The state of Texas has had six constitutions. The constitution that took effect on February 15, 1876 is the current one still used today. The Texas Constitution is the second longest constitution in the United States, and one of the oldest still in effect. Since the constitution has been adopted it has been
Constitutions are a necessary tool in keeping a Nation running in a smooth manner. One is also necessary in keeping the components, which are states, running in an ordered way. The constitution of Texas has a long historical trail from 1827 to 1876 and there are many events that occurred during this time period. The current Texas constitution has many strengths and weaknesses and there have been revisions made to this document. This document limits the way government can be involved in certain problems that arise in Texas. The Texas constitution is a document with positives and negatives but it is definitely a necessity.
The Texas Constitution has evolved in many ways throughout history. Before the current constitution there were five predecessors. There were many factors that effected each of the five constitutions. After very long governance by Spain and Mexico and a small war with Mexico, the Texans finally won their independence. The first constitution had become official in September of 1836. This first constitution was called the Republic Of Texas Constitution. After struggling for about nine years to become apart of the Union, Texas’s second constitution was created. The Second constitution was called the Statehood Constitution and was thought to be one of the best constitutions of time. The Jacksonian Democracy greatly influenced the Statehood Constitution. The idea of the Jacksonian Democracy was to increase the people’s participation in the government. This Constitution lasted about 16 years until Texas joined the Confederate Sates of America in 1861. This third constitution was called the Civil War Constitution. The main goal was to modify the
From March 2, 1836 to February 19, 1846, Texas as its own independent country in North America. Those who resided in this independent country were referred to as Texians. Texas declared its independence from Mexico in 1836 during the Texas revolution which ended on April 21 of that same exact year. However, Mexico did not want to give the Republic of Texas its independence which resulted in conflicts between that of Texas and Mexico that went on into the 1840s. As a result, The United States of America recognized the Republic of Texas as an independent country in 1837 but failed to append their land. Later receiving its independence, Texas elected a Congress of fourteen senators and twenty-nine representatives in the month of September and year of 1836. However, within the Republic, citizenship was not a privileged for everybody living in Texas. Not everybody had legal rights to reside within the limits of the Republic without Congress permission. The Constitution of the Republic of Texas created differences for each and every ethnicity for each individual person. Meaning, whoever was there on the day the Republic of Texas won their independence had to be classified as a citizen of the Republic including Africans, those with African descent, and Native Americans. For Caucasian immigrants to become citizens they would have to had lived in the Republic for six months or less and take an oath. Those who were brought to Texas as a slave had to stay a
The Texas State Constitution is the document that describes the structure and function of the government. Texas has had seven constitutions, and the current one is the one that was ratified in 1876. The current constitution is among the largest of state constitutions in the United States, coming in fourth behind Alabama, California, and South Carolina. This constitution has many strengths and weaknesses; one weakness being that it limits the way government can be involved in certain problems that arise. This document has its positive attributes and its negative ones, but it is a necessity for the state to be able to function.
The U.S. constitution is brief and vague at the same time, Texas constitution is very long and detailed. For U.S. constitution, it gives flexibility to the federal government to interpret the constitution and make changes in the policies when in need, whereas, in Texas constitution, the government is already assigned what can be done in a given situation and it is very specific. If officials need to work outside of the constitution for public interest, officials will have to amend the constitution. The Texas constitution is very easy to amend but it is the process of amendment that makes it tougher, but U.S. constitution is tough to amend. In the Texas constitution, Bill of Rights is the very first article but in the U.S. constitution, Bill
The current Texas Constitution was ratified in 1876. It was a natural and necessary reaction to the previous constitution which was imposed by carpetbaggers and radical reformists. The new constitution better represented the political culture of home-grown Texans: limited government and maximum freedom of the citizens. This constitution not only limited the power of government, it also limited governmental terms and set the salaries of government officials. Farmers and [then] conservative democrats were primarily responsible for the current Texas Constitution.
