1. How many people lived in Florida in 1837?
2. What type of government did the Florida Constitution provide?
3. What did the Florida Constitution say about slavery?
4. What did Congress want to do about slavery? How was this issue settled?
READ THE PARAGRAPHS I NEED IT ASAP!!!!!
In 1837 the census for the territory of Florida reported that 48,000 people lived there. Enslaved people made up about one-half of Florida's population. Officials organized a vote to determine if Floridians wanted to form a state. Only white men over 21 years of age voted in this election. These voters chose to seek statehood. Now Floridians had to draw up a state constitution and submit it to the U.S. Congress.
Florida voters chose 56 people to attend the constitutional convention in St. Joseph, a small port city on the Gulf Coast. The first constitution provided for a governor elected for four years and an elected General Assembly, or legislature. The Constitution also allowed slavery and called for a system of public schools. The delegates approved the constitution on January 11, 1839. Florida then sent the document to the U.S. Congress for final approval or ratification.
Florida's desire to enter the Union as a slave state caused some difficulty. Congress had long struggled to maintain an equal balance between slave and free states. As a result, it would take six years for Congress to act on Florida's wish. Congress had to wait until another territory was ready to become a free state.
Iowa finally emerged as a free state candidate. With the question of slavery removed, President John Tyler signed the Florida statehood bill. Florida became the twenty-seventh state in the United States on March 3, 1845. The next year, Iowa became a free state. Thus, the balance between the slave and free states in the nation remained the same in Congress.