the reconstruction amendments.
12. Passions lessened, and a convention drafted a constitution in 1868, which was approved in 1869. This constitution abolished slavery, created a system of statewide public education & adopted a Baby Ninth Amendment! Sadly though they dropped their Baby Tenth Amendment.
13. Typical of most southern states, the constitution adopted after the civil war didn’t last. It was only amended four times prior to its replacement in 1890. The past “elites” regained power, & the poor & wealthy whites drafted a new constitution.
14. Under this constitution many qualifications for voting were created. There was a poll tax, a literacy test, a person could not have a “serious” criminal history, & voters had to be able to read & comprehend selected provisions of the constitution.
15. Most of these provisions have been rendered inoperative by federal civil rights law & Supreme Court precedent. The people of Mississippi have also repealed, through amendments, many of the more objectionable provisions & language.
16. But this 1890 constitution is the current constitution, and some policies that were adopted in the 1890’s with nefarious motives are still in place. One provision actually caused a stir during the last election:
verdict.justia.com/2019/12/12/eva…
verdict.justia.com/2019/12/12/eva…
