What was limited by the new constitution of 1876

Why is the Texas Constitution so dang long? Why do Texans have to vote on so many constitutional amendments? Skip to main navigation Skip to main navigation Skip to search Skip to search Skip to content. Use current location. See all locations.

Admin Admin Admin, collapsed. Main navigation. Open search form. Search the Catalog Website Events. Enter search query Clear Text. These two factors - the length and the ease of amendment - mean that in Texas, the Constitution functions more as an adjunct to the statutes than a static set of governing principles. It is a dynamic, living document and was designed to be changed to reflect the growth and development of the state.

This makes it very much a part of Texas' legal and political landscape — in Texas, unlike at a national level, amending the Constitution is a very valid way of changing the law.

In keeping with Texas' dramatic history, the Texas Constitution has gone through several different versions. Below is a brief timeline of the various Constitutions and their importance in the overall constitutional history of Texas.

Each entry includes links to the text of that version and to its Handbook of Texas article. This was the first governing document of the Republic of Texas after it won independence from Mexico. It was a very short document based heavily on the U. It was never amended and was in effect for only a few years before Texas joined the United States.

Handbook of Texas article on the Constitution. Upon joining the United States, Texas redrafted its Constitution completely. It became longer and more detailed, although it was still nowhere near the length it would eventually become. This Constitution is notable mainly for creating Texas' free public school system and school funding system. When Texas seceded from the Union, it adopted this Constitution. The changes from the Constitution were minimal and consisted mainly of revising terminology to reflect Texas' membership in the Confederacy.

This temporary constitution was adopted immediately after the end of the Civil War when Texas was under the jurisdiction of the federal government. This Constitution was not intended to be the final governing document of the State; it was a placeholder meant to quickly get rid of the Confederate constitution and implement the requirements of Reconstruction. As such, its main effects were to abolish slavery and grant civil rights to African-Americans. Some examples of how the government was restricted were [1] :.

The structure of the current constitution of Texas Constitution of is a Preamble, 17 Articles, and Amendments Since [2]. Privacy Policy. All except the secretary of state were to be elected by the voters for a term of two years but with no limitations on eligibility for new terms. 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.

The governor was also empowered to make certain appointments, fill vacancies, and cause the laws to be faithfully executed but was given no control over local or other elected state officials. The judicial article provided for a supreme court, a court of appeals, district courts, county courts, commissioners' courts, and justices of the peace.

All judges were to be elected by popular vote, with terms of six years for the supreme and criminal appeals courts, four years for the district courts, and two years for all other courts. The number of district courts was placed at twenty-six, but the legislature was authorized to establish others as needed. The Texas Supreme Court, composed of three judges, was vested with appellate jurisdiction in civil cases only, and the court of appeals, composed of three judges, was vested with appellate jurisdiction over all criminal cases and certain classes of civil cases.

The district courts received original jurisdiction in criminal cases over felonies and over misdemeanors involving official misconduct and in civil cases over a long list of classes of suits. The district courts were given appellate jurisdiction over the county courts in probate matters. The article also mandated a court in each organized county with original jurisdiction over misdemeanors not granted to the courts of justices of the peace and certain civil cases and appellate jurisdiction in cases originating in the justice of the peace courts.

The commissioners' court was to consist of the county judge and four elected commissioners, one from each commissioner's precinct. The article on education drastically changed the system established by the Republicans in In the first section the framers ordered the legislature to establish and make provision for the support and maintenance of an efficient system of public free schools but then added provisions that made that directive impossible.

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 , and the proceeds from the sale of one-half of all other public lands as prescribed by an act of the legislature in 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 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 but not the one-tenth of the alternate sections of land granted to railroads and all future grants would permanently belong to the university.

The constitution also provided for precinct voting and mandated a poll tax, but not as a prerequisite for voting.