The 1819 Constitution of the State of Ala., described by Malcolm C. McMillan in a 1973 Report of the Constitutional Commission as the "Frontier Constitution of 1819," was drafted and approved on 1819 Aug. 2. The 1819 Constitution included the following Articles: Preamble, Declaration of Rights, Distribution of Powers, Legislative Dept., Executive Dept., Militia, Judicial Dept., Education, Impeachment, Taxation, and Slavery. This document discusses such issues as the establishment of the State Bank and its Branches, encouragement of education, divorce and how it could be granted, the process of electing the governor, the process of legislative bills, and the duties of the House and Senate. The last two pages have the signatures of the forty-four delegates, including the president of the convention and the secretary of the convention. The Constitution of 1819, according to Malcolm C. McMillan, contained no property, educational, taxpaying, or other qualifications for voting. Therefore, it provided for universal white manhood suffrage, and was in that sense noted for its democracy. The document is written on twenty-six sheets of parchment, each attached to the sheet below it by blue grosgrain silk ribbon and red sealing wax. The document extends to approximately thirty-one feet in length. It is approximately 3.75 inches in diameter and 19 inches in length, when rolled. An eighth of an inch of polyethylene has been rolled around the Constitution to add some cushion and support to the document within the container.
