HIST 2301 Chapter 12-17: Hist 2301 Chapters 12-17
Chapter 12 – Progressive Era/WW I
1. Cit oissio sste of go’t pg. 307 - 308
• In 1900, Galveston was completely destroyed by a violet
hurricane that claimed 6,00 lives. In an effort to deal efficiently
and effectively with the aftermath of the disaster, local officials
adopted a new system, the commission system, also known as
the Galveston plan, voters elected members to a governing
body known simply as a commission. City commissions typically
consist of five to seven members who are responsible for the
governance of the city, including taxation appropriations,
ordinances, and other municipal functions. Individual
commissioners are assigned specific municipal tasks such as
public works, finance, public safety, and waste management.
Sometimes one of the commissioners is designated as a
chairman, or mayor, but this is usually a formality and the
designee does not exercise greater authority than the other
commissioners.
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• This form of government body blends the executive and
legislative branches. The city commission system wored well
after the hurricane destroyed Galveston because each
commissioner was responsible for a specific task of rebuilding
the city, including the disposal of the dead ( both animals and
humans) the removal of wrecked buildings the rebuilding of
docks and buildings, the construction, of a seawall to prevent a
similar event from occurring during future hurricanes, and
other governmental responsibilities.
2. Terrell Election Laws pg. 309
• Following the referendum on the poll tax amendment,
Alexander Watkins Terrell sponsored two additional election –
reform bills that passed in 1903 and 1905. The earlier legislation
law provided a stricter enforcement of the poll tax ad
established a specific day for primary elections. The Terrell law
of 1903, also identified procedures for conducting elections
such as the Australian ballot ( secret ballot), and for removing
responsibility of working the elections from the hands of the
parties. The reforms were created to clean up corrupt election
practices, Terrell was unsatisfied that the aw made it difficult
for independents to get on the ballot, that it did not provide for
election poll watchers ad that it failed to state that election
judges in the general election must be from different parties.
• Terrel was disappointed the law left it up to the discretion of
the parties whether to hold primaries or to rely on conventions
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in selecting their candidates. The Terrell election law of 1905
strengthened the earlier law by giving independent parties a
place on the ballot and by requesting that parties that polled
more than 100,000 votes in the general election hold primaries
in July. In section 120, legislators stipulated that, in county
conventions where no single candidate won a clear majority of
the primary vote, delegates would be divided equally among
the candidates. Furthermore the candidates would be listed on
the ballot according to the office sought rather than being
grouped together according to party affiliation. Finally the law
required that poll watchers would come from all parties, and it
banned newspaper articles for or against candidates that had
not been written by the editor except for paid advertisements.
The law was later refined.
3. poll tax pg. 308
• Texas politicians of all stripes initiated a movement for political
reform ( disenfranchisement) that carried over into the 20th
century, primarily in the new renewed call for a poll tax as a
requirement for voting. While only one dollar, the tax was large
enough to prevent many of the poorer citizens of the state,
regardless of color, from voting. In 1902 the legislature
proposed a constitutional amendment that permitted the use
of the poll tax as a requirement for voting.
4. all-white primaries pg. 309
• The Democratic county committees could create standards for
participation in a primary, which meant that they could prevent
lak oters fro partiipatig i the part’s oiatio
process. The white primary became a common feature of
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Document Summary
Chapter 12 progressive era/ww i: (cid:862)cit(cid:455) (cid:272)o(cid:373)(cid:373)issio(cid:374) s(cid:455)ste(cid:373) of go(cid:448)"t pg. 307 - 308: in 1900, galveston was completely destroyed by a violet hurricane that claimed 6,00 lives. City commissions typically consist of five to seven members who are responsible for the governance of the city, including taxation appropriations, ordinances, and other municipal functions. Individual commissioners are assigned specific municipal tasks such as public works, finance, public safety, and waste management. 309: following the referendum on the poll tax amendment, Alexander watkins terrell sponsored two additional election reform bills that passed in 1903 and 1905. The earlier legislation law provided a stricter enforcement of the poll tax ad established a specific day for primary elections. The terrell law of 1903, also identified procedures for conducting elections such as the australian ballot ( secret ballot), and for removing responsibility of working the elections from the hands of the parties.
