Author Siegel, Stanley E. Degree Doctor of Philosophy. Abstract The annexation of Texas by the United States brought to a close the nine year period of independent existence which the Republic of Texas had enjoyed. During this short era, which began in and reached its conclusion in , Texas enjoyed all the attributes of a sovereign nation.
This work is concerned with the political history of the Republic. It is true that political parties and divisions existed prior to the Revolution, and in this period political differences were based upon distinct principles. The faction led by William H. Wharton in the early stages of the trouble with Mexico was eager for a complete break; the faction led by Austin counseled a moderate program, and did not agree on the wisdom of independence until late in However, the political divisions on the basis of principles did not continue in the period of the Republic.
Politics were almost wholly of a personal nature in the period, This Declaration of Rights is declared to be a part of this Constitution, and shall never be violated on any pretence whatever. And in order to guard against the transgression of the high powers which we have delegated, we declare that every thing in this bill of rights contained, and every other right not hereby delegated, is reserved to the People. All men, when they form a social compact, have equal rights, and no man or set of men are entitled to exclusive public privileges or emoluments from the community.
All political power is inherent in the People, and all free governments are founded on their authority, and instituted for their benefit; and they have at all times an inalienable right to alter their government in such manner as they may think proper.
No preference shall be given by law to any religious denomination or mode of worship over another, but every person shall be permitted to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience. Every citizen shall be at liberty to speak, write, or publish his opinions on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that privilege. No law shall ever be passed to curtail the liberty of speech or of the press; and in all prosecutions for libels, the truth may be given in evidence, and the jury shall have the right to determine the law and fact, under the direction of the court.
The People shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and possessions, from all unreasonable searches or seizures, and no warrant shall issue to search any place or seize any person or thing, without describing the place to be searched or the person or thing to be seized, without probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation.
In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall have the right of being heard, by himself, or council, or both; he shall have the right to demand the nature and cause of the accusation, shall be confronted with the witnesses against him, and have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor.
And in all prosecutions by presentment or indictment, he shall have the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury; he shall not be compelled to give evidence against himself, or be deprived of life, liberty, property, but by due course of law.
And no freeman shall be holden to answer for any criminal charge, but on presentment or indictment by a grand jury, except in the land of naval forces, or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger, or in cases of impeachment. No citizen shall be deprived of privileges, outlawed, exiled, or in any manner disfranchised, except by due course of the law of the land.
No title of nobility, hereditary privileges or honors, shall ever be granted or conferred in this Republic. No person holding any office of profit or trust shall, without the consent of Congress, receive from any foreign state any present, office, or emolument, of any kind.
No person, for the same offence, shall be twice put in jeopardy of life or limbs. And the right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, or cruel or unusual punishments inflicted. All courts shall be open, and every man for any injury done him in his lands, goods, person, or reputation, shall have remedy by due course of law.
No person shall be imprisoned for debt in consequence of inability to pay. Every citizen shall have the right to bear arms in defence of himself and the Republic. The military shall at all times and in all cases be subordinate to the civil power. The sure and certain defence of a free people is a well-regulated militia; and it shall be the duty of the Legislature to enact such laws as may be necessary to the organizing of the militia of this Republic.
Treason against this Republic shall consist only in levying war against it, or adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and support. No retrospective or ex post facto law, or laws impairing the obligations of contracts shall be made.
Perpetuities or monopolies are contrary to the genius of a free government, and shall not be allowed; nor shall the law of primogeniture or entailments ever be in force in this Republic. The foregoing Constitution was unanimously adopted by the Delegates of Texas, in Convention assembled, at the town of Washington, on the seventeenth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-six, and of the Independence of the Republic, the first year.
Brigham John S. Byrom Francis Ruis J. Antonio Navarro William D. Smyth Stephen H. Leates M. Menard A. Hardin John W. Bunton Thomas J. Gazley R. Coleman Sterling C. Robertson George C. John S. Sydney O.
Pennington Samuel P. Carson Thomas J. Rusk William C. Swisher George W. Barnet Jesse Grimes E. Legrand David Thomas S. Rhoads Fisher John W. Bower J. Badgett Stephen W. I do hereby certify that I have carefully compared the foregoing Constitution, and find it to be a true copy from the original filed in the archives of the Convention. Given under my hand, this 17th day of March, Houston: Printed at the Office of the Telegraph, , vol. Become a member and be eligible for free admission, newsletters, discounted tickets for special events, and more!
Join Now. Planning a field trip? Washington on the Brazos is a great place for school groups to learn and experience everything about Where Texas Became Texas.
Our staff at the site has developed an incredible app for iPhone, iPad and newer Android phones that not only recreates the town, but allows you to interact with some of its citizens.
Twilight Firelight November 27th. The amendments, which were never submitted to the voters, were minimal with respect to structure. A new provision expressly authorizing the legislature to call a constitutional convention had no lasting effect, but the requirement that amendments be proposed only at regular legislative sessions was not altered until The revisions introduced some important provisions, the most significant of which was the governor's power to veto items of appropriation bills, a reform that originated with the Constitution of the Confederate States of America.
