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Reconstruction Ends. UNIT 7: (19 – 1). A New Era Brings New Concerns. During the late 1800s, Texas experienced a lot of growth. Railroads expanded, farming boomed, and industries and populations grew. Main Street Waco, Texas in late 1800s. San Marcos Train Depot: 1890.
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Reconstruction Ends UNIT 7: (19 – 1)
A New Era Brings New Concerns • During the late 1800s, Texas experienced a lot of growth. • Railroads expanded, farming boomed, and industries and populations grew. Main Street Waco, Texas in late 1800s
Democrats Rewrite the Constitution • In 1874 Democrats returned to power in Texas and a new state constitution was written in 1876 – this is the state’s current constitution (more than 400 amendments have since been added).
Democrats Rewrite the Constitution • The new Constitution created a government with limited powers. • Provisions included: 1) it limited the power of the governor 2) made the legislature meet every 2 years and set term limits on the legislature 3) lowered state employees’ salaries 4) guaranteed low taxes 5) reduced money to be spent on education
Democrats Rewrite the Constitution • The U.S. Constitution’s 15th Amendment guaranteed voting rights for all men, but NOT women.
Democrats Control State Politics • Most elected leaders after Reconstruction were conservative Democrats. • Sometimes African Americans were threatened, denied jobs, or harmed if they tried to take part in politics or vote.
Spending Cuts Reduce State Debt • The large public debt at the end of Reconstruction was $3 million and continued to increase. • Governor Oran M. Roberts took office in 1879 and balanced the budget by cutting pensions for veterans and school funding.
Lawmen Keep Order • Lawlessness was a major problem in Texas after the Civil War as many unemployed people flocked to the Texas frontier.
Texas Outlaws of the Late 1800s Sam Bass Billy the Kid John Wesley Hardin Jesse James
Texas Needs a Capitol • The Constitution of 1876 included a plan for a new capitol. • On November 9, 1881, the existing state capitol burned after catching fire during a rainstorm. • Work on a new capitol began in 1882 and was completed in 1888.
Texas Needs a Capitol • The new capitol was modeled after the U.S. Capitol. • Texas’ capitol is the largest capitol building in the United States! • It has more square footage than any state capitol and is 7 feet taller than the U.S. Capitol. This was done ON PURPOSE!
Women Fight for Their Rights • Although women in Texas made up about half of the population by 1900, they did not have the same legal rights as men. • The Women’s Christian Temperance Union was the first Texas group to endorse suffrage.
Women Fight for Their Rights • The women of Texas would not get the right to vote (nationally) until after World War I.
Women at Work • Most Texas women at the turn of the 20th century worked at home as wives, mothers, and homemakers. • Teaching was the most important profession open to women at the time. Some even started schools. • Some women worked as maids, secretaries, physicians, journalists, and artists.
Elizabet Ney • Elizabet Ney made important contributions to Texas as a sculptor who won national praise for creating statues of Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston which were erected on the grounds at the Texas state capitol.