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The Texas Constitution:

The People, History, and Government of the Lone Star State

Chapter 3 Groundwork for Understanding the Current Texas Constitution (1876):

The Constitutions of Texas, Political Culture, and the People of Texas

Chapter 3 completes Unit 1 by outlining the unique features of the various constitutions of Texas (prior to the ratification of the state’s current constitution in 1876), the elements of Texas political culture, and current demographic patterns in Texas. Upon completing the chapter, you should be able to demonstrate knowledge about:

 The unique features of each Texas constitutions before 1876  The names of key individuals and the contributions they made to Texas history and

politics  Political culture especially the elements of Texas political culture  Demographic patterns in Texas in the 20th and 21st centuries

The Six Flags Flown over Texas

Six flags have flown over Texas including the Spanish flag, the French flag, the Republic

of Texas flag, and the United States flag. Certain cities and settlements in Texas have flown

even more flags including Nacogdoches which has raised a total of nine flags ranging from

the Fredonia Rebellion flag to the Gutierrez-Magee flag and the Long Expedition flag;1

Laredo, which has flown seven flags including the short-lived Republic of the Rio Grande

flag;2 and Gonzales, which briefly flew a hastily made flag bearing a white background, a

black cannon, and the words “Come and Take It!” over a small, Spanish-made cannon.

1 “The Nine Flags at the Historic Town Center in Historic Nacogdoches,” http://www.pictures-of-historic- nacogdoches.com/023nineflags.html 2Diaz, Joy, “In Laredo, It’s Seven Flags Over Texas: The Republic of the Rio Grande was its own short-lived country on the Texas border,” Texas Standard, October 22, 2015, http://www.texasstandard.org/stories/in- laredo-its-seven-flags-over-texas/

For the Record: The “Come and Take It” Flag and the Battle of Gonzales (1835) The “Come and Take It” flag was an intentional taunt by the Anglo settlers of Gonzales aimed at the Spanish forces making their way to Gonzales to retrieve a very small cannon. In 1831, the Spanish government had given the settlers the cannon to aid them with defending themselves against Indians attacks.3 In 1835, the Spanish military commander of Texas ordered Francisco de Castañeda to travel from San Antonio to Gonzales to retrieve the cannon. Mindful that Texans were already growing tense about the presence of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna in Texas, the commander instructed Castaneda to avoid open conflict with the residents of Gonzales, if at all possible.4 After a very brief skirmish (it really wasn’t a “battle” in the truest sense), Castaneda retreated to San Antonio and the cannon remained in the city of Gonzales. The Battle of Gonzales is considered to be the first battle of the Texas Revolution. In late 1835, the cannon was assigned to a captain in Stephen F. Austin’s Texian “Army of the People” and hauled to San Antonio where it remained at the Alamo. No one knows for sure what happened to the cannon but some historians speculate that General Santa Anna’s troops melted it down after the fall of the Alamo.5

The first flag to fly over Texas was the Spanish flag. Spain governed Texas for almost

three centuries until a series of revolts occurred after Napoleon’s invasion and occupation

of Spain from 1808 to 1813. Among the revolts was the Mexican War of Independence.

On September 16, 1810 – during the height of Napoleon’s occupation of Spain - Father

Miguel Hidalgo issued from his pulpit a cry (or “grito”) for the end of Spanish rule in

Mexico. In addition to a cry for revolution, Hidalgo’s impassioned speech called for the

redistribution of land and a concept of racial equality for all people of indigenous descent.6

Hidalgo then led a militia from the city of Delores, where his church was located, to Mexico

City, leaving a bloodbath in his wake. When the militia was defeated at Calderon in 1811,

Hidalgo fled north to Chihuahua and was captured and executed by firing squad. Militia

members quickly assumed the helm, and rebellion continued throughout the cities and

3 Stephen L. Hardin, “Gonzales, Battle of,” The Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qeg03. 4 Ibid. 5 Lindley, Thomas Ricks, “Gonzales Come and Take It Cannon,” The Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qvg01 6 “Struggle for Mexican Independence,” http://www.history.com/topics/mexico/struggle-for-mexican- independence.

countryside of Mexico. Armies of indigenous and racially mixed revolutionaries fought

against the Spanish royalists for the next decade as the “Grito de Delores” spurred on the

Mexican War of Independence.

Political events unfolding in Spain would greatly influence the outcome of the war. After

liberal forces sympathetic to the Mexican revolutionaries gained control of Spain in 1820,

formerly staunch royalist Mexican conservatives led by Agustin Iturbide took up the cause

of Mexican independence in hopes of retaining their status in Mexico after the country

gained independence.7 Iturbide assumed command of the Mexican army, allied himself

with the existing revolutionary forces, and worked with the new representative of the

liberal-control Spanish government to devise a plan that would culminate in the Treaty of

Cordoba, signed on August 21, 1824. The Treaty of Cordoba granted Mexico independence

from Spain.

For the Record: The Story of Cinco de Mayo

Contrary to the popular belief of many Texas, the Mexican and Mexican-Texan holiday Cinco de Mayo does not mark Mexican independence from Spain (achieved on August 21st, not May 5th). Cinco de Mayo marks the day of the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla fought during the French-Mexican War. The year was 1862. The United States was embroiled in the American Civil War, and the country of Mexico was in financial ruin. Mexican President Benito Juarez was forced to default on his country’s debts to European governments, and France decided to use the opportunity to expand its empire into Mexico. Late in 1861, a well-armed French fleet (consisting of approximately 6,000 French soldiers) arrived in Veracruz and set out to attack Puebla de Los Angles, a small town in east-central Mexico. President Juarez set up new headquarters in northern Mexico and rounded up a “rag-tag force” of about 2,000 loyal men to go to Puebla to take on the French.8 Led by Texas-born General Ignacio Zaragoza (whose birthplace home still stands at the Presidio de La Bahia just outside of Goliad), the Mexican army defeated the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862 (Cinco de Mayo). The battle itself was not a major strategic victory in the overall war; however, it did symbolize Mexico’s ability to defend its sovereignty against the

