Nativism in Antebellum America (AP US History)Tom Richey
http://www.tomrichey.net
This PowerPoint was designed to accompany a lecture on antebellum "Nativism" (resistance to Irish and German immigration) in my AP US History course. In response to the wave of Irish immigration in the 1840s, Native-born Americans mobilized first as mobs (Philadelphia Nativist Riots), and then politically in the form of the "Know Nothing" Party in the 1850s.
Chapter 2 The Texas State Constitution and the American FEstelaJeffery653
Chapter 2: The Texas State
Constitution and the American Federal
System
Learning Objective
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
Explain the origin and development of the Texas State Constitution
Introduction
Proposing State Constitutional Amendments
Figure 2.1 On August 5, 2013, the Texas State Library hosted Texas Secretary of State John Steen for a
drawing that determined the ballot order of the 9 proposed state constitutional amendments to be voted
on as part of the November 5 election. Secretary Steen joined his staff, TSLAC staff, and members of
the media in the lobby of the Lorenzo de Zavala State Archives and Library Building, and he performed
the drawing in the presence of two special pieces of Texas history from the Texas State Archives: one
was the wooden box from which Secretary Steen drew the amendments. The “Ark of the Covenant,” as
the box is known, is made of wood from the house at Washington-on-the-Brazos where Texas delegates
met to declare independence from Mexico in 1836. The second piece was the actual 1876 Texas
Constitution, which is still in effect today. Image Credit: Texas State Library and Archives Commission
(https://www.flickr.com/photos/tslac/9452790214/in/photolist-fpj2cC- fVngXW-eVGPjX-efyyGC-efsMaX-
efyxEW-efsQyF-6fD8JP-2eaMtqy-DacH2L- S5q2Hz-c1gzgs-c7aJjS-2cNo4Q8-TkLLeE-2zjLo7-ZUn5LW-
rRLFnC-2echE2r- MpG6aZ-akfYaj-q8jPs2-29MikCR-fpj1f5-pnK2UM-eVUeh9-cu2FZW-efsN2R-
mGWvr1-efsQvr-xpX9Q-efsMQc-efsQWg-fp4LiX-fpj229-efsPK4-rVoguf- efyzpE-efsPca-5xGfVh-efsPKk-
efsPF8-fp4Lp8-6fHhEG-efsMCt-5yiHRG- fpj2Ay-efsQcp-rVnWCs-efsPr8) CC BY
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)
A constitution is a body of fundamental principles or established
precedents according to which a state or other organization is acknowledged
to be governed. Another way of thinking about it is that a constitution
outlines the structure of the government, defines the powers of the
government, and enumerates limits on the government. When it comes to
structure, this can include the creation of branches as well as how each
branch is organized. For example, the Texas government has three
branches in which the legislative branch is bicameral, the executive branch
is plural, and the judicial branch is bifurcated.
As for powers, the legislature makes law, the executive enforces law, and
the judicial branch adjudicates and interprets the law. Finally, limits on
powers come in the form of the Bill of Rights. A bill of rights, sometimes
called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most
important rights to the citizens. The purpose is to protect those rights
against infringement from public officials and private citizens.
The Texas Bill of Rights
(https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CN/htm/CN.1.htm) outlines the limits
on the powers of the government that would violate our rights.1
What d ...
II. Politics in Mexico• Mexico plagued by chronic politica.docxwilcockiris
II. Politics in Mexico
• Mexico plagued by chronic political instability
• 1821-1871- 50 Mexican presidents in office
• 1821-1848-almost all presidents overthrown
• Political factions: Centralists, Federalists,
• Mexican politics prevents consistent approach to problems with Texas Revolt
and Polk administration
Mexico’s 1824 Colonization Act
• Permitted foreign immigration into Southwest
• Plan intended to populate the region
• Develop the region economically
• Link the region with interior Mexico
• “Mexicanize the region”
• Buffer against American expansionism
Provisions of the 1824 act
• Immigrants Must:
• Adopt Mexican citizenship
• Be or become Catholics
• Obey Mexican laws
• Respect Mexican culture, customs and authority
Provisions, continued
• Economic incentives included:
• No taxes for up to seven years
• Purchase land in the following amounts:
• 640 acres per male
• 320 per female
• 160 per child
• 80 per slave
The Texas Revolt
A. Permission to settle:
Starting in 1821, Spain and then an Independent Mexico had granted permission to
Catholic (North) Americans to settle the sparsely populated territory of Texas.
