Texas Constitution Vs US Constitution

To form the constitution for Texas, it took many years and many different versions to find the right fit, seven versions to be exact. Our first constitution is referred to as the Constitution of Coahuila y Tejas. This constitution on the basis that Texas was a Mexican state. Nine years later the Constitution of 1836 was formed to prepare for Texas to become an independent republic. This document was heavily influenced by the United States Constitution due to the need of protection in case of a Mexican attack. The Constitution of 1845 is often considered a simple and straightforward document. This constitution was one we adopted to be allowed into the Union. Six years later the Civil War Constitution was formed so that Texas could leave the Union and now join the Confederacy. The next constitution we functioned under, Constitution of 1866, was short lived. This document was created for us to rejoin the Union after the Civil War but before the Radical Reconstructionists took control of congress. The Reconstruction Constitution stated that the power was mostly in state government, not local government. Although most Texans did not like the
idea of giving the state government more power than the local government, the Radical Reconstructionists were pleased. Last but not least, the Constitution of 1876 is the one our governing body still runs by. It has been amended 483 times since its original writing, but still holds the Texans antigovernment values.
Texas had to adopt so many different Constitutions during the time from 1827-1876 due to our statehood. At first we were under Mexican rule, then we decided to become independent, then we wanted to join the union, then the confederacy, now back to the union. Throughout this back and forth process, Texas was influenced by two very important cultures. The Constitution of Coahuila y Tejas was formed while we were under Mexican rule and written in Spanish, where many Anglo Texans could not understand the language. Many Mexican laws on land, water, and community property are still seen in the modern Texas Constitution.
When Texas attempted to join the United States, there was one major conflict, slavery. Many Texans were against slavery, but to join the Union, slavery had to be legal. After the civil war, this conflict was obviously solved, but still plays a major role in politics and public policy in Texas. To join the Union, Texas had to create a new constitution that fit their own laws and beliefs. To do this, Texas constitution writers often borrowed from other states constitutions, such as Louisiana. Although Texas added in laws to satisfy the Union’s constitution, there was still some of the original Texas constitution that was widely influenced by Mexican rule.
Due to so many amendments made and different governing countries, the Texas Constitution is looked at as the most complicated state constitution in our modern times.
The US Constitution is 7,000 words in length, while the Texas Constitution is 90,000 or more words. That is a 1,186 % increase in word length! That seems to be unnecessarily long for a state constitution. The ideas listed in the Texas Constitution mainly match up to the US constitution. For Example, the general principles like popular sovereignty, limited government, representative government, social contract theory, and the separation of powers. The major difference that I see is, the Texas Constitution amendment process is significantly easier than the US amendment process. This is a major factor as to why the Texas Constitution is as disorganized and long as it
is.