7 “Spain Accepts Mexican Independence,” http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/spain-accepts- mexican-independence. 8 “Cinco de Mayo,” http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/cinco-de-mayo

powerful French army under the rule of Napoleon III, and served to tighten Mexican resistance against the French.9 Six years later, the French army withdrew from Mexico in 1867.10 Cinco de Mayo is a huge celebration in Texas because General Zaragoza was born in the state, and in 1999 the Texas Senate declared Goliad the official state annual celebration11 The holiday became a nationally celebrated event in the 1960s when Mexican American activists transformed the day into a commemoration of Mexican culture, heritage, and pride in their community.12 Today, extremely large Cinco de Mayo celebrations are held in Los Angeles, Denver, St. Paul, and in Waterfront Park in Portland and Douglas Park in Chicago.13 The day is, however, a rather minor holiday in Mexico and has never been declared a national holiday. Celebrations are largely confined to the Mexican states of Puebla and Veracruz with Cinco de Mayo celebrations that include military reenactments of the Battle of Puebla.14

The Treaty of Cordoba contained three primary features: (1) Mexico would be an

independent constitutional monarchy; (2) Roman Catholicism would be the official religion

of Mexico; and, (3) Mexicans of Spanish descent would be given greater rights than

Mexicans of mixed or pure Indian blood.15 Establishing Mexico as an independent

constitutional monarchy presented significant challenges primarily due to the fact there

were no descendants of the Spanish Bourbon family in Mexico to rule the new nation.

Iturbide quickly disposed of the revolutionary forces, placed a crown upon his own head

and became Agustín I, Emperor of Mexico.16 Iturbide’s rule was short lived. Forces led by

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (whom you will recall had served as a Spanish officer during

the defeat of the Magee-Gutierrez Expedition at the Battle of Medina) rose up against

Iturbide and, after only ten months on the throne overthrew the emperor and sent him into

exile - first in Italy and then in England. Unaware the Mexican congress had decreed his

9 Ibid. 10 “The Mexican Campaign, 1862-1867”, The History Website of the Foundation Napoleon, https://www.napoleon.org/en/history-of-the-two-empires/timelines/the-mexican-campaign-1862-1867. 11 Leopold, Todd, “5 Things to Know about Cinco de Mayo,” CNN online, May 4, 2016, http://www.cnn.com/ /2015/05/04/living/feat-cinco-de-mayo-5-things/. 12 Ibid. 13 Ibid. 14 Tomkiw, Lydia, “Cinco de Mayo: How Is the Holiday Celebrated in Mexico? History, Facts and Misconceptions about May 5,” International Business Times, May 5, 2016, http://www.ibtimes.com/cinco-de- mayo-how-holiday-celebrated-mexico-history-facts-misconceptions-about-may-5-2363978 15 “Spain Accepts Mexican Independence,” The History Channel Online, http://www.history.com/this-day-in- history/spain-accepts-mexican-independence. 16 Ibid.

death, Iturbide returned to Mexico in 1824 and was executed.17 Guadalupe Victorio, who

fought for Mexican independence alongside Santa Anna, became Mexico’s first elected

president in 1824 (1824-29). Victorio’s presidency focused on foreign relations designed to

establish Mexico as an independent country, establishing public finances, and abolishing

slavery.18 Victorio was succeeded by Vicente Guerrero, a Mexican revolutionary of

African, Mexican and Indian descent.19 Guerrero renewed calls for the abolition of slavery;

promoted civil rights for all and especially African Mexicans; and, called for public schools,

land title reforms, and other programs designed to assist the racially and economically

oppressed peoples of Mexico.20 During his presidency, a Spanish expedition attempted to

reconquer Mexico and defeated the Mexican army. Guerrero was declared unfit to govern,

removed from office, and condemned to death. He was executed in Cuilapan on February

14, 1831.21

Constitution of Coahuila y Tejas (1827) – Spanish Texas

The early history of Mexican independence is part of the narrative of Texas history.

Certain concepts contained in the Treaty of Cordoba were carried over to Texas’ first

constitution - the Constitution of Coahuila y Tejas, 1827. Under the newly independent

Mexican government, the State of Coahuila and the sparsely populated province of Texas

were combined. The new state was organized at Saltillo, Mexico in August 1824, with the

Baron de Bastrop representing Texas.22

The constitution supported efforts to curtail and limit slavery; created a unicameral

legislature charged with promoting education and freedom of the press; and named Roman

Catholicism the official religion of Texas. But Texans soon grew discontent with the

Mexican federal system and two political conventions were called in San Felipe de Austin

17 Carolyn Hyman, “Iturbide, Agustin de,” The Handbook of Texas Online, Texas Historical Association, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fit01. 18 https://www.inside-mexico.com/guadalupe-victoria-mexicos-first-president/. 19 Rivera, Alicia, “Guerrero, Vicente (1783-1831),” BlackPast.Org, http://www.blackpast.org/gah/guerrero- Vicente-1783-1831. 20 Ibid. 21 “Vicente Guerrero: An Inventory of His Collection,” The Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection, The University of Texas at Austin, Texas Archival Resources Online, http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utlac/00026/ lac-00026.html. 22 McKay, S.S., “Constitution of Coahuila and Texas,” The Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ngc01.

in 1832 and 1833. The 1833 convention produced a constitution for a newly proposed

state of Texas. When Stephen F. Austin brought the new constitution to the attention of

the central government in Mexico City he was imprisoned by the Mexican government.

Austin's imprisonment pushed Texas ever closer to rebellion against Mexico. State

political leaders again met in San Felipe in 1835, and a declaration was adopted stating

the reasons Texans were beginning to take up arms against Mexico.

In December 1835, a group of Texans overwhelmed the Mexican garrison at The Alamo,

captured the fort, and seized control of San Antonio. By mid-February 1836, Colonel James

Bowie and Lieutenant Colonel William B. Travis had arrived in San Antonio, and Sam

Houston was named the newly appointed commander-in-chief of the Texan forces. Houston

argued San Antonio should be abandoned due to an insufficient number of troops; but

Bowie and Travis refused to leave. Despite later reinforcements including Davy Crockett,

the number of defenders of the Alamo never numbered more than 200.23 Mexican troops

ranging from 1,800 to 6,000 (a large range, but historical estimates vary widely) under the

command of General Santa Anna arrived at the Alamo on February 23, 1836, and began a

siege of the fort24. The Texans held out for 13 days but Mexican forces breached the outer

wall of the courtyard and overpowered the Texans on March 6.

