In the 1940s, the movement for Alaska statehood was gaining momentum within the territory, but stymied by opposition from Lower 48 commercial interests and some members of Congress.

Many statehood proponents felt that a well-written constitution would help advance the cause in Washington, D.C. As a result, one of the duties the Alaska Territorial Legislature laid upon the Alaska Statehood Committee, established in 1949, was to "assemble applicable material, make studies and provide recommendations in a timely manner" preparatory to drafting a constitution.

Fairbanks (technically, in this instance, College) was selected as the site instead of Juneau, the territorial capital, to escape the influence of lobbyists and to benefit from the academic setting.

The other delegates, 49 men and six women, included territorial legislators Ralph J. Rivers, who became U.S. Representative from Alaska at-large, and Jack Coghill, who became lieutenant governor.

The youngest delegate, Thomas C. Harris, had only lived in Alaska for around five years and had been elected by some 150 votes cast in and around the Valdez area.

Other delegates who were notable outside of law and politics include: Fairbanks bush pilot Frank Barr; mining engineer and Fairbanks Exploration Company executive John C. Boswell; Swiss emigrant and Kachemak Bay homesteader Yule F. Kilcher; World War II era military officer Marvin R. "Muktuk" Marston; Steve McCutcheon, a photographer whose collection represents a significant documentation of mid-20th century life in Alaska; Leslie Nerland, who took his father's department store in Fairbanks and turned it into a statewide empire, even extending to Hawaii at one point; Barrie M. White, an Anchorage entrepreneur and real estate developer, and Ada Wien, from a pioneer Alaskan and pioneer aviation family.

This building was renamed Signers' Hall in the late 1980s, and presently houses the administration of the current-day University of Alaska Fairbanks campus.

Much of the language in the new constitution was a reaction against weak territorial institutions (thus the strong legislature and executive provided for in Articles II and III).

[citation needed] We the people of Alaska, grateful to God and to those who founded our nation and pioneered this great land, in order to secure and transmit to succeeding generations our heritage of political, civil, and religious liberty within the Union of States, do ordain and establish this constitution for the State of Alaska.The constitution begins by establishing the basic rights of Alaska's citizens.

Many delegates favored a unicameral legislature; this failed but is reflected in the large number of purposes for which joint sessions are required.

The governor also has a large amount of patronage; he appoints the heads of all executive departments (most states provide for some to be elected), who are required in general to be people, not multi-member boards.

While in many states judicial authority is fragmented among several levels of jurisdiction with many special courts, the delegates designed the Alaska judiciary to be a single, unified system.

A requirement that voters must be able to "read or speak the English language" was removed by amendment in 1970 after the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Local government in the territory was undeveloped, due to its sparse population and the Organic Act of 1912 which banned the creation of counties.

[citation needed] Article XI sets out procedures for the use of initiatives to "propose and enact laws", referendums to "approve and reject acts of the legislature", and elections to recall public officials.

Article XV dealt with eventual Alaska statehood, focusing on legal continuity and establishment of the new state government.

Fish traps, usually operated by Outside-owned canneries and widely blamed for the near-collapse of the salmon fishery, were seen as a symbol of exploitation of Alaska by absentee commercial interests.

Former territorial Governor Ernest Gruening alluded to the issue in his keynote address to the convention: The people of Alaska have repeatedly and unchangingly manifested their overwhelming opposition to fish traps.

In a clear-cut issue between the few, profiting, non-colonial Americans and the many, seriously damaged, colonial Alaskans, the state-side interest wins hands down.Ordinance No.