TEXAS GOVT CLASS: PAPER 1 - Essay Example

Texas Government Constitutional Advancement The of Texas evolved through numerous constitutions during the 19th century. The 1876 description was majorly a reaction to the teething troubles found in the 1869 version, just like the present US Constitution was principally a reaction to the glitches with the Articles of Confederation. This was undoubtedly the scenario present in the 1869 Constitution. Afterward the Civil War finished in 1865, members of the union army took up a good number of the southern states, going ahead to impose a military government. Northern Deep-seated Republicans in Congress believed the south was a retreat of racist and recalcitrant slaveholders who wanted to terminate the union during the Civil War. Consequently, southern states reconstructed and transformed from the ground up, a task only the Union Army could help accomplish.
The 1869 Constitution emerged to be centralized on a military system, with the first governor (Edmund Davis) being a Union Army officer. The governor’s office was overriding, and much authority was consolidated around one person.
Comparisons between the two constitutions
Given the case that the Texas Constitution is old-fashioned, how comes the US Constitution still works so efficiently? Because after all, the US Constitution was enacted in 1787, and is about ninety years older than the Texas Constitution, nevertheless it is still active and acclimatizes well to amendments. The dissimilarity is how the two documents were formulated. It is the manner of the language and the methodology to governance in the documents that brings about the difference.
For a start, the US Constitution is made up of only 4300 words which is in contrast to the Texas Constitution that is way above 93,000 words. (Informational Booklet on the Proposed 1976 Revision of the Texas Constitution 1975) The Federal Constitution frameworks the plain powers of administration, establishing the straightforward freedom rights of the citizens, yet it avoids lots of liberty and preference for elected administrators to administer. It is an agenda for government, yet leaves the particulars to yet to come generations and forthcoming elected administrators. The Founding Fathers were keen enough to comprehend that they may well not forestall the future yet they dreamed of establishing a government that may possibly encourage mandate as well as progress the economy of the US.
The drafters of the 1876 Texas Constitution did not have such purposes. They drafted the document exceedingly long and very comprehensive. Dreadful of the probable influence of government, detailing about what the administration is expected and not expected to carry out. The state of Texas is trying to operate in the ropes of the 21st century albeit hogged with a 19th century constitution designed for dissimilar persons in different periods.
A good instance to demonstrate the variances. The US Constitution permits Congress to normalize interstate trade. There exists no need to alter the US Constitution each time there is a new economic progress, for the reason that trade can be demarcated in a different way by each new set of administrators in Congress.
When it comes to the Texas Constitution, it precisely lists the number of chicken, horses, pigs that can be used to reimburse debts. This is a very inflexible system that leaves no room for the elected representatives or the governor to resolve difficulties.
Work Cited
Informational Booklet on the Proposed 1976 Revision of the Texas Constitution. Austin? The Legislature? 1975. Print. Read More