The Mexican army’s victory at the Alamo fueled Santa Anna’s fervor to conquer Texas.

Sam Houston, upon receiving word on March 11 in Gonzales of the fall of the Alamo,

retreated to the Colorado River and ordered all inhabitants to accompany him.25 People all

over Texas left everything behind to join Houston’s retreat. By March 17, Washington-on-

the-Brazos was deserted and by mid-April, Richmond was evacuated as were settlements

on both sides of the Brazos River and those located further to the north and east around

Nacogdoches and San Augustine.26 Houston’s retreat pressed further toward the Sabine

River and, as Texans fled toward Galveston Island and Louisiana, all of the settlements

between the Colorado and Brazos Rivers were left unprotected. Known as the Runaway

23 “The Alamo,” The History Channel Online, http://www.history.com/topics/alamo. 24 Ibid. 25 Covington, Carolyn Callaway, “Runaway Scrape,” The Handbook of Texas Online, Texas Historical Association, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/pfr01. 26 Ibid.

Scrape, many former settlers in Texas died as a result of disease, famine, cold and rain –

with most being buried where they fell.27

Despite the Runaway Scrape and the Battle of the Alamo (which was still being waged at

the time), delegates from each city in Texas met on March 1, 1836, at Washington-on-the-

Brazos, and a formal Texas Declaration of Independence for the State of Texas was

adopted. The Texas Declaration, much like the national Declaration written by Thomas

Jefferson, presented a long list of grievances against the central government in Mexico.

The fall of the Alamo on March 6 did not deter the delegates. A second general convention

was again held at Washington-on-the-Brazos in July 1836, and the delegation drafted and

passed a new state constitution. By the time the new constitution was written, Sam

Houston had gathered some 900 Texan soldiers and again met up with Santa Anna’s troops

(numbering around 1,250) at The Battle of San Jacinto near present-day Houston.

Spurred on by cries of “Remember the Alamo!” the Texan forces defeated Santa Anna’s

army on April 21, 1836. The capture of the commanding general ensured Texas

independence. The next day, Santa Anna issued orders for all Mexican troops to pull back

behind the Rio Grande River, and on May 14, 1836, Texas officially became an independent

republic.28 As word of the Battle of San Jacinto and Texas independence spread, refugees of

the Runaway Scrape began to turn back toward home only to find their homes no longer

existed.29

The Wild and Wonderful Women of Texas: Emily West (? - ?) Emily West is better known as the "Yellow Rose of Texas." While much of the history of Emily West is shrouded in myth and legend, she is thought to have been an orphan who came to Texas from New York in 1835 with Colonel and Mrs. James Morgan. In Texas, she fell in love with a black man, a musician, thought to be a runaway slave. Bounty hunters and the pressures of the fast-approaching war for independence from Mexico interrupted their relationship.30

27 Ibid. 28 “Battle of San Jacinto,” History Channel Online, http://www.history.com/topics/battle-of-san-jacinto 29 Covington, Carolyn Callaway, “Runaway Scrape,” The Handbook of Texas Online, Texas Historical Association, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/pfr01. 30 Harris, Trudier, “The Yellow Rose of Texas: The Ironic Origins of a Popular Song,” BlackPast.Org, http://www.blackpast.org/perspectives/yellow-rose-texas-ironic-origins-state-song.

Not only was her relationship destroyed by the encroaching war - the plantation on which Emily worked was in the direct path of Mexican soldiers marching to fight General Sam Houston at San Jacinto. The soldiers burned most of the planation and killed several of its inhabitants; but General Santa Anna discovered Emily and ordered she saved and held captive. Anita Richmond Bunkley, author of Emily, The Yellow Rose, recreates in her novel the presumed incidents, overtones and undertones of race that spawned the fame of the Yellow Rose31 and historians have verified at least some of the incidents surrounding the legend.32 Emily was said to have been a beautiful woman of mixed African-Caucasian blood, a race that was both legally and popularly referred to at the time as “mulatto,” or, in the South, “yellow.” While being held captive by Santa Anna, Emily supposedly sent word to General Sam Houston about Santa Anna’s whereabouts and then “entertained” Santa Anna as Houston’s troops swooped in and captured San Jacinto. The Mexican army was caught completely by surprise, and reports at the time assert that Santa Anna was literally caught “running away from the battle with his studded silk shirt opened and concealed under a dead soldier's blue smock - hurriedly put on during his attempted escape”.33 Emily survived the battle and made her way to New Washington where Colonel Morgan was residing. Morgan was “so impressed with Emily's heroism that he repealed her indenture and gave her a passport back to New York - the final chapter of which we have no record.”34 The unknown black musician from whom Emily was separated just before the Battle of San Jacinto is said to have composed the song “The Yellow Rose of Texas" sometime just before or after the battle. It was first published in 1858.35

Constitution of 1836 – The Republic of Texas

The Constitution of the Republic of Texas, also known as the Constitution of 1836, was

the first Anglo-American constitution to govern the state. Drafted by the convention that

had met in March 1836 at Washington-on-the Brazos, and ratified in September of that

year, the Constitution of 1836 used large portions of the United States Constitution to

create a document that consisted of a preamble, separation of powers among three

branches of government (a bicameral legislature, a chief executive, and a tiered judicial

branch), checks and balances on government power, and a Bill of Rights. Unlike most other

state constitutions at the time, no specific limitations and restrictions were placed upon the

state government, and unlike the U.S. Constitution the document gave preference to Anglo-

31 Ibid. 32 See Garner, Claude W. Sam Houston: Texas Giant. Naylor Co., San Antonio, TX. 1969. 33 Whitelaw, Mark, “In Search of the Yellow Rose of Texas,” https://www.tamu.edu/faculty/ccbn/dewitt/ adp/archives/yellowrose/yelrose.html. 34 Ibid. 35 “Emily D. West,” “Women in Texas,” Ruthe Winegarten Memorial Foundation for Texas Women’s History, http://www.womenintexashistory.org/bios/#EmilyWest.

