Government

The Constitution of the Republic of Texas – 1836

· Written by a group of Texans – 59 Anglo colonists – wrote it while the Texas Revolution was going on to gain independence from Mexico.

· Drew from the US Constitution.

· Bicameral legislature.

· Provided for an elected President of Texas.

· No state preferred religion.

· Members of the clergy were prohibited from serving as President or in Congress.

· Slavery was legal – but prohibited importing slaves from any other country – could only get slaves from throughout the US.

· On April 21, 1836 – about 6 weeks after Texas’ defeat at the Alamo – the Texas Army – under command of Sam Houston – defeated Mexico’s Santa Anna’s army in The Battle of San Jacinto.

· Once they won independence – there was no viable government in place, no money to pay for government, and no party system.

· Mexico remained a threat to regain its lost territory.

· Historians note that even though much was working against Texas at this time – Texas went from a part of Mexico to an independent constitutional republic with organization and pretty quickly.

The Constitution of 1845

· During the fight for independence and right after some Texans were moving to explore annexation to the United States.

· Initially the possibility was not viable because of the slavery issue and the opposition to giving up slavery in favor of joining the United States.

· But in the 1830s and 1840s many people were moving to Texas and there was more interest growing in becoming a part of the United States.

· The Annexation Bill was approved by the US Congress and Texas became a part of the United States in 1845 as the 28th state.

· The Texas Constitution of 1845 called for:

· Elected legislature that would meet biennially (every 2 years)

· Elected governor and elected lieutenant governor

· Governor got power to appoint secretary of state, attorney general, and state judges with senate confirmation.

· Legislature appointed a comptroller, treasurer, and land commissioner.

· This is modeled after the President appointing the cabinet in the federal system.

· In 1850 Texas voters voted to make most state offices be elected offices and that still stands today.

· The 1845 Constitution still has impact today because it:

· established a permanent fund for the support of public schools

· protected homesteads from foreclosure

· guaranteed separate property rights for women

· The 1845 Constitution recognized slavery.

· The 1845 Constitution was deemed to have run the country so well that after several more Constitutions the Constitution of 1876 came back to this one.

· The Texas Constitution of 1845 said that Austin would be the state capital until 1850 when the people would vote on a permanent capital – at that time Austin won the election over Houston and Waco.

The Civil War Constitution – 1861

· Texas seceded from the Union in 1861 just before the outbreak of the Civil War.

· The Texas Constitution was revised then.

· The previous Constitution was kept in large part but changes were made to reflect Texas’ seceding from the United States and joining the Confederacy.

· This Constitution required:

· Public officials had to officially pledge their support of the Confederate Constitution

· Greater protections were given to keep slavery

· Constitution prohibited you from freeing a slave

· Contended that the national government was a confederacy from which a state could withdraw or secede.

· This big hold over from this time is the strong “state’s rights” theme that you see running through this version of the Texas Constitution.

The Constitution of 1866

· With the civil was over Texas returned to national control.

· The economy was in disarray post Civil War, people were damaged mentally and physically from war, and many loved ones had been lost.

· Policies put in place to help newly freed slaves were never fully funded or not carried out with the vigor they should have been.

· Texas landowners had utilized free slave labor for so long and were now in the position of coming up with funds to pay workers.

· There was an occupation army in place to keep the peace in Texas and that presence contributed to tension among Texans.

· The Reconstruction Plan put in place by Abraham Lincoln envisioned the Southern States having a rapid return to the US political system as equals to other states – but after the Civil War attitudes did not change overnight.

· Reconstruction required Texas and other southern states to:

· Abolish slavery

· Repudiate the Secession Ordinance of 1861 (i.e. Texas did not secede)

· Repudiate all debts and obligations incurred under the Confederacy.

· Texas voters revived the Constitution of 1845 in the and amended it to create the Constitution of 1866 that:

· Included all of the above Reconstruction requirements.

· Eliminated slavery

· Gave former slaves the right to own property

· Gave former slaves legal rights before a jury

· Said African Americans could not testify in court against whites

· Said African Americans were denied the right to vote

· BUT the United States Congress and the “radical reconstructionists” in it in 1866 invalidated the Texas Constitution and over the President’s veto passed The Reconstruction Acts - established military governments throughout the south to force the south to act in accordance with United States law.

