Montgomery Constitutional Convention

Montgomery

When Alabama seceded, they called for a convention of the Southern states to form a Confederacy. This convened on February 4^th, 1861 at the same time as the Washington DC Peace Conference, in which they did not participate. Six of the seven states that had seceded sent delegates, the only one that did not was Texas which was waiting for a vote of the people to confirm secession.

The delegates to the convention were leading politicians elected by state conventions. Many of the delegates were moderates. They were not the ones who were working to push the South to leave the United States.

The delegates wrote and adopted a provisional Constitution which was quickly put into effect, and the official Constitution that was used after it was ratified by the states. Tomorrow we will look at the changes they made to the U.S. Constitution.