- Feb 6, 2002
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This new law just reeks of jealousy...
Gov Abbot says this is his goal for the new 1836 project.
Want to bet Texas won't be teaching this part of Texas's constitution they are so interested in preserving.
Also remember that "purity of the ballot box" phrase also in their Constitution? Let's have that discussion in class.
Texas is whitewashing its racist history | Dick Polman | Pennsylvania Capital-Star (penncapital-star.com)
Last week, the Republican governor of Texas signed a law creating “The 1836 Project,”
Gov Abbot says this is his goal for the new 1836 project.
Together, we’ll keep our rich history alive.” The project will promote “the principles that make Texas Texas,” especially the state’s “legacy of economic prosperity.”
Want to bet Texas won't be teaching this part of Texas's constitution they are so interested in preserving.
Section 9 of the original Texas Constitution:
“All persons of color who were slaves for life previous to their emigration to Texas, and who are now held in bondage, shall remain in the like state of servitude. (The Texas) Congress shall pass no laws to prohibit emigrants from bringing their slaves into the republic with them, and holding them by the same tenure by which such slaves were held in the United States; nor shall Congress have the power to emancipate slaves; nor shall any slaveholder have the power to emancipate his or her slave without the consent of Congress…”
After featuring that provision in The 1836 Congress, I trust that the current citizens of Texas will also be told why Section 9 was enacted in the first place: Because Mexico, which ruled the territory at the time, had recently enacted a law abolishing slavery. The Anglo settlers in Texas wouldn’t stand for that (John Durst, a prominent white landowner, wrote: “We are ruined forever”).
Defending slavery was a major impetus for the decision to break away from Mexico and establish an independent republic. It worked beautifully – between 1840 and 1850, the Texas slave population increased 500 percent, propping up the state’s most precious commodity, on which roughly 95 percent of the economy was based: Cotton.
Also remember that "purity of the ballot box" phrase also in their Constitution? Let's have that discussion in class.
Texas is whitewashing its racist history | Dick Polman | Pennsylvania Capital-Star (penncapital-star.com)