What is the Texas Constitution of 1876?
The Constitution of 1876 is the sixth constitution by which Texas has been governed since independence from Mexico was achieved in 1836. It was framed by the Constitutional Convention of 1875 and adopted on February 15, 1876, by a vote of 136,606 to 56,652, and it remains the basic organic law of Texas.
Does Texas still have a constitution?
Texas still operates under the 1876 constitution today. Because of its tight restrictions, it has had to be amended hundreds of times and is now considered to be one of the most disorganized and confusing of all state constitutions.
What happened to reconstruction in Texas in 1875?
By 1875, Reconstruction was winding to a halt, and Democrats had regained power in Texas. They seized the opportunity to undo the hated 1869 acts. The 1875 Constitutional Convention wrote a new document.
What was the purpose of the Texas Convention of 1836?
During the Texas Revolution, delegates to the Convention of 1836 hastily drafted a new constitution for the fledgling Republic of Texas. Faced with the threat of imminent Mexican attack, they incorporated large sections of the United States Constitution along with some Mexican law.
What was the Texas Constitution of 1876 about?
The Constitution of 1876 began with a lengthy bill of rights. It declared that Texas was a free and independent state, subject only to the Constitution of the United States, that all free men have equal rights, and that the writ of habeas corpus could not be suspended or unduly delayed.
Did the Texas 1876 Constitution abolished slavery?
This Constitution is notable for more explicitly abolishing slavery and guaranteeing civil rights to all citizens, in compliance with the Reconstruction Acts passed by Congress. However, it also included several provisions that greatly upset many Texans and paved the way for the next Constitution.
What was the practice concerning segregation in the Del Rio School District?
The Ruling (9:13-10:44) The District Court ruled that Mexican American children could not be segregated because of race. However, the court ruled that it was permissible for a school district to segregate for educational purposes if it would benefit the child.
What does the Texas Constitution say about slavery?
1. The legislature shall have no power to pass laws for the emancipation of slaves without the consent of their owners, nor without paying their owners, previous to such emancipation, a full equivalent in money for the slaves so emancipated.
What was the ultimate goal of the Constitution of 1876?
joining the union. The Texas Constitution of 1876 was intended to expand the powers of the governor's office. The voter turnout for constitutional amendment elections in Texas has generally averaged approximately 35% of registered voters.
What events occurred in Texas in 1876?
What important event occurred in Texas in 1876? The current constitution of Texas was first drafted.
Why was Salvatierra v Del Rio ISD important?
In Texas, segregation of Mexican Americans would be legally challenged for the first time during this difficult economic period. The first Texas desegregation case, Salvatierra v. Del Rio ISD, would ostensibly legalize segregation of Mexican American public students in Texas.
Which court case began the legal challenge that would come to be known as Brown v Board of Education?
A special three-judge court of the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas rendered a verdict against the Browns, relying on the precedent of Plessy v. Ferguson and its "separate but equal" doctrine....Brown v. Board of EducationDecisionOpinionCase history16 more rows
What was the Cisneros vs Corpus Christi 1970 )?
Cisneros v. Corpus Christi Independent School District (1970) was the first case to extend the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas decision (1954) to Mexican Americans. It recognized them as a minority group that could be and was frequently discriminated against.
When did slavery become legal in Texas?
After the Texas Revolution ended in 1836, the Constitution of the Republic of Texas made slavery legal.
What does the Texas Constitution say?
1. FREEDOM AND SOVEREIGNTY OF STATE. Texas is a free and independent State, subject only to the Constitution of the United States, and the maintenance of our free institutions and the perpetuity of the Union depend upon the preservation of the right of local self-government, unimpaired to all the States.
Is slavery still legal in Texas?
June 19, 1865, marked a pivotal moment in Texas history. On that day, nearly a month and a half after the end of the Civil War, slavery was abolished statewide, signaling the end of a centuries-old institution of dehumanization and abuse.
What year did Texas ban slavery?
Under Mexican rule, slavery was officially outlawed in Texas by 1829. However, special consideration given to Anglo settlers meant that the enslaved population of Texas continued to grow, as enslaved men and women were forced to accompany their enslavers on their journey into Texas.
Which of the following is one of the most important themes of the Constitution of 1876?
First major theme: Wanted strong popular control of state government. Second major theme: They believed that a constitution should seriously limit the power of stare government.
Is slavery still legal in Texas?
The Section 9 of the General Provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Texas, ratified in 1836, made slavery legal again in Texas and defined the status of the enslaved and people of color in the Republic of Texas.
What year were slaves freed in Texas?
1865The Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, though word of the edict would not officially reach Texas for another two and half years — June 19, 1865.
What were the provisions of the 1876 Constitution?
It provided for biennial sessions of the legislature, low salaries for public officials, precinct voting, abolition of the road tax, and a return to the road-working system; for a homestead exemption clause, guarantees of a low tax rate, a less expensive, locally controlled, segregated school system, and a less expensive court system; for county and justice of the peace courts; and for popular election of officers. It also prohibited the registration of voters and grants of money or bonds to railroads. The document was adequate for a rural people engaged principally in subsistence farming, but not for an urban-industrial-commercial society. Very few changes were made during the first half century of the constitution's existence, but since then it has been changed at a steadily increasing rate. Changes are made through amendments submitted to the voters by consent of two-thirds of the members of each house of the legislature and approved by a majority of those voting. Of ninety-nine amendments submitted by September 1928, only forty-three were adopted, but by 1980 the voters had approved 235 proposals. No provision was made in the constitution for calling another constitutional convention. On several occasions there has been considerable agitation for a new document, but the voters defeated a proposal for a constitutional convention in 1919, and in 1975 they rejected an extensive revision prepared by the legislature. The constitution's more than 63,000 words make it one of the most verbose of state constitutions. Its wealth of detail causes it to resemble a code of laws rather than a constitution. Its many requirements and limitations on both state and local governments make it one of the most restrictive among state constitutions. Some of its passages are so poorly drafted as to need clarification for understanding, and others have been declared by the Texas Supreme Court to be beyond interpreting. Finally, since many of its provisions relating to the same subject are scattered widely throughout the text, a detailed index is necessary.
What was the purpose of the Constitution of 1876?
To assure that the government would be responsive to public will, the convention precisely defined the rights, powers, and prerogatives of the various governmental departments and agencies, including many details generally left to the legislature. The Constitution of 1876 began with a lengthy bill of rights.
Why did the legislature reject the new constitution?
Early in 1874 a joint legislative committee reported an entire new constitution as an amendment to the Constitution of 1869. Because the document had not been prepared by a convention and because of the possibility that its adoption might antagonize the federal government, the legislature rejected the proposal.
How did the article on education change the system?
To support the system the article authorized the legislature to levy a poll tax of one dollar on all male inhabitants between the ages of twenty-one and sixty and to appropriate not more than one-fourth of the general revenue. In addition, it set aside as a perpetual fund all proceeds from lands previously granted to the schools, including all the alternate sections of land already reserved for the state or afterwards reserved out of grants to railroads or other corporations (as specified in the Constitution of 1866 ), and the proceeds from the sale of one-half of all other public lands (as prescribed by an act of the legislature in 1873). The document abolished the office of state superintendent, founded a board of education composed of the governor, comptroller, and secretary of state, eliminated compulsory attendance, provided for segregated schools, and made no provision for local school taxes. The Constitution of 1876 provided for the establishment of the University of Texas and made Texas A&M, which had been founded by the legislature in 1871, a branch of it. The constitution further required the legislature to establish an institution of higher education for the instruction of the Black youth of the state. To support the university and its branches the constitution set aside one million acres of the public domain, with all sales and proceeds therefrom to be placed in a Permanent University Fund. It also provided that proceeds from the lands previously granted for the establishment and maintenance of the university (including the fifty-league grant by the legislature in 1858 but not the one-tenth of the alternate sections of land granted to railroads) and all future grants would permanently belong to the university.
What powers did the governor have?
The governor was empowered to convene the legislature in special sessions, to call out the militia to execute the laws, to suppress insurrections, to protect the frontier against hostile Indians, and to veto laws and items in appropriations bills; his veto, however, could be overridden by a two-thirds vote of both houses.
What was the Constitution's precinct voting?
The constitution also provided for precinct voting and mandated a poll tax, but not as a prerequisite for voting. It provided for homestead grants of 160 acres to heads of families and eighty acres to single men eighteen or more years of age, and for protection against the forced sale of a homestead for debt.
How many words are in the Constitution?
The constitution's more than 63,000 words make it one of the most verbose of state constitutions. Its wealth of detail causes it to resemble a code of laws rather than a constitution. Its many requirements and limitations on both state and local governments make it one of the most restrictive among state constitutions.