Florida's Lousy Record at Constitutional Conventions

Rep. Adam Hasner, R-Delray Beach, is sponsoring a measure on the House floor calling for a new convention to amend the U.S. Constitution to balance the budget. It's very unlikely to happen but, just in case it does, let's hope that Florida produces better representatives than it did the last time the state took part in a national constitutional convention.

Since Spain owned Florida during the summer of 1787 when Washington, Madison, Franklin and Hamilton hammered out the Constitution in Philadelphia, the only experience Floridians ever had in a constitutional convention came early in 1861, when southerners met in Montgomery, Alabama to create the Confederate States of America.

In his classic book A Government of Our Own, Civil War historian William C. Davis wrote an excellent and readable account of the creation of the Confederate constitution. While Davis offers memorable portraits of the founding fathers of the Confederacy, he did not offer much on Floridas representatives to Montgomery -- nor should he have.

Its fitting that, on his train ride to Montgomery, James Patton Anderson, who represented Florida at the convention, did not introduce himself to the prominent Georgia politician Alexander H. Stephens, despite having served together in the U.S. House. Anderson was afraid Stephens would not recognize him.

Despite that, due to his politics and his experience, Anderson was the most prominent Floridian at the convention. He had been active in Mississippi politics as an ally of Jefferson Davis. When Davis became secretary of war, he appointed Anderson to office in the territory of Washington. Anderson even represented Washington in the U.S. House before heading back to Monticello. A firm supporter of secession, Anderson would only spend three months in Confederate politics before joining the army, eventually rising to become a general in the Army of Tennessee.

James B. Owens was a cotton planter who moved to Florida from South Carolina. Like Anderson, he was a supporter of secession.

A long time Floridian who served a term in the U.S. Senate, Jackson Morton hailed from the Panhandle and, as an old Whig, was less of a supporter of secession than Anderson or Owens. Morton earned his fortune in the lumber trade.

With each of the six southern states that first met in Montgomery allowed two representatives on the committee to hammer out the Provisional Confederate Constitution, Anderson and Owens were the Floridians chosen.

None of the Floridians shone in the committee meetings or the subsequent debate in Montgomery. While Robert Barnwell Rhett, Alexander H. Stephens, Thomas Cobb and Robert Toombs crafted the constitution, the three Floridians sat on the sidelines.

Lets hope if Hasners convention comes to fruition, Floridians can be a bit more prominent.