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Chapter 9 Democracy in Action
Chapter 9 Democracy in Action
"We the People of the Republic of Texas"- Constitutional preamble, Republic of Texas 1836
"I Samuel Houston, do solemnly swear that i will faithfully execute the Office of the President of the Republic of Texas, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the Republic of Texas. So help me God."- Sam Houston, Presidential Inauguration. 1836
After writing the Deceleration of Independence, the delegates decided under the leadership of provisional president David Burnett to form a Constitutional Convention to determine how they would run their new government. This was due to the conventions desire to avoid a period of disorder similar to that of America under the Articles of Confederation. Due to the majority of delegates being American the Constitution was modeled after the United States in that it included a bill of rights, had a government divided into three separate branches based with an executive, judicial, and bicameral legislature. However due to conflicting situations between 1783 and 1836 there were many differences that had to be included in the constitution:
1. English and Spanish shall be the de jure languages of the Republic. However English shall be the de facto language of government documents and sessions and shall be mandatory for all nationwide education. All other languages shall be protected under freedom of speech.
2. Slavery shall be allowed within all areas of the Republic. A slave can only be set free by the will of its master and a freed slave must seek permission from the govt. to settle with lands in Texas.
3. The President shall serve a 3 year term 3 maximum terms. Upon death of the President secession decrees that the ofice shall be given to the Vice-President.
4. All Presidential elections shall be done under popular vote, Electoral vote will not be accepted.
5. All residents of the Republic shall be able to seek citizenship after six months of residency, they shall then swear an oath and become citizens of Texas.
6. The requirements for political office are as follows. All men 25 or older may be able to seek office of the House of representatives, they must have been a citizen of their represented county or district for at least 6 months. All men 30 or older are allowed to seek the office in the Senate, they must have been a resident of their represented district for 1 year. All men 35 or older are able to seek the office of the Presidency, they must have been a citizen of Texas for at least 3 years.
7. All male citizens over the age of 18 shall be granted the right to vote regardless of ethnicity or race.
8. Each family is entitled to one league of land. All men over seventeen are entitled to 1/3rd league of land.
9. At any time the government may enact the process of decentralization and create new states or provinces. This must be done by a full majority in both houses.
10. They House of Representatives must have a membership between 24 and 40, this shall increase between 40 and 100 once the population reaches 100,000. The senate shall be between 1/3rd and 1/2 of the House.
11. National Elections shall take place on the first Monday of September, all politicians shall be sworn in office on the second Monday of December.
12. Any amendments to the Constitution shall be voted upon with a 2/3rd's majority by both houses.
Once all areas had been agreed to the Constitution was ratified on March 17th, the day the members of the delegation learned about the battle of the Alamo. In the months since then preperations had been made for communities of Texas to heed to the law of the Republic and transition the nation's economy to one that was independent of Mexico. During this time the government was seated in Harrisburg, Texas. Among the interim government there had been great discontent into when elections should truly begin. Half had been wanting elections to take place immediately in order to prove the Republic's legitimacy and to get the issue of governance done before the Texas gained recognition from Mexico. The other half were worried that as in technicality the war had not been officially declared over, to transition the government now would be unstable if the Mexicans were to invade (though highly unlikely due to the fighting between the Federalists and Centralists). Burnett for one hoped that elections would be delayed. That way he could secure his presidency and possibly be elected to office. After news of San Jacinto spread and the Mexican Civil War intesened then a majority agreed for elections to go forward on September 5th. Of the candidates Austin was made as a write-in even though he was finishing negotiations in Paris. This was due to the actions of Fort Bend county as they were firm supporters of the man who lead them into Texas. The second one was Governor Henry Smith, who while uncharismatic had lead the government at the start of rebellion until officially handling power to Burnett. The third one took most Texan politicians by surprise as Sam Houston announced his candidacy on July 25th. Houston believed that as commander in-chief who won San Jacinto it was his duty to lead the country until Texas had obtained peace with Mexico, he also hoped to use his position to move forward with annexation into the United States. Though there was little campaigning done, the efforts would be pointless as Houston was the clear front runner. Like Washington before, Houston had won the respect and love of his men when leading them into battle. As the only man who had fought in the Revolution he was the ideal person to become the nations first leader in the eye's of the people. The results are as follows:
View attachment 285163
For the members of Congress they would serve one term for the first year until 1837 were they would take official terms if re-elected. Sam Houston would serve his first term from October 22nd until December, 1838, afterwords terms for the Presidents would be the same. For the position of Vice-President Mirabeau B. Lamar was elected due to his courage and valiance during the Revolution. The two men would soon come to form a rivalry that would mimic Adams and Jefferson, though less hateful. With Houston and his faction of Annexationists forming the origins of the Western Union Party. While the idealistic Lamar and his cohort of Nationalists would become the founders of the Republican Party. In his Absence William Barrett Travis was promoted to Brigadier General and head of the Texan Army, training it to be every vigilant in a possible Mexican return and defending the settlers from attacks by Indians, most notably the Comanche. The first Texan Cabinet are as follows:
President of the Republic of Texas: Sam Houston
Vice President of the Republic of Texas: Mirabeau B. Lamar
Secretary of State: Stephen F. Austin
House Speaker: Ira Ingram. Image N/A
Secretary of War: Thomas J. Rusk
Attorney General: Lorenzo de Zavala
Postmaster General: David G. Burnet
Chief Justice: James Collinsworth. Image N/A
"We the People of the Republic of Texas"- Constitutional preamble, Republic of Texas 1836
"I Samuel Houston, do solemnly swear that i will faithfully execute the Office of the President of the Republic of Texas, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the Republic of Texas. So help me God."- Sam Houston, Presidential Inauguration. 1836
After writing the Deceleration of Independence, the delegates decided under the leadership of provisional president David Burnett to form a Constitutional Convention to determine how they would run their new government. This was due to the conventions desire to avoid a period of disorder similar to that of America under the Articles of Confederation. Due to the majority of delegates being American the Constitution was modeled after the United States in that it included a bill of rights, had a government divided into three separate branches based with an executive, judicial, and bicameral legislature. However due to conflicting situations between 1783 and 1836 there were many differences that had to be included in the constitution:
1. English and Spanish shall be the de jure languages of the Republic. However English shall be the de facto language of government documents and sessions and shall be mandatory for all nationwide education. All other languages shall be protected under freedom of speech.