The Constitution of Reconstruction – 1869

· This Constitution was in accordance with federal laws on The Reconstruction Acts.

· African Americans were given the right to vote.

· Gave Governor 4 year term

· Provided for annual legislative sessions

· Established a centralized state-wide system of public schools for the first time.

· There was much unrest during this time as Texas Governor Edmund J. Davis was considered very radical and passed laws allowing the government control over the press, the right to declare that certain former revolutionaries did not have the right to vote, and other radical ideas.

· Texans eventually marched on the Capital in January 1874 to get Davis out of office – Davis appealed to the US President to get federal troops to help him stay in office – President Grant refused – and Davis gave up the office.

· A Democratic Governor was elected to replace radical Republican Davis.

The Constitution of 1876 – CURRENT ONE

· Democratic party immediately took steps to assemble a new Constitutional Convention – convened in Austin on September 6, 1875.

· 76 democrats and 14 republicans.

· Most delegates were white – historians disagree about how many African Americans served in the convention – 5 or 6 and all were republicans.

· Average age was 45 – only 4 of the delegates were native Texans.

· Oldest was 68 – youngest was 23.

· At least 30 delegates had served in the Texas Legislature, 2 had served in the Tennessee Legislature, 2 in the Mississippi Legislatures, 2 had represented Texas in the US Congress, and 2 had represented Texas in the Confederate Congress.

· One historian tells us that the convention included: 33 lawyers, 28 farmers, 3 doctors, 3 merchants, 2 teachers, 2 editors, and 1 minister.

· At least 11 of the delegates were part time farmers that pursued other jobs, too.

· Land and agriculture heavily influenced the Texas Constitution.

· The group was still reeling from the Reconstruction Acts and they considered government “a necessary evil” that had to be dealt with and heavily restricted.

· Texas was in a difficult place at the time our current Constitution was written:

· The Civil War and Reconstruction had ruined the state economically

· Government was deeply in debt even though citizens had been heavily taxed

· Land prices had plummeted

Characteristics of our Current Constitution:

· The 10 longest constitutions in the country:

· Alabama is the longest with 340,000 words

· Texas Constitution has almost 90,000 words (know this because it is important to contrast this with the US Constitution – which has 4,400) it is EIGHT TIMES the length of the US Constitution.

· It is caught up in excessive details – i.e. language detailing the operation of hospital districts in certain counties. Lots of minutia that would be better dealt with in documents for specific counties not the Texas Constitution.

· Excessive detail can be difficult because it is not flexible – US Constitution is very short and so considered very flexible.

· Since creation the document has been amended 491 times.

· Only ONE legislative session between 1876 and 2007 ended with no attempt to ratify the Texas Constitution (the 15th session in 1877).

· The Texas Constitution is considered long, complex, has lots of misspelled words, articles that are left blank, poor grammar and punctuation, and has very long sentences (one sentence is actually 756 words).

· Goal of the Texas Constitution = to provide limits and guidelines for how the government operates, the basic rules that have to be followed, and the distribution of power between government officials and its citizens.

· The Texas Constitution has 17 articles and includes a Bill of Rights. You do not have to memorize these but be familiar with them so that if I ask you a multiple choice question and say “which one of these is NOT an article of the Texas Constitution?” you can tell me).

· Article I – Bill of Rights – GREAT TEST QUESTION – Where is the Bill of Rights in the Texas Constitution?

· Like the US Constitution but provides more details and is more specifics examples.

· Amendments granting equal rights to women (1972) and rights to victims of violent crimes in 1989 are differences from the US Bill of Rights that do not have this in its Bill of Rights.

· 33 bill of rights

· Some basic right in both US and Texas Constitutions:

· Right to religious liberty.

· Right to freedom of expression.

· Right to keep and bear arms.

· Protection against having to quarter troops.

· Protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.

· Right to grand jury indictment for felonies.

· Right to just compensation for taking your property for public use.

· Right to due process of the law.

· Protection against double jeopardy.

· Protection against forced self-incrimination.

· Right to fair trial by jury.