The Texas Constitution and the U.S. Constitution share many similarities, but also are very different. Both documents share basic principles of a democratic government. The Texas and U.S. Constitution both contain civil liberty protections and protections against government transgression. Both constitutions share a federal government system in which the smaller areas or states have less power than the national government. Bicameral houses, checks and balances, and separation of powers are prevalent in both documents. Even though these two constitutions have many similarities, they also share many differences. The differences stem from the origin of their creation, the U.S. Constitution was created to replace the Articles of Confederation because
The current Texas constitution was being looked at by traditional Democrats to be constitutionally revised, or to make changes and improve the document, in 1872 back when the Democrats took back hold of legislation. This idea was passed in the Texas Senate but not in the house. Therefore no changes were to be made in the constitution with all of its original features intact. The constitution today is much like the original made in 1876 besides 467 amendments being brought in by the middle of 2011 as well as some slight changes in the executive articles. The constitution contains a preamble as well as sixteen articles that also have subsections to them. To list a few of these articles would be the Bill of Rights, the Powers of Government, the Legislative Department, Executive Department, and the Judicial Department.
The Texas and the U.S constitution are very similar in principle, a constitution in the book is defined as “the legal structure of a government, which establishes its power and authority as well as the limits on power.”(pg.71) This definition sets the basis of which the Texas and U.S consititution are based on, essentially they are a governing document. In addition there are five major ideologies that unite both constitutions. The first, is political power being derived from ‘the people’. This may be done through our voting system. Second, Three separate branches of government (division of political power) these are the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Third, the governing document has a system created to ensure that no branch, party, or person may abuse their duty or responsibility; also known as the system of “checks and balances”. Fourthly, the idea of individual rights; “the concern for preventing the emergence of tyranny is also found in the fourth idea”(pg.71) and Finally the concept of federalism, which is a system of power is divided within the government, that included and central government, and many more regional (by area)
Talking about the first five articles of the Texas Constitution, the current Texas constitution was written in 1875 after the end of reconstruction and approved in 1876, it has 17 articles. The first five Articles consists of the Bill of Right, the power of the government, legislative Department, Executive Department, and the Judicial Department in their respective order.
The United States Constitution, this very detailed group of words was written in 1787, but it did not take effect until after it was ratified in 1789, when it replaced the Articles of Confederation. It remains the basic law of the United States then and till the present day of 2016. The first state to ratify the Constitution was Delaware; the last of the original thirteen to ratify was Rhode Island and since only nine were required, this was two years after it went into effect. When the U.S. Constitution was presented to the states, many people chose to be either Federalists or Anti-Federalists. Virginia and many other states were against the Constitution because there was no bill of rights included in it and being that some didn’t quite understand the reasoning behind a constitution. James Madison was known as the "Father of the Constitution", and he and Alexander Hamilton were two Federalists who supported the Constitution and explicated it in the Federalist papers in 1788. On the other side George Mason, an Anti-Federalist, opposed the Constitution. George believed the constitution did not establish a wise and just Government.
All fifty states have a constitution and the purpose of having a state constitution is to establish institutions and set broad rules and laws governing the state. There are multiple functions of having a state constitution. Texas has had seven different constitutions currently Texas is operating under the Constitution of 1876. In 1827, Texas was declared a state of Mexico. Texas’ break with Mexico was, in part, a constitutional crisis. In 1836, Texas Declaration of Independence was formed and in on March 2nd, Texas Declared an independence republic. The Constitution of the Republic of Texas of 1836 had numerous rules. Such as, slavery was allowed, there are three separate branches, and banned importing slaves from Africa. Next, there were movements
Every politician, from the president to the mayor, has limitations as to what they can and cannot do. The governor is much like the United States President but speaks for his or her own state. The state governor can also veto bills that come across their desk within a certain time frame, otherwise it will be implanted into the law. There are strong governor offices and weak. Unfortunately Texas falls within the weak category.
Yes. When a 16-year-old enters to unenforceable contract with a production company, such contract is valid at a sixteen-year-old’s election.