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AN ORDINANCE

To Ratify Marriages between Freedmen and Freedwoman, and for other purposes

BE IT ORDAINED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ALABAMA, IN CONVENTION ASSEMBLED: That all marriages between Freedmen and Freedwomen, whether in a state of slavery, or since their emancipation, heretofore solemnized by any one acting or officiating of a Minister, or any one claiming to exercise the rite of matrimony, whether bond or free, are hereby ratified and made valid, provided the parties are now living together as man and wife, and in all cases of Freedman and Freedwomen who are now living together, recognizing each other as man and wife, Be it ordained that the same are hereby declared to be man and wife, and bound by legal obligations of such relationship  

BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, That the issue of such marriages or co-habitation, are hereby legitimatized, and shall be held to the same relatious and obligations from, and to their parents, as if born in lawful wedlock

BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, That the fathers of children born without the father and mother having lived together as a man and wife, or when they have heretofore lived together as man and wife, and have ceased to do so, shall be required to take care of such children, as in the case of bastards, under the laws of this State, and such laws on this subject as may be hereafter enacted by the General Assembly.

BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, That hereafter, Freedmen and Freedwomen shall be bound by the same laws of intermarriage and be required to conform to similar ceremonies, with the exception that they shall not be required to give bond in marrying, as in the case of white, until otherwise enacted by the General Assembly.

BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, That the General Assembly shall be, and are here by invested with [[full]] powers to provide for the maintenance and support of the Freedmen, and women, and children of the State of Alabama.
                   BENJ. FITZPATRICK,
                    President of the Convention.