On September 17, 1787, the U.S. constitution was signed. The U.S. constitution is a document that has a set of rules, guidelines, and principles that governs our nation. This constitution is the oldest written national document and has had 27 amendments. The current Texas constitution is the seventh document written for Texas. The previous six were all when Texas was still apart of Mexico. The current constitution hasn’t been revised since 1876, which makes it the longest state constitution in the United States.
The U.S. constitution and the Texas constitution have similarities and differences. Both constitutions have a Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is a summary of the rights given to all people. These constitutions also talk about suffrage and taxes. Just like how both of these constitutions have similarities, they also have differences. The Texas constitution is longer than the U.S. constitution and discusses the rights first. It also deals with state and local issues not brought up in the U.S. constitution. Both constitutions have a Bill of Rights, but the Texas constitution discusses citizens’ rights at the beginning of article one. The Texas Bill of Rights has the same protections for citizens like the U.S. Bill of Rights does, but the Texas Bill of Rights extends beyond federal protections. The executive branch is the branch that the president is in charge of. The definition of the executive branch is “The branch of federal and state government that is broadly
In the years following the civil war, the Democratic Party within Texas was divided in many ways by a variety of issues. Though united against Republicans and their liberal Reconstruction policies, Texas Democrats in this period came from a variety of backgrounds and had unique motivations driving their political sentiments. In the article "Of Rutabagas and Redeemers: Rethinking the Texas Constitution of 1876," Patrick Williams argues against the pervasive characterization of the key factions in the Democratic Party during the constitutional convention consisting of agrarian versus business minded or “new South” interests. Williams contends that although convention contemporaries including noted “Rutabaga” (a semi-derogatory term for a delegate in league with the Grange) John Johnson came to believe that the constitution of 1876 represented the triumph of farmers and their allies against corporate driven “progressive” Democrats and their policies, the political reality was much more complicated.
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 United States Constitution and the Texas Constitution are very alike in many different ways. According to Coleman. M., They both embody the principles that represent a democratic government. They both establish a bicameral legislature with a House of Representatives and a Senate. They both contain a bill of rights that protects certain civil liberties from government infringement. Also, they both seek a separation of powers between judicial, legislative, and executive branches. With that being said, The Texas Constitution and the Unites States Constitution are completely opposite in many ways as well. The United States Constitution was built with the thought that the Articles of Confederation provided a government that was too decentralized
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)
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
However, what distinguishes the two moreover, are the circumstances on which they were created, the U.S constitution is more general while Texas’s constitution is very specific. Having a vague and general constitution gives the government flexibility to interpret the constitution and be able to meet specific changes based on the public. Because of how the U.S constitution is set up, it does not have nearly as much amendments as does the Texas constitution. As a result of the long and detailed constitution Texas has in place, when public police challenges arise they only have the option of making amendments to act outside of their detailed language. I conclude that it is more efficient to have a constitution that is broad and does not require a lot of amending in the constitution. As mentioned before the processor making an amendment is fairly easy but it does take away a great amount of time in the legislator where more important matters should take
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.
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.
Texas and California are two states in the US that are comparable in terms of their population, resources, size, economy and constitution. The Texas Constitution is the foundation of the statehood of Texas within which the government operates in the same way that U.S. constitution governs the affairs of the whole country with its allocated power. The Texas constitution has a huge influence on the daily lives of Texans Possibly even more than the U.S. Constitution. Although all states have its own constitution, Texas and California have different ways in which they gained their constitution. Like most state in the U.S. The state of California gained its constitution after the civil war, the constitution was ratified in 1879 and It is similar to the Texas constitution in many ways. Both constitutions are founded on the unanimous vote of its people and are grounded by the rule of
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
Texas has been through a lot of changes and constitutions. After constants debates of what the constitution should be, the current Texas constitution was established in 1876 and is the 7th constitution Texas has had. It created 3 branches of government: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. The current constitution has great qualities, but it also contains a lot of weaknesses that shouldn’t be ignored for the sake of pride.
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 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
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.