2. Slavery shall be allowed within all areas of the Republic. A slave can only be set free by the will of its master and a freed slave must seek permission from the govt. to settle with lands in Texas.
3. The President shall serve a 3 year term 3 maximum terms. Upon death of the President secession decrees that the ofice shall be given to the Vice-President.
4. All Presidential elections shall be done under popular vote, Electoral vote will not be accepted.
5. All residents of the Republic shall be able to seek citizenship after six months of residency, they shall then swear an oath and become citizens of Texas.
6. The requirements for political office are as follows. All men 25 or older may be able to seek office of the House of representatives, they must have been a citizen of their represented county or district for at least 6 months. All men 30 or older are allowed to seek the office in the Senate, they must have been a resident of their represented district for 1 year. All men 35 or older are able to seek the office of the Presidency, they must have been a citizen of Texas for at least 3 years.
7. All male citizens over the age of 18 shall be granted the right to vote regardless of ethnicity or race.
8. Each family is entitled to one league of land. All men over seventeen are entitled to 1/3rd league of land.
9. At any time the government may enact the process of decentralization and create new states or provinces. This must be done by a full majority in both houses.
10. They House of Representatives must have a membership between 24 and 40, this shall increase between 40 and 100 once the population reaches 100,000. The senate shall be between 1/3rd and 1/2 of the House.
11. National Elections shall take place on the first Monday of September, all politicians shall be sworn in office on the second Monday of December.
12. Any amendments to the Constitution shall be voted upon with a 2/3rd's majority by both houses.
Once all areas had been agreed to the Constitution was ratified on March 17th, the day the members of the delegation learned about the battle of the Alamo. In the months since then preperations had been made for communities of Texas to heed to the law of the Republic and transition the nation's economy to one that was independent of Mexico. During this time the government was seated in Harrisburg, Texas. Among the interim government there had been great discontent into when elections should truly begin. Half had been wanting elections to take place immediately in order to prove the Republic's legitimacy and to get the issue of governance done before the Texas gained recognition from Mexico. The other half were worried that as in technicality the war had not been officially declared over, to transition the government now would be unstable if the Mexicans were to invade (though highly unlikely due to the fighting between the Federalists and Centralists). Burnett for one hoped that elections would be delayed. That way he could secure his presidency and possibly be elected to office. After news of San Jacinto spread and the Mexican Civil War intesened then a majority agreed for elections to go forward on September 5th. Of the candidates Austin was made as a write-in even though he was finishing negotiations in Paris. This was due to the actions of Fort Bend county as they were firm supporters of the man who lead them into Texas. The second one was Governor Henry Smith, who while uncharismatic had lead the government at the start of rebellion until officially handling power to Burnett. The third one took most Texan politicians by surprise as Sam Houston announced his candidacy on July 25th. Houston believed that as commander in-chief who won San Jacinto it was his duty to lead the country until Texas had obtained peace with Mexico, he also hoped to use his position to move forward with annexation into the United States. Though there was little campaigning done, the efforts would be pointless as Houston was the clear front runner. Like Washington before, Houston had won the respect and love of his men when leading them into battle. As the only man who had fought in the Revolution he was the ideal person to become the nations first leader in the eye's of the people. The results are as follows:
View attachment 285163
For the members of Congress they would serve one term for the first year until 1837 were they would take official terms if re-elected. Sam Houston would serve his first term from October 22nd until December, 1838, afterwords terms for the Presidents would be the same. For the position of Vice-President Mirabeau B. Lamar was elected due to his courage and valiance during the Revolution. The two men would soon come to form a rivalry that would mimic Adams and Jefferson, though less hateful. With Houston and his faction of Annexationists forming the origins of the Western Union Party. While the idealistic Lamar and his cohort of Nationalists would become the founders of the Republican Party. In his Absence William Barrett Travis was promoted to Brigadier General and head of the Texan Army, training it to be every vigilant in a possible Mexican return and defending the settlers from attacks by Indians, most notably the Comanche. The first Texan Cabinet are as follows:
President of the Republic of Texas: Sam Houston
Vice President of the Republic of Texas: Mirabeau B. Lamar
Secretary of State: Stephen F. Austin
House Speaker: Ira Ingram. Image N/A
Secretary of War: Thomas J. Rusk
Attorney General: Lorenzo de Zavala
Postmaster General: David G. Burnet
Chief Justice: James Collinsworth. Image N/A
- Kaiser Chris
- Word Count: 1.2k