American settlers, the protection of the rights of Anglo people in the unoccupied lands of

the republic and, significantly, made specific exemptions of “Africans, the descendants of

Africans, and Indians” from state citizenship.36 The republic’s defense of slavery as an

institution largely explains why Texas remained independent from the United States for the

next nine years since the state, if admitted into the union, would be admitted as a slave

state.

The Wild and Wonderful Women of Texas: Angelina Belle Eberly (1798 – 1860) Angelina Eberly, a widowed boardinghouse owner in Austin, took on Sam Houston – and won - in the “Archives War” of 1842. Sam Houston often described Austin as "the most unfortunate site on earth for a seat of government," and in 1841 refused to move in to the official residence of the President of the Republic of Texas, preferring instead to take a room at a boarding house run by Eberly. When the Mexican army invaded Texas and took control of San Antonio, Goliad, and Victoria, Houston deemed the City of Austin militarily defenseless; called a special session of the Texas Congress to meet in Houston; and declared the City of Houston the official state capital. In December 1842, after Texas had won its independence from Mexico at the Battle of San Jacinto, Houston ordered his secretary of state to remove the state archives from the City of Austin and transport them to Houston - the new capital of the Republic. Colonel Thomas Smith, Captain Eli Chandler, and 20 men loaded into wagons traveled to Austin to retrieve and transport the state archives. They entered the City of Austin on January 1, 1843. Upon their arrival in the city limits, Eberly fired a cannon to alert the local townspeople. Heeding Eberly’s warning, a vigilante group of Austin citizens descended on the men and chased them to Brushy Creek, just north of Austin. Smith and Chandler were forced to surrender at gunpoint. The government of Texas did not move back to Austin until 1845 and five years later Austin was officially named the permanent seat of Texas government by a constitutional amendment. During the entire period 1841 – 1850 the City of Houston was deemed the capital of the Republic of Texas - but the state archives remained in Austin. 37

36 Joe E. Ericson, “Constitution of the Republic of Texas,” The Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/mhc01. 37 Texas State Library and Archives Commission, “The Archives War,” https://www.tsl.texas.gov/treasures/ republic/archwar/archwar.html

Constitution of 1845 – Texas Joins the Union

In 1845, the United States Congress approved a resolution that would bring Texas into

the union. President Polk signed the act that made Texas the 28th state in 1845, and the

raising of the fifth Texas flag - the flag of the United States – resulted in war. Lasting from

1846 -1848, the Mexican-American War ended in a decisive victory for the United States.

The signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, along with the Gadsden Purchase of

1853, resulted in the United States gaining not only Texas but also northern parts of

Mexico that would later become part of Arizona and New Mexico, thus allowing the United

States a significant land mass upon which to build a southern transcontinental railroad.

On July 4, a convention was called to draft a new state constitution. The Constitution

of 1845 contained important features such as a bicameral legislature, a governor and

lieutenant governor, and a supreme court composed of three judges. The constitution

also contained a provision that the state could divide into as many as five states if it chose

to do so. The Constitution of 1845 stayed in effect until 1861 when Texas seceded from

the union to join the Confederacy. The issue of secession was a very controversial one

that divided the state along regional, ethnic, and party lines. Texas geography played

a large role in the issue of secession. Cotton was king in the Gulf Coastal Plains of East

Texas and slavery had become a vital institution to the economy of that part of the state.

In large sections of the north and west, however, the economy was based primarily on

ranching or corn and wheat production and slavery was virtually nonexistent.38 Governor

Sam Houston, a staunch Unionist, refused to call a special session of the legislature to

discuss secession, but a group of influential state political leaders called for a special

convention. Lawyers and slaveholders dominated the secession convention, and in 1861

produced the Texas Ordinance of Secession. The convention later reconvened to enact a

new constitution to mark the state's membership in the Confederacy. The Constitution

of 1861, under which Texas joined the Confederacy, was remarkably similar to the

Constitution of 1845 with one glaring exception: All references to the United States of

America were replaced with references to the Confederate States of America.

38 Walter L. Buenger, “Secession,” The Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/mgs02.

Constitution of 1869 – The Reconstruction Constitution

When the Union defeated the Confederacy in the Civil War, Texas was required to write

a new constitution that would comply with President Andrew Johnson's policy of

Reconstruction. The Texas Constitution of 1866, designed to restore relations with the

Union, was short-lived and replaced only three years later by a new state constitution after

the impeachment of Andrew Johnson and the dominance of the Radical Reconstruction

Republicans in the United States Congress. The Constitution of 1869, also known as the

Reconstruction Constitution, goes a very long way in explaining the complicated system of

state government we have today in Texas. We will examined the current Texas

constitution and system of government it creates in greater depth in subsequent

chapters. But, for now, it is important to keep in mind that the state’s current constitution

is an extremely long and unwieldy document that creates divisions upon divisions of

government power in an attempt to prevent unifications of power such as those the state

witnessed under the Constitution of 1869.

The Constitution of 1869 was written to comply with the mandates of the United States

Reconstruction Act, passed by the United States Congress after the Union defeated the

Confederacy in the Civil War. First, critical changes were made to the Texas executive

branch, and the powers of the governor were greatly expanded. Edmund "E.J." Davis, a

Reconstruction Republican and former Union general, was named governor of the state.

Texans despised Davis, who used the newly expanded powers of the governor to preside

over what many perceived to be a corrupt, extravagant administration. Second, Article V

of the Constitution of 1869 established a Supreme Court consisting of only three judges

appointed by the governor (at the time, Edmund Davis) with the advice and consent of the

senate.39 After Davis was defeated by Richard Coke, a Democrat, in the gubernatorial

election of 1873, Davis appealed the election to the Texas Supreme Court. The Court ruled

the election illegal40 and Davis proclaimed his right to finish out his four-year term as

governor and barricaded himself in the Texas Capitol. Texas Democrats secured the keys to

the second floor of the Capitol and took possession of the building. Coke then summoned

39 Bishop, Curtis, “Coke-Davis Controversy,” The Handbook of Texas (online), Texas State Historical Association, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/mqc01. 40 Ex parte Rodriguez (39 Tex. 705 [1874]).

the “Travis Guard and Rifles” (a Texas militia named for Alamo defender William B.

