Louisiana | An account of the proceedings and debates of the convention at New Orleans

Louisiana

Journal de la Convention de la Louisiane. Nouvelle-Orléans: Imprimé par J. Bayon, 1845

8vo (235 x 152 mm). Some light to moderate text browning. Contemporary quarter brown morocco over brown marbled boards, marbled endpapers, spine lettered gilt; upper joint and board edges rubbed.

This work provides a full account of the proceedings and debates of the convention at New Orleans (14 January–16 May 1845), along with a printing of the revised constitution. By 1845, the state's constitution of 1812 was too outmoded and contained many elements of an elitist mindset. The 1845 constitution embraced the broader tenets of Jacksonian democracy. It eliminated property holding requirements for holding public office, and established total population (including free whites, voteless free blacks and slaves) for the use of apportionment in the state senate, while the state house of representatives was still apportioned by voter population. The new constitution also made strides in education by creating the office of superintendent of public education and by encouraging the legislature to establish public schools. In the judiciary, felons under sentences of death or life in prison could for the first time now appeal to the state Supreme Court.

However, it was largely criticized for being unfavorable to commercial interests. It sharply restricted the power of the state to lend money and forbade the state from becoming a stockholder; it also prohibited the official granting of monopolies, restricted the state's power to issue charters, and abolished lotteries.

REFERENCE:

Jumonville, Bibliography of New Orleans Imprints, 1387, 1390