On March 17, 1868, the delegates to the South Carolina constitutional convention of 1868 drafted a revolutionary new constitution, thereby creating a blueprint for a new government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Among other measures, the new state constitution expanded funding for public education, eliminated debtors’ prisons, and eliminated wealth as a basis for political representation. Black men were granted the right to vote, and many of South Carolina’s Black Code laws were overturned.