State Constitutions on Rare Display

Tennessee’s original, handwritten Constitutions are going on display to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the state’s Supreme Court Building. The trio of documents, from 1796, 1834 and 1870, have never been put on public view together. They’ll be available to the public at the Tennessee Supreme Court this Thursday, Friday and Saturday, then again on Monday before moving back into storage.*

The state’s first constitution gave almost total control to the legislative branch. After forty years, it was replaced with a new one that balanced powers along the same principals as the US constitution. The third was written after the Civil War, when the former Confederate states were required to draft new constitutions.

*This post has been updated to correct the location of the display.