The document was also the first to confer constitutional status on the county courts as integral parts of the judicial system and to set up the county commissioners' court in its present form. Moreover, the constitution for the first time directed the legislature to organize a university, to educate Black children in separate schools , and to include a constitutional structure for state administration of the public schools.
Although approved by the voters, the constitution was rejected within a few months by the newly elected Radical-dominated Congress. The Constitution of , drafted under congressional Reconstruction by a convention meeting in and , was within Texas constitutional traditions with some important exceptions unique to the document, among which were annual legislative sessions and six-year overlapping terms for senators.
Gubernatorial appointment powers, augmented considerably by the legislature and the necessity of filling numerous vacancies, were not without precedent in the and documents. Four-year executive terms originated in It is of interest that the governor actually lost power in , the power to adjourn the legislature granted in the earlier charters.
Although much of local government was retained, county courts were abolished and in general power was more centralized. The charter also gave unprecedented support for public education under centralized administration. The voters ratified the new constitution and elected officers to the new government at the same election in The Republican party won control of the legislature for the first and, to date, the only time. A few months later, normal relations were restored between Texas and the United States.
Although much of benefit occurred under the constitution and Republican leadership, particularly in education and other public services, the regime was unpopular with the White majority for many reasons, such as the establishment and deployment of the Texas State Police , martial law, high taxes and debt, and the new public-education system.
After the Democrats regained governmental control in and , it was a foregone conclusion that a new constitution would be adopted. Following rejection by the legislature of a proposed document prepared by a joint legislative committee in , a constitutional convention call was referred to and accepted by the voters, who elected delegates at the same election.
The Constitution of , drafted by the Constitutional Convention of , is still in effect. The convention, at which the Democrats dominated but the Grange was the most important interest group, restored most of the earlier structural features changed by the charter, such as biennial legislative sessions, four-year terms for senators, two-year terms for governor but without term limits , election of the attorney general and judges, and inclusion of a county court.
But there were new provisions as well. The House was scheduled to reach a maximum of members as population grew, and the size of the Senate was fixed at thirty-one. The governor could veto bills after the session ended and, during sessions, was given more time to consider bills before taking action. Also, for the first time, the chief executive was empowered to specify legislation to be considered at special sessions. A new court, the Court of Appeals, vested with appellate jurisdiction in criminal and some civil cases, was established, and the Supreme Court's jurisdiction was limited to civil cases only.
Municipalities with populations of 10, or fewer had to be chartered by general law, while larger cities might have their charters granted and amended by special local law.
Compensation for legislators, the governor, the attorney general, and certain other officers was set in the constitution and could not be changed without amending the constitution. The most attention has been paid to the onerous fiscal restrictions placed on the legislature by the new charter.
Of enormous importance were limits on property-tax rates, the first in a Texas constitution, and the flat ban on financial assistance from state and local governments to individuals, associations, or corporations, exceptions to which required constitutional expression. The limit on state debt, although severe, was not as restrictive as that of the charter. Other restrictions included a prohibition against state bank corporations, carried over from the first three constitutions, and a long list of subjects on which the legislature could not enact a special or local law.
The convention even tried to turn the legislature into one of limited rather than plenary powers by enumerating subjects on which it could legislate Art. III, Sec. The articles on railroads , the regulation of which was a major goal of the Grangers, and private corporations also contained some restraints on the legislature by mandates or prohibitions. Suffrage provisions were liberal, the convention having defeated the proposal for a poll tax. Aliens who had indicated their intention of becoming citizens were eligible to vote, a continuation from the charter.
But for the first time, voting in municipal tax and bond elections was limited to property owners. The Bill of Rights was retained, with some revisions and additions from preceding constitutions. Of particular significance were new provisions prohibiting appropriations for sectarian purposes and a requirement that officeholders "acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being. In sharp contrast to all the other Texas constitutions, the amending article provided for an easy amending process.
A proposed amendment required a two-thirds vote of the legislature in regular session and the approval of a majority of voters. The process was used frequently in the years ahead.
The most significant developments in governmental organization during the last quarter of the nineteenth century were in administration and the judiciary. There were no constitutional changes by amendment in the legislature, the governorship, or cities and counties, only minor changes in the suffrage, and none in the Bill of Rights.
The establishment of the Railroad Commission of Texas by the legislature in was a major event. A constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to establish a railroad regulatory agency was the main issue in the gubernatorial election of Four years later another amendment changed the agency from an appointive to an elective body whose three members serve six-year staggered terms. A second change of lasting importance was the restructuring of the state's appellate courts by an amendment ratified in The Court of Appeals was transformed into the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals , which has jurisdiction over criminal cases only; this arrangement left civil cases to the Supreme Court and established the bifurcated Texas judicial system with two courts of last resort.
