POLS 2302 – Introduction to American Government II (Module 4)

Vocabulary flashcards summarizing key historical figures, legal documents, battles, political concepts, court cases, and current officeholders relevant to Texas government and history.

Alonso de Pineda

First European to explore Texas, he was a Spanish explorer (1519) who produced the first map of the Texas coastline.

Esteban (Estebanico)

Moroccan explorer-slave who crossed Texas with Cabeza de Vaca in the 1520s.

Angelina

Caddo woman who served as interpreter for Spanish missionaries; only woman to have a Texas river, county, and national forest named for her 

Jean Lafitte

French pirate who based operations in Galveston (1817-21).

First Official Spanish Settlements

Early 18th-century missions/presidios at Los Adaes, La Bahía, and San Antonio (Béxar).

Louisiana Purchase (1803)

U.S. acquisition from France that bordered Spanish Texas along the Sabine River.

Treaty of Fontainebleau (1762)

Secret pact transferring Louisiana from France to Spain after the Seven Years’ War.

Gutiérrez-Magee Expedition

1812-1813 filibuster trying to free Texas from Spain; defeated at the Battle of Medina.

Adams-Onís Treaty (1819)

Set Florida-Texas boundary; Sabine River became Texas’s eastern border.

Long Expedition

1819-1821 filibuster led by James Long to establish an independent Texas republic.

Jane Wilkinson Long

"Mother of Texas"; remained at Bolivar Peninsula after the Long Expedition failed where she had a baby and later was a part of the Austin Colony where she was an entrepreneur

Kian

Enslaved girl who stayed with Jane Long through the winter of 1821 on Bolivar Peninsula.

Austin’s Colony

First Anglo-American settlement in Texas founded by Stephen F. Austin in 1821-24. Made of 300 well educated people

Moses Austin

Secured original empresario grant to settle Anglo families in Texas; father of Stephen F. Austin.

Baron de Bastrop

Dutch-born empresario who helped Moses and Stephen F. Austin obtain settlement contracts.

Juneteenth

June 19, 1865 announcement of emancipation in Texas by Gen. Granger; now a federal holiday.

General Order No. 3

Union order read in Galveston on Juneteenth proclaiming freedom for enslaved Texans.

Abode Walls

Requirement that early settlers build permanent structures to validate land claims in Austin’s Colony. held a lot of buffalo hunters

Demographics of Austin’s Colony

Roughly 300 Anglo families, with a high ratio of enslaved labor and predominantly Southern U.S. origins.

African Movements into Texas

Forced migration of enslaved Africans and later free Black movements, including the arrival on Juneteenth.

Red River War (1874-75)

U.S. Army campaign to remove remaining Comanche and Kiowa from the Texas Panhandle.

Constitution of 1836

Texas Republic charter drafted at Washington-on-the-Brazos; modeled on U.S. Constitution.

Chief Quanah Parker

Last Comanche war leader; son of Cynthia Ann Parker; later advocated for his people on reservations.

Adelsverein Society

German immigration company that founded New Braunfels and Fredericksburg in the 1840s.

Indianola

Major 19th-century port of entry for German and European immigrants to Texas.

Don Antonio Gil Y’Barbo

Founder of Nacogdoches (1779) after Spanish East Texans were displaced from Los Adaes.

Henri Castro

Alsatian empresario who founded Castroville west of San Antonio (1844). loved the French immigrants

Los Adaes

Spanish capital of Texas province (1729-1772) near present-day Natchitoches, Louisiana.

Nacogdoches

Oldest town in Texas, established 1779 by Y’Barbo in East Texas.

La Bahía (Goliad)

Spanish presidio and mission that later became the town of Goliad; site of 1836 massacre.

San Fernando de Béxar

Spanish civilian settlement founded 1731; became modern San Antonio.

María Gertrudis Pérez

Prominent Béxar rancher who managed extensive landholdings during Spanish period.

Grito de Dolores (1810)

Father Hidalgo’s call launching the Mexican War of Independence on Sept. 16.

Mexican War of Independence

1810-1821 revolt ending Spanish rule and creating independent Mexico.

Treaty of Córdoba (1821)

Agreement recognizing Mexican independence from Spain.

Cinco de Mayo

May 5, 1862 victory of Mexican forces over France at Puebla; cultural celebration in Texas.

Unicameral legislature

Single-chamber law-making body