Travis, organized in 1840 to protect the state);41 but the Rifles converted from a state

guard into a sheriff’s posse and instead of protecting Davis protected Coke. Davis then

appealed to United States President Ulysses S. Grant who responded by sending a telegram

that he would not be sending federal troops to keep Davis in office.42 The Coke-Davis

Controversy ended with E. J. Davis resigning his office on January 19, 1874. Republicans

would not hold the Texas governorship for another 104 years.

The Texas Constitution we have today – the Constitution of 1876 - was written in direct

response to the governorship of E.J. Davis, as well as to the state's experience with

reconstruction and as a reflection of our individualistic and traditionalistic political

culture. One thing was for certain: The framers of the Texas Constitution were going to

make absolutely sure the likes of E. J. Davis would never control the state again.

Understanding Political Culture

All governments and the constitutions that create them reflect the political culture of

the sovereign meaning those that possess the political power in a given country or nation.

In democratic governments, defined as governments ruled by the people, the people are

the sovereign that creates and ratifies the constitutions that in turn create the governments

under which they live and thrive as citizens.

The United States Constitution reflects the political culture of the citizens of the nation.

American political culture is widely understood as containing three primary features: a

belief in liberty (limited government), individualism (the individual is central to the group

or society), and private property (the idea that individuals – not government – have

exclusive ownership of the tangible and intangible goods they gained as a result of their

labor or inheritance). The United States Constitution reflects each of these values and

beliefs and together comprise the political ideology of the nation. In order to be legitimate,

41 “Travis Guards and Rifles,” Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association, https:// tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qjt03; See also Gately, Staff Sgt. John, “The long, proud history of the Texas State Guard,” Texas Military Department, https://tmd.texas.gov/the-long-proud-history-of-the- texas-state-guard. 42 Bishop, Curtis, “Coke-Davis Controversy,” The Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/mqc01.

the Constitution had to embody the values and beliefs upon which the American colonists

declared and waged a war of independence against Great Britain. The ideology conveyed in

the Declaration of Independence – “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” – was a

reflection of a larger movement in Western political culture that emphasized reason,

scientific method, religious tolerance, and the centrality of the individual over the

monarchy and the hierarchy of the church. Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration

of Independence, along with John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacque Rousseau, and Adam

Smith, was a major figure of the Enlightenment, also known as the “Age of Reason,” and the

United States Constitution is a document that fully embraces the 17th and 18th century

ideology of the age.

Texas political culture can be understood as an amplification of American political

culture. Most political scientists refer to Daniel J. Elazar’s typology for describing Texas

political culture.43 Elazar describes political subcultures in the United States as moralistic,

individualistic, and traditionalistic, and provides an excellent framework for understanding

Texas political culture and, hence, the Texas Constitution. Elazar’s description of a

moralistic subculture holds that government is a positive force for promoting the “public

good or the well-being of the community.”44 While Texas political culture is currently

moralistic in terms of embracing social conservativism (meaning generally against

abortion, gay marriage, medicinal marijuana, and gun control, and in favor of school

prayer), it tends not to reflect the moralistic subculture belief that government is positive

force in achieving a common good. Most Texans are classical republicans in the sense that

an ideal government is one that governs least. Limited government is central to Texas

political culture and underlies the individualistic and traditionalistic political cultures that

mark the state’s ideology. As we will see in our study of the current Texas Constitution and

Texas government, the Texas Constitution reflects both the past and present state political

culture by creating divisions upon divisions of governmental power. Dividing

governmental power, as James Madison reminds us in his discussion of the “auxiliary

43 Elazar, Daniel J., American Federalism: A View from the States,” (New York: HarperCollins, 1984, originally published in 1966). 44 Ibid, p. 90.

precautions” separation of powers and federalism,45 limits human inclinations toward

ambition and self-interestedness, and preserves liberty. “If men were angels,” Madison

writes, “no government would be necessary.”46

Limited government is intertwined with a sense of rugged individualism that pierces

Texas political culture. Individualism holds that government should benefit the individual

and therefore (again) kept to a strict minimum. In Texas political culture, individualism

strongly relates to a free market and a sense of capitalist economic expression. The

individual, most Texans hold, should be free to express herself or himself in the

marketplace, or in the church or statehouse, as she or he sees fit, without government

interference. Texans are, indeed, a ‘giving people’ and in 2013 the state ranked 13th among

the 50 states and the District of Columbia in terms of charitable donations.47 But, Texas

political culture holds that giving back to the community or to a person or group is a matter

of individual choice rather than government dictate about where, or how, or how much

they should give. The idea of independent giving is a high priority among Texans; but, the

idea of “public service” is not - which helps explain why members of the Texas legislature

are among the lowest paid legislators in the country.48

The ideological concepts of limited government and a rugged individualism are deeply

embedded in the current Texas Constitution of 1876. The history of Texas and the strong

historical attachment of Texans to the land helps explain not only the state’s political

culture but also the Constitution Texas political culture produced. First, recall that the

Constitution of the Republic (1836) gave preference to Anglo-American settlers and

protected the rights of Anglo people in the unoccupied lands of the republic. It could be said

that Texas itself originated in the strong connections settlers had to the land, and the land-

based economy that subsequently evolved. Beginning with the settlement of Austin’s

Colony from 1821 to 1836 and the growth of an agrarian economy based on slave labor

from 1848 to 1860, the state divided along regional lines with ranching, corn and wheat

45 Madison, James, Federalist Papers, No. 10 and 51. 46 Madison, James, Federalist Papers, No. 10. 47 National Center for Charitable Statistics at the Urban Institute, Internal Revenue Service Statistics of Income, September 2015, http://www.urban.org/research/publication/profiles-individual-charitable- contributions-state-2013. 48 Members of the Texas Legislature are paid an annual salary of $7,200. National Council on State Legislators, 2015. http://www.ncsl.org/research/about-state-legislatures/2015-state-legislator-compensation.aspx.

production dominating large sections of the north and west, and “King Cotton” dominating

the Gulf Coastal Plains of east and central Texas. Giant cattle ranches in south and west

Texas developed a “cowboy culture” in Texas that was marked by fierce individualism,

determination, hard work, and independence. Technology also played a part in the land

economy of Texas: the invention of barbed wire in the 1870s enabled farmers to protect

their lands from grazing cattle; newly designed plows and agricultural equipment allowed

farmers to increase productivity; and the building of railroads across the state brought