B. Incentives for settlement:
Soon there was a great influx of Americans settlers into Texas. The land was practically
free--only 10¢ an acre as opposed to $1.25 an acre for inferior land in the U.S. Each male
colonists over twenty-one years of age was allowed to purchase 640 acres for himself, 320
acres for his wife, 160 acres for each child and, significantly, an additional 80 acres for
each slaves that he brought with him.
The numerical dominance of the American settlers:
1827: By 1827 there were some 12,000 United States citizens living in Texas, while there
were only 7,000 Mexicans.
1835: By 1835 the immigrant population had reached 30,000, while the Mexican population
had barely passed 7,800
The Mexican response to the influx of
Americans
1. Slavery was abolished:
The first important piece of legislation designed to prevent a further weakening of Mexican
control was President Guerrero's emancipation proclamation of 1829. Because slavery as
not important anywhere else in the republic, the measure was clearly directed at Texas.
Although manumission was not immediately enforced, it was hoped that the decree itself
would make Mexico less attractive to colonists from the U.S. South and would thus arrest
immigration.
2. Forbiddance of further immigration:
The colonization law of 1830 explicitly forbade all future immigration into Texas from the
United States and called for the strengthening of Mexican garrisons, the improvement of
economic ties between Texas and the remainder of Mexico by the establishment of a new
coastal trade, and the encouragement of increased Mexican colonization.
Texas Declaration of Independence
• 1835 document declaring independence from Mexico
• Outlines grievances against the Mexican government: lack
.
Texas Politics - The Constitutionhttptexaspolitics.lait.docxmattinsonjanel
Texas Politics - The Constitution
http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/7_printable.html[1/19/2013 8:54:38 AM]
Texas Politics - The Constitution
1. Introduction
1.1 Looking Ahead
2. Constitutions in Texas History
2.1 The State of Coahuila y Tejas, Estados Unidos Mexicanos
2.2 The Republic of Texas
2.3 The State Constitution of 1845
2.4 The Confederate Constitution of 1861
2.5 The Constitution of 1866
2.6 The Radical Republican Constitution of 1869
2.7 The Draft Constitution of 1874 and the Convention of 1875
3. The Texas Constitution Today
3.1 State Constitutions
3.2 General Characteristics of the Texas Constitution
4. Articles of the Texas Constitution
4.1 The Preamble
4.2 Bill of Rights (Article I)
4.3 Powers and Organization of Government (Articles II - V)
4.4 Education, Taxation, and Revenue (Articles VII and VIII)
4.5 Mode of Amendment (Article XVII)
4.6 Remaining Articles
5. The Constitution and Local Government
5.1 Existing and New Counties
5.2 County and Municipal Government
6. Modern Attempts at Constitutional Revisio
6.1 Constitutional Revision, 1971-1975
6.2 Recent Attempts at Constitutional Revision
7. Conclusion
1. Introduction
A constitution is a charter or plan of government that represents, in essence, a pact between the
government and the governed. Like any pact or contract it identifies mutually agreed powers,
duties, obligations and limitations on contracting parties, and establishes procedures for action,
including law-making and citizen-voter participation. In performing these functions, constitutions
also provide the fundamental law on which legal systems are established. They are usually set
forth in written documents, although the English Constitution is not, depending instead on
traditional precedents.
Since constitutions are the primary source of democratic governance and political "rules of the
game," they tend to be reflexively revered by the general population and pragmatically respected
by political professionals. Constitutions enjoy an exalted position among citizens, an almost
heaven-sent symbol of who we are, that politicians are careful to celebrate. References to
"constitutional authority" or "the sanctity of the constitution" sometimes carry the connotation of
powers beyond the reach of mere mortals.
Yet constitutions are created within a particular configuration of history, culture, interests, and
inherited rules that make them as much expressions of powerful, competing interests as of
abstract ideals or disembodied tradition. Like most constitutions, the current Texas Constitution
was the product of tumultuous times. Its organization and emphasis on specific concerns reflect
the tumult of Reconstruction, and the struggle over the economic and political development of
Texas.
The experiences of the post-Civil War period led to the complex, arcane, restrictive and, in the
end, contradictory founding document with which Texas continues to be saddled today. These
complexities and contradictions h ...
1. Chapter 9: Life in Early Texas Section 4: Government and Society
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18. Mexican Constitution of 1824 Formed the state of Coahuila y Texas Gave states strong local control Roman Catholicism official religion Effects Effects Effects