· Protection against excessive bail.

· Protection against cruel and unusual punishment.

· THE US CONSTITUTIONAL GUARNATEES ALSO APPLY TO CITIZENS OF THE STATE OF TEXAS.

· Article II – The Power of Government

· Article III – Legislative Department

· Article IV – Executive Department

· Article V – Judicial Department

· Article VI – Suffrage (means the right to vote)

· Article VII – Education

· Talks about funding for public education

· Creates a decentralized public school system – centralized school system created in 1869 was abolished – local officials given primary responsibility of supervising public education.

· This has been criticized because there are wide disparities in local tax bases and local school systems.

· Created University of Texas at Austin in 1876

· Made Texas A&M an affiliate in 1871

· Made Prairie View A&M in 1878.

· To support the universities the framers set aside 1 million acres of public lands with all sales and proceeds of land to go to the Permanent University Fund.

· Article VIII – Taxation and Revenue

· Article IX – Counties

· Article X – Railroads

· Article XI – Municipal Corporations

· Article XII – Private Corporations

· Article XIII – Spanish and Mexican Land (repealed August 5, 1969)

· Article XIV – Public Lands and Land Office

· Article XV – Impeachment

· Article XVI – General Provisions

· HOW DO YOU AMEND THE TEXAS CONSTITUTION?

· Article XVII – Mode of Amending the Constitution of This State

· It can be amended to change and adapt for new circumstances.

· Amendments have to be approved by 2/3 of the members of each house of the legislature and then a simple majority of the voters.

· The majority of amendments have dealt with changes to the legislature, courts, and public education (i.e. ending segregation) and state finances.

Weaknesses and Criticisms of the Current Constitution

Public Education

· Public education system is decentralized.

· Local officials are given the primary responsibility of running public education.

· Some Texans like “local control” but it creates very different school districts – wide disparities in local tax bases have created a real inequity in the public education system.

Budgeting and Finances

· The Texas Constitution requires that Texas run on a balanced budget.

· Some disagree with this concept because they argue the Texas Government cannot address changing needs.

Excessive Details

· There are excessive details in this 90,000 word document.

· Example: one provision deals with relocating or replacing sanitation lines on private property.

· Excessive detail limits flexibility and there are obsolete and contradictory provisions.

· This creates confusion in interpretation.

· Some amendments have tried to “clean up” the areas that are confusing but still criticism exists.

The Amendments

· Texas has almost 500 amendments to its Constitution – the United States Constitution has only 27.

· Some argue it is excessive and should be reformed.

Attempts at Reform

· Despite the major shortcomings of the Texas Constitution – major reform has not occurred – and the Texas Constitution has not changed radically from what it started out as (think in terms of amendments being about segregation and the like).

· The Texas Constitution is one of the longest in the nation and is still growing.

· The Texas Legislature has proposed a total of 656 amendments.

· Of these, 653 have been submitted to the voters,

· 491 have been adopted and

· 179 have been defeated by Texas voters.

·

· The Texas Constitution has been amended 474 times since its adoption in 1876.

· Think of the 474 amendments as a piecemeal fix – but since there are 474 of them it is arguably time to make a fresh document and clean it up.

· In 1973 the legislature established the Constitutional Revision Commission – (NAME OF THIS IS A GOOD MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION) – with plans for a constitutional convention to occur in January 1974.

· This group was made up of politicians, legal experts and was the first attempt at a new draft of the Texas Constitution since 1875.

· In theory cleaning it up should not have been a task that would cause lots of disagreement.

· Example of disagreement – some of the delegates wanted to increase the power of the governor.

· After spending $3 million in state funds and 7 months of work the convention was a failure.

· A 2/3 vote was necessary for approval and that failed so the voters never saw it.

· Most governors believe the document has worked and so why revise it and mess with it (it is expensive to pay people to get together and reform it and there are other things to spend money on when the Constitution is working and the state is functioning).

· Example – there was an effort at reform in 1999 from Senator Bill Ratliff and Representative Rob Junell who proposed major reform to the Constitution to clean it up but that effort failed to get support – largely in part because the governor at the time – George W. Bush – did not back the issue of constitutional reform.