Florida became subject to the military authority of the federal government in 1867.  Pursuant to an Act of Congress, General John Pope, Commander of the 3rd Military District, issued an order on April 8, 1867, dividing the 39 counties of the State into 19 districts for the election of delegates to a convention to frame a new State Constitution.  The Constitution had to conform with the Federal Constitution and with the 13th and 14th Amendments.  The Convention met in Tallahassee on January 20, 1868.  As the Convention began its functions, bitter factions were formed, and only under after federal government intervention was the Convention brought under control. The Convention reconvened on February 18, 1868, and Horatio Jenkins, Jr. was elected President.  The Constitution was adopted by the people of Florida in May, 1868. It conferred electoral franchise upon "male persons" instead of "white male persons" as by the 1865 Constitution.  With its acceptance by the federal military authorities, the State of Florida was recognized as being restored to the Union, and its Senators and Representatives were admitted to Congress.

The series contains the 1868 Constitution for the State of Florida drafted by the members of the Constitutional Convention in 1868.  The 33-page document is handwritten.  There are no proceedings to the 1868 Constitutional Convention in the Archives.