Texas farmers into the national market.49 But, accompanying the expansion of a land-based

economy was a system of land distribution that greatly impacted the politics of the state in

late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Tenant farming and sharecropping resulted

economic dependency on landowners and landlords by many rural Texans resulting in the

Grange and Populist movements of the era. Cotton as a major commercial good in the state

later declined further with infamous boll weevil infestations, the Great Depression, and

World War II.50

The discovery of oil at Spindletop near Beaumont on January 10, 1901, dramatically

transformed the Texas economy and strengthened Texans’ attachment not only to the land

but to the natural resources it contained. Speculators, entrepreneurs, “wildcatters”, and

corporate developers flocked to southeast Texas, arriving by the tens of thousands. The

Lucas Gusher resulted in rapid industrialization of the Gulf Coast with companies now

known as ExxonMobil and Texaco developing and building large-scale refineries, pipelines,

and export facilities. Extremely close proximity to the Gulf of Mexico along the “Golden

Triangle” of Beaumont-Port Arthur-Orange allowed for the expansion of ports that would

provide national and international export of oil and gas from the region. Soon after

Spindletop, other regions of the state experienced their own oil booms with oil and gas

deposits discovered in the Permian Basin in West Texas in 1923 and the “Daisy Bradford

No. 3” gusher near Kilgore in 1930. Furthermore, oil and gas discovered on state lands

resulted in permanent funds to pay for higher education systems through state royalties,

and extreme wealth provided to individuals and families by the discovery of oil and gas on

49Ginsberg, Benjamin, Lowi, Weir, Tolbert, Champagne, Harpham, We the People: An Introduction to American Politics, 9th edition, Texas edition, 2013, (New York: W. W. Norton & Company), p. 768. 50 Ibid, pp. 768 – 769.

their land spawned a culture of philanthropy that provided funding for the arts, health,

education, and historical preservation around the state.51

The People of Texas: Demographic Factors that Helped Develop the Texas Constitution, Past and Present

A state land-based economy of ranching, cotton and wheat production, coupled with

land resource economy of oil and gas production strengthened the bond Anglo-American

Texans held to the land that Moses Austin and his son, Stephen, sought to settle. As noted in

previous chapters, most of the members of the Old Three Hundred possessed wealth upon

arrival, and many brought slaves with them to cultivate the land. The constitutional

protection of ownership of both land and slaves in the Texas Constitution of 1836 created

an incentive for southerners in the deep south of the U. S. to expand the system of slavery

westward into Texas. The number of slaves in Texas rose dramatically from 5,000 in 1830

to over 182,000 by the end of the Civil War.52 African American populations remain

concentrated in East Texas where the southern planation and sharecropping systems were

dominate during the nineteenth century. Also increasing the African American population

in East Texas was a huge lumber boom in the 1880s and 1890s. Lumber companies hired

many African Americans to work the mills and blacks comprised 55% of the East Texas

sawmill labor force in 1880. Others worked for the railroad stations and freight facilities

that transported lumber. In part due to the lumber trade, the African American population

of Beaumont increased by 150% from 1860 to 1880, and by 1880, 45% of Beaumont's

population was African American.53

A “Great Remigration” of African Americans from the North to the South began in the

1970s. The New York Times reported in the early 1970s that, for the first time, more blacks

51 Ibid, p. 773. 52 Ibid, p. 781. 53 Linsley, Judith, “African-American neighborhoods grew where the people worked,” (May 2014), Center for Regional Heritage Research, Stephen F. Austin University, http://www.sfasu.edu/heritagecenter/9191.asp.

were moving from the North to the South than vice versa.54 Many of the migrants are

young, college-educated, upwardly mobile black professionals -- and older retirees. The

2000 census notes that in the decades 1970 – 1990, Texas along with other Southern states

witnessed large gains in black population. As of 2012, 57% of American blacks lived in the

South – the highest percentage in a half-century.55 Reports indicate that African Americans

have begun to return to Texas because taxes tend to be lower than in the North; three of

the country’s fastest-growing cities in terms of job creation are located in Texas (Austin,

San Antonio, and Houston); and housing prices and the cost of living are lower in Texas

urban areas than they are in Northern cities.56 In 2011, Texas had the third largest black

population in the country (after New York and Florida), with a large majority of the Texas

African American population (about 65%) living in the Houston and Dallas Fort Worth

metropolitan areas. Austin, San Antonio, and Beaumont have smaller but still significant

black populations.57 In 2015, African Americans made up 12.5% of the state’s population.58

During the civil rights movement of the 20th century, Joseph Lockridge of Dallas and

Curtis Graves of Houston won seats in the Texas House of Representatives, and Barbara

Jordan of Houston won a seat in the Texas Senate and was subsequently elected in 1972 to

represent Texas in the U. S. House of Representatives (the first African American to

represent Texas in the national Congress). Morris Overstreet of Amarillo became the first

African American to win a statewide office in Texas (1992, Texas Court of Criminal

Appeals), and four African American Texans have represented the state in the U. S. House of

Representatives since 1979 (Mickey Leland, Houston, 1979–1989; Craig Washington,

Houston, 1989–1995; Shelia Jackson Lee, Houston, 1995–present; and Eddie Bernice

Johnson, Dallas, 1993–present).59 As of 2009, Texas was the only state to have three

African Americans serving in statewide office, all Republicans: Texas Supreme Court Chief

Justice Wallace Jefferson, Texas Supreme Court Justice Dale Wainwright, and Railroad

54 DiSalvo, Daniel, “The Great Reverse Migration: African-Americans are abandoning the Northern cities that have failed them,” Pittsburg Post-Gazette, September 30, 2012, http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/Op- Ed/2012/09/30/The-Great-Reverse-Migration-African-Americans-are-abandoning-the-Northern-cities-that- have-failed-them/stories/201209300228. 55 Ibid. 56 Ibid. 57 ”Texas Black Demographics,” Black Demographics.com, http://blackdemographics.com/states/texas/ 58 http://www.census.gov/quickfacts. 59 Ibid.

