Compare And Contrast The Constitution Of 1876 And The Texas Constitution

It is surprising to know that in the span of 49 years, Texas went through seven different constitutions reflecting the changes of time. Every experience Texas went through made the constitution more and more detailed and showed more distrust in the government. However, time has changed Texas from an agricultural world to a technological world and yet the Constitution of 1876 remains the law of the state. Although Texas endured the Civil War and the Reconstruction period after the Constitution of 1845 was ratified, the Constitution of 1876 was drafted from the Constitution of 1845.
Every Constitution of Texas begins with the Bill of Rights. Under Section 3 of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of 1876, equal rights remain the same. But

In both constitutions, this article spells out the powers and limitations of the legislature. One obvious difference was that “qualified electors” were restricted to “every free male excluding Indians not taxed, Africans, and descendants of Africans, excepted,” in the Constitution of 1845. In contrast, the Constitution of 1876 does not explicitly state restrictions for “qualified voters” (“Constitution of Texas,” n.d.; “Texas Constitution,”n.d.). The size of the Senate and the House of Representative is not mentioned in the Constitution of 1845 unlike the Constitution of 1876 which restricted the sizes to thirty-one members and 150 members, respectively. The term for a Senator has remained four years. However, the minimum age requirement to be a Senator changed from 30 years in the Constitution of 1945 to 26 years in the “Modern Day” Constitution. Although, the minimum requirement to be the resident of the state has gone up from three years to five years. The qualification for the Representatives has remained unchanged from the Constitution of 1845 to the “Modern Day.” The compensation for the legislature has not increased significantly. Legislature were paid three dollars a day when in session and three dollars travel compensation for twenty-five miles in 1845 and today legislature are paid $600 a month. A provision of Article

The office of president of the Republic of Texas was superseded and the state governor was first established in the Constitution of 1845 (“Phillip, Fry,” 2010) The Constitution of 1845 vested executive power in the governor and the election was done by the qualified voters of the State. In comparison, the Constitution of 1876 created plural executive, dividing the executive power among a governor, lieutenant-governor, Secretary of State, comptroller of public accounts, treasurer, commissioner of the general land office, attorney general and all of the officers of the executive department. All of these positions are elected by qualified voters except the Secretary of State who is appointed by the governor. The governor remains the commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the State and the militia in both the Constitutions. Also, the Constitution of 1845 placed a limit on the governor’s salary to two thousand dollars annually, which was amended on November 2, 1954 removing this limit. Although there has not been much change in the requirements to become a governor, the Constitution of 1845 limited the governor to two two-year terms in six years compared to the four-year term in the Constitution of 1876 (“Constitution of Texas,” n.d.; “Texas Constitution,” n.d.) Article VIII of the Constitution of 1845 mentioned the legislature’s power to pass