The amendment also set up new intermediate courts of appeals with jurisdiction limited to civil cases only. The courts of civil appeals remained without criminal jurisdiction until A development at the lowest level of the judicial system was the establishment by statute in of corporation courts renamed municipal courts in in every incorporated municipality in the state. During this period the state's system of higher education finally took shape.
The University of Texas was established more than forty years after the Congress of the Republic of Texas had set aside land in for such an institution actually for two, one in the east and one in the west. In pursuance of a mandate in the Constitution, the legislature enacted laws in providing for a board of regents, fees, and other needs, and the university was formally opened in In an election in the voters had selected Austin as the site.
A primary source of funding was the Permanent University Fund , continued in the Constitution of from its origins but denied the rich railroad lands originally assigned. The legislature substituted arid lands in West Texas that in the next century proved rich in petroleum.
The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, supported by land grants under the Morrill Act of and state funds, preceded the University of Texas by accepting students in The constitution also provided for a general college for "colored youth," but it was never built; in its stead the legislature established Prairie View State Normal School, which began operation in Texas State College for Women in Denton did not accept students until , after its establishment in At the public school level a constitutional amendment in authorized the legislature to form school districts empowered to levy property taxes for the support and maintenance of public schools.
The amendment also increased state funding for public education. During the first thirty years of the twentieth century there were virtually no significant constitutional changes in the three branches of state government, although serious attempts were made to revise the constitution by the convention method. The legislature, with Progressive support, adopted two resolutions to place on the ballot a convention call, but in the governor vetoed the first and in the voters rejected the second.
Also, though the governorship did not change by amendment, Governor James E. Ferguson was impeached and removed from office in , the first and only time that a Texas governor has been forced by this method to leave office. Legislative sessions took on a peculiar cast from to , explained largely by constitutional provisions that paid legislators five dollars a day for the first sixty days of a regular session but only two dollars thereafter, and five dollars a day for special sessions.
Regular sessions were short, all but one ending in March. They were followed by special sessions averaging 2. The pattern was broken by the passage of a constitutional amendment increasing legislative pay.
Governmental changes in the executive branch were primarily administrative. As Texas became more urban and industrial, governmental regulations and services increased correspondingly. A more specialized organization developed as agencies were separated from multifunctional boards and commissions; others were abolished twenty-three in , and new agencies were instituted.
Among the highlights were the establishment of a separate banking department in an amendment in had repealed the constitutional prohibition against state bank corporations , enforcement of labor laws by the Bureau of Labor Statistics set up in and of the workers' compensation law by the Industrial Accident Board in , establishment of the state highway department also in as a condition of federal aid, and separate insurance and agricultural agencies in The agricultural commissioner was made a separate elective officer in In a constitutional amendment permitted the legislature to determine the method of selection and the composition of the state board of education.
The board was changed from a three-member board comptroller of public accounts, secretary of state , and governor to a nine-member body appointed by the governor with Senate consent. In the Railroad Commission acquired regulatory power over pipelines and in over the conservation and production of petroleum and natural gas; the latter power made it a leading influence in national and international oil and gas markets.
It also regulated buses and trucks. In the Texas Civil Judicial Council renamed the Texas Judicial Council in was formed by statute to conduct a continuous study of the Texas judicial system.
The council has been a major judicial agency from its inception. A second important change was the division of the state into nine administrative judicial regions to provide management of district courts on a regional basis, authorized by statute in Local government was enormously affected by the passage in of the "Home Rule Amendment," which allows municipalities of more than 5, population to adopt their own charters and to pass ordinances of their own choosing, subject only to the Texas constitution and general laws.
By another amendment , cities with 5, or fewer residents are chartered by general law only, although cities operating under special charters are allowed to continue to do so.
With respect to forms of city government, Galveston attracted national attention in by the adoption of the commission form after the disastrous Galveston hurricane of Local government was also affected by the "Conservation Amendment" of , which permitted the formation of special districts with unlimited borrowing and taxing power to conserve and develop water resources.
Special districts eventually became the most numerous units of local government in Texas. Changes of considerable magnitude occurred in election and suffrage law beginning with the constitutional amendment that made payment of the poll tax a requirement for voting.
The administration of the poll-tax system also served as a statewide voter registration system, hitherto prohibited by the constitution. The Terrell Election Law of was the first to require a statewide direct-primary system for political parties polling a given number of votes , in the first law , a threshold that in effect applied only to the Democratic party because only rarely did the Republicans win enough votes to qualify.
Attempts to exclude African Americans from the Democratic primary the white primary were held unconstitutional in two United States Supreme Court cases Nixon v. Herndon [] and Nixon v. Condon [] but upheld in Grovey v. Townsend , before being struck down in Smith v.
Before the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified in , the Texas legislature in allowed women to vote in the Democratic party primaries. In the Texas constitution was amended to provide for woman suffrage , but it also required United States citizenship as a voter qualification, thus disqualifying aliens, who had been permitted to vote since During the years of the Great Depression , the New Deal, war, postwar prosperity, and rising Texas urbanism, change in Texas government foreshadowed the contemporary state.
0コメント