Chairman Michael Williams.60 Texas is also home to one of only two black female sheriffs

in the United States – Sheriff Zena Stephens (Jefferson County, elected 2016).

The Hispanic population in Texas, mostly of Mexican descent,61 has fluctuated widely

over the course of Texas history. Significant increases in Hispanic migration to Texas

occurred in the late 1850s through the 1920s as a result of political and economic

instability in Mexico, and again grew from an estimated 700,000 in 1930 to 1,400,000 in

1960. By the end of the 20th century, Hispanics constituted a majority in cities such as San

Antonio and El Paso and a sizable minority in Houston, Dallas, Austin, and Fort Worth.62 In

2015, Hispanics constituted 38.8% of the state’s population.63 By 2003, thirty-eight

Hispanics had been elected to statewide office in Texas,64 and have dominated local politics

in some sections of South Texas, the Gulf Coast, and in the San Antonio area. Hispanics first

gained statewide elected or appointed positions in Texas beginning with the elections of

Raul Gonzales (1984, Texas Supreme Court); Dan Morales (1990, Attorney General); and

Ted Cruz (2012, U. S. Senate). Currently, George P. Bush – who is of Hispanic descent –

serves the state as Texas Land Commissioner. In a state where 30% of all registered voters

are Hispanic, many political observers both state and national are focused on the “Castro

brothers” - U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro, and his twin brother, former San Antonio

Mayor Julian Castro. Furthermore, a 2014 report from the Office of the State Demographer

indicates that Hispanics will outnumber whites in Texas by 2020 and make up the state's

majority population by 2042.65

Asian Americans constitute less than 4.7% of the Texas population66 but it is projected

that the racial/ethnic group will grow at the fastest rate when compared to other

racial/ethnic categories in the state.67 The Asian population in Texas more than doubled

60 https://www.collincountygop.org/news/african-americans-and-texas-politics. 61 De Leon, Arnoldo, “Mexican Americans,” Handbook of Texas Online, Texas Historical Association, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/pqmue. 62 Texas State Data Center, www.texastribune.org/library/data/census-2010. 63 http://www.census.gov/quickfacts. 64 The Texas Politics Project: Latino elected officials in Texas, 1974-2003, https://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/ Archive/html/vce/features/0503_04/latinos.html. 65 Potter, Lloyd B., and Nazrul Hoque, “Texas Population Projections 2010 to 2050,” Office of the State Demographer, Texas State Data Center, 2014, http://demographics.texas.gov/Resources/Publications/ 2014/2014-11_ProjectionBrief.pdf. 66 http://www.census.gov/quickfacts. 67 Office of the State Demographer, Texas Population Projections, 2010 to 2050, http://osd.state.tx.us

between 2005 and 2013,68 and the state now ranks third in the nation (next to California

and New York) in Asian migration.69 The majority of Asian Americans in Texas are of

Chinese, Indian, and Vietnamese descent with most concentrated in the greater Houston

area. Chinese communities are prominent in Houston as are Vietnamese communities in

Port Arthur and Korean communities in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Five Asian

American have served in the Texas House of Representatives: Tom Lee (D-San Antonio-

Chinese American); Martha Wong (R-Houston-Chinese American); Angie Chen Button (R-

Richardson-Taiwanese American); and two current House members, Herbert Vo (D-

Houston-Vietnamese American), and Gene Wu (D-Houston-Chinese American).

At the turn of the 20th century, the United States census counted only 470 Native

American Indians in Texas; in 1990, there were 65,877;70 and in 2010 there were

144,292.71 The rise in the Native American Indian population from 1900 to 2010 may be

attributed to both the cessation of government relocation efforts from Texas and a

relatively recent return to Native American culture to the state. The Native American

Indian population in Texas rose substantially from the 1950s and until 1980 through a

federal government effort to resettle as many as 40,000 Indians in the Dallas-Fort Worth

area. Despite the rise in the Native American population, the overall number of Native

Americans in Texas is small and the group constitutes only .06% of the overall population

of Texas.72 No member of the Native American population has served or currently serves in

any statewide political office.

Texas was relatively trailblazing when compared to other states (especially Southern

states) when it came to women’s suffrage. Texas was the ninth state in the U.S. and the first

state in the South to ratify the 19th amendment (June 28, 1919). And, since 1972, the Texas

Constitution has contained an equal rights amendment.73 Texas is also home to the second

female governor in United States history, Miriam “Ma” Ferguson.

68 https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010. 69 Ibid. 70 http://texasalmanac.com/topics/culture/american-indian/american-indian. 71 http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-10.pdf. 72 Ibid. 73 Texas Constitution, Article I, “Bill of Rights, Section 3a.

For the Record: Women’s Suffrage in Texas

In 1919, Minnie Fisher Cunningham, president of the Texas Equal Suffrage Association (which became the League of Women Voters), wrote that suffrage passed in Texas due to “intra-party competition, the need for something to trade, and a leader politically shrewd enough to recognize it.” 74 During the 1915 and 1917 legislative sessions, the governor of Texas was James “Pa” Ferguson, an inexorable opponent of woman suffrage. When dissatisfaction with Ferguson's conduct in office grew into a movement to impeach him, the suffragettes and many others rose up against Ferguson and he was impeached in the summer of 1917.75 Ferguson’s successor, Lieutenant Governor William P. Hobby, was friendly toward woman suffrage and entered into a deal with the suffragettes: If the Texas Equal Suffrage Association would support his candidacy for governor for a full term (he was at the time serving out the remainder of “Pa” Ferguson’s unexpired term), he would ensure women the right to vote in the state. Hobby first pushed for women to gain the right to vote in the state primary – a measure that was adopted by the Democratic Party in 1918. And, when the Texas legislature convened in January 1919, Hobby sent a message recommending that the Texas Constitution be amended to extend full suffrage to women. The amendment passed, and an amazing number of women - 386,000 – quickly registered to vote.76 Hobby won the governorship by 80 percent of the total vote.77 The following month, June 1919, the federal women’s suffrage amendment was submitted to the states. The Texas House convened in special session on June 23 and adopted the resolution, and the Senate quickly followed suit on June 28.78 The 19th Amendment ensuring women the national constitutional right to vote was formally ratified on August 26, 1920.

