Answer:
After the U.S. Constitution was ratified (approved by the states), the states wrote or amended
their own state constitutions. Article IV, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution states: “The United
States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government”.
Because the U.S. Constitution served as a guideline, many state constitutions look very similar
to the national constitution, including the Florida Constitution. The U.S. and Florida
constitutions both have a preamble (an introduction that states the purpose and goals of
government), articles (sections that describe the powers and functions of the government), and
amendments (changes that have been made to the constitution). While the basic outline of the
U.S. Constitution and the Florida Constitution are the same, the contents of the two documents
have major differences.