Some Texas Constitution Tidbits

I found some of this quite interesting as we approach the 185th Anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Texas

From October through December of 1836, forty-four men convened in a drafty clapboard house in the town of Columbia (now West Columbia) in Brazoria County.

Their task was to craft a body of laws to bind together the fiercely independent citizens of this land into a cohesive, sovereign nation.

This was the first session of the first Congress of the Republic of Texas, and this volume contains the fruit of their democratic labors.

These were laws that:

  • Allowed the sale of land scrip by the President
  • Defined the duties of the head of state
  • Adopted the Republic’s official seal
  • Organized the militia
  • Organized & governed the army, courts martial, etc.
  • Organized the Supreme Court
  • Organized & regulated the navy
  • Regulated roads and ferries
  • Established fees assessed by the government
  • Formed the President’s cabinet

Noble. Straightforward. Just what was needed and just what you would expect.

“Sorry, Preacher…you still gotta work on the roads.”

They also passed some things that might furrow your brow in bewilderment.

A few examples:

  • No minister or priest could hold office in the national government
  • An act granting Deaf Smith, Sam Houston’s trusted scout & spy, any house in San Antonio that was to his liking, so long as the government could find a legal reason to confiscate it.
  • Officers & men of the Texas Navy could divide booty amongst themselves after capturing an enemy vessel.
  • They set the northern border of the Republic at the 42nd parallel, just south of present-day Wheatland, Wyoming.
  • “All free males, Indians excepted, between the age of 17 and 45 years” could be conscripted to work on the public roads.

That was not unusual. I have a notice to my Grandfather to ether pay cash or spend 90 days working on roads, and this was in Georgia around 1920.

Wow! I took my college semester of Texas history but didn’t remember that.

The northern boundary was based on the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819. Texas’ claim was relinquished under the Compromise of 1850 (as I recall from my first semester of US diplomatic history with Prof. Egan).

What the heck, only white and hispanic males had to do road work ? That sounds like
discrimination. I assume all slaves, Black Texans, got off free…right to use roads without
having to put any sweat equity into them !

(that’s sarcasm …maybe not OriginalTimmy quality, but I try…)

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