Women continued to participate in Texas politics throughout the 20th century. In

addition to holding numerous local political offices, some women were also elected and

appointed to statewide offices. Dr. Annie Webb Blanton of Austin was elected

Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1918, becoming the first woman elected to

statewide office in Texas; Edith Wilmans of Dallas became the first woman elected to the

Texas legislature (1922); Margie Neal, a Carthage newspaper publisher, was the first

woman elected to the Texas Senate (1927); Jane Y. McCallum of Austin was appointed

74 Daniel, Theresa, “How Texas Led the Women’s Suffrage Movement,” Dallas Morning News, http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2016/08/25/texas-lead-womens-suffrage-movement. 75 Taylor, A. Elizabeth, “Woman Suffrage,” The Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/viw01 76 Daniel, Theresa, “How Texas Led the Women’s Suffrage Movement,” Dallas Morning News, http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2016/08/25/texas-lead-womens-suffrage-movement. 77 Ibid. 78 Ibid.

Texas Secretary of State (1927); and Judge Sarah T. Hughes was the first Texas woman

appointed to the federal bench (1961).79

The Texas Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced in the Texas Legislature

more than a decade before the U. S. Congress passed and submitted to the states the federal

ERA, but the first amendment failed to pass the state legislature. A later state equal rights

bill, introduced by State Representative Rex Braun (D-Houston) and co-sponsored in the

Texas House by Frances “Sissie” Farenthold (D-Corpus Christi)80 and in the Texas Senate

by Barbara Jordan (D-Austin),81 cleared the legislature in 1972, and in November Texas

voters approved a Texas Equal Rights Amendment.82 And, while a national Equal Rights

Amendment to the U. S. Constitution failed to be ratified by the requisite number of states,

the state of Texas did vote in favor of its ratification.83

The year 1972 proved to be a landmark year for Texas women. In addition to the state

ERA being ratified, a number of Texas women were elected to statewide and national office.

Barbara Jordan became the first African-American woman from a Southern state to be

elected to the U.S. Congress; six women were elected to the Texas legislature (the most

ever) with a list that includes two Republican women (Betty Andujar and Kay Bailey), two

African-American women (Senfronia Thompson and Eddie Bernice Johnson), and two

Anglo-American women (Sarah Weddington and Chris Miller). Democratic state

representative "Sissy" Farenthold became the first woman in the nation’s history

nominated for U. S. vice president, and Republican Anne Armstrong was the first woman of

either major party to give a keynote speech at national party convention. 1990 was also a

significant year for Texas women. Ann Richards was elected Governor of Texas, and Kay

79 “Women in Texas History,” Ruthe Winegarten Memorial Foundation for Texas Women’s History, http://www.womenintexashistory.org/timeline/. 80 Farenthold was defeated by Dolph Brisco in her run for Texas governor in 1972. 81 Barbara Jordan was the first African-American since 1883 to serve in the Texas Senate; the first African- American women and (along with Andrew Young of Georgia) African-American Southerner to be elected to the U. S. Congress since Reconstruction; the first woman and the first African-American to deliver the keynote address to the Democratic National Convention; and the first African-American buried in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin. See “History of Barbara Jordan,” University of Texas Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, http://diversity.utexas.edu/barbarajordanstatue/history-of-barbara-jordan/. 82 Texas Equal Rights Amendment: Frances Tarleton “Sissy” Farenthold,” The Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice, University of Texas at Austin, https://law.utexas.edu/farenthold/state/texas-equal-rights-amendment/. 83 Ibid.

Bailey Hutchison was elected State Treasurer becoming the first Republican woman

elected to statewide office in Texas. Richards, the first female governor to serve the state

since Miriam Ferguson, was well-known for her wry wit, feisty demeanor, and independent

spirit. She significantly increased the role of minorities and women in state government;

added African-American and women to the state law enforcement agency, the Texas

Rangers; and improved the Texas prison system. She was defeated in her second bid for

governor by George W. Bush in 1994. Hutchison served in the Texas House of

Representatives (1972 – 1976) before being elected State Treasurer, and in 1993 was

elected to the U.S. Senate. Originally elected to fill a two-year unexpired term left vacant by

Senator Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr.,84 Hutchison continued to be elected to the Senate in the 1994,

2000, and 2006 elections. Her work in the Senate included strengthening health care

benefits for veterans, preventing the federal government from receiving royalties from oil

companies drilling on public land, keeping the U. S. government from seizing states’

tobacco lawsuit settlements, and maintaining a robust national defense. In 2009, she lost

her bid for Texas Governor to Rick Perry, and decided not to seek reelection to the Senate.

Her seat was filled by tea party candidate Ted Cruz85 in the election of 2012.

Conclusion

Gaining knowledge about the various constitutions Texas has operated under and the

political culture and people that created them provides a foundation for understanding the

current Texas Constitution – The Constitution of 1876. Unit 1 has examined the early

explorations, settlements, and disputes over Texas land; migration and immigration to the

state; and the constitutions of Texas, the state’s political culture, and major participants

from various race and ethnic backgrounds that have impacted Texas politics. Unit 2

discusses Texas politics in the context of the American federalism and the role of elections,

political parties, and interest groups in the state.

84 Senator Bensen vacated the office to become U. S. Treasury Secretary under President Bill Clinton. 85 Senator Cruz subsequently changed political party affiliation from the Tea Party to the Republican Party.

Key Terms

Mexican War of Independence Grito de Delores Treaty of Cordoba Cinco de Mayo unicameral legislature Battle of the Alamo Constitution of Coahuila y Tejas Runaway Scrape Battle of San Jacinto Emily West Constitution of 1836 bicameral legislature Angelina Belle Eberly Constitution of 1845 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Texas geography Constitution of 1861 Constitution of 1869 Edmund “E.J.” Davis Coke-Davis Controversy political culture Travis Guard and Rifles democratic government political ideology elements of Texas political culture public service Daniel J. Elazar Spindletop – Lucas Gusher Barbara Jordan Asian-American migration African-American migration Hispanic demographics regional divisions Native-American migration women’s suffrage movement Miriam “Ma” Ferguson Texas Equal Rights Amendment Frances “Sissie” Farenthold William P. Hobby Ann Richards Kay Bailey Hutchison