What are the four key principles of the Texas Constitution of 1876?
Today's Texas Constitution reflects six principles that are found in the U.S. Constitution – popular sovereignty, limited government, separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism, and protection of individual rights.
What is the principal means by which constitutional change has occurred in Texas since 1876?
The principal means by which constitutional change has occurred in Texas since 1876 is constitutional amendment.
What is the most important theme 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.
Why was the Constitution of 1876 created?
In general, the new constitution reflected the lack of faith in government the delegates had formed over the Reconstruction years. They slashed the power of officials along with their salaries and terms of office. The document was submitted to the voters and ratified the following year as the Constitution of 1876.
How did the 1876 constitution check strong executive power?
How did the 1876 Constitution check strong executive power? It had a plural executive.
How many amendments are there to the 1876 constitution?
Since 1876, the legislature has proposed 700 constitutional amendments. Of those amendments, 517 have been approved by the electorate, 180 have been defeated, and three amendments never made it to the ballot.
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 one of the effects on the legislature in the Constitution of 1876 quizlet?
What was the effect of the 1875 constitution on the legislature? The legislature was given less time in session with which to deliberate and react to events.
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.
What is the purpose of the Texas Constitution?
The Constitution of the State of Texas is the document that establishes the structure and function of the government of the U.S. state of Texas, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of Texas.
Who dominated the drafting of the 1876 Texas Constitution?
Republican Party dominated the drafting of the constitution but had divided interests. Centralized authority in governor -4 year term & vast appointment powers. Free public school system that required high taxes.
When drafting the Texas Constitution of 1876 the framers wanted to create?
When drafting the Texas Constitution of 1876, the framers wanted to create a government based on which of the following principles? the necessity of strong limitations on the authority of state officials.
When Texas constitutional framers drafted the Constitution of 1876 their primary goal was quizlet?
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 was one of the effects on the legislature in the Constitution of 1876 quizlet?
What was the effect of the 1875 constitution on the legislature? The legislature was given less time in session with which to deliberate and react to events.
When drafting the Texas Constitution of 1876 the framers wanted to create a government based on?
the necessity of strong limitations on theWhen drafting the Texas Constitution of 1876, the framers wanted to create a government based on which of the following principles? the necessity of strong limitations on the authority of state officials.
Who dominated the drafting of the 1876 Texas Constitution?
Republican Party dominated the drafting of the constitution but had divided interests. Centralized authority in governor -4 year term & vast appointment powers. Free public school system that required high taxes.
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.
How many amendments were made in 1928?
Of ninety-nine amendments submitted by September 1928, only forty-three were adopted, but by 1980 the voters had approved 235 proposals.
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 principles did the Texas Constitution have?
Several delegates (working under the pressure of the war) discussed for two weeks and formed a Texas Constitution. This constitution had seven key principles, the same seven principles that appeared in the United States Constitution.
What gives the government its power?
Power to the people! The people are what gives the government its power. The people decide what happens in the government.
Which court can check the power of the legislative and executive branches?
The Supreme Court (the highest court in the United States) can check the power of the legislative and executive branches by declaring that a law is
Who gets to vote for the representatives they want to see elected?
The people get to vote for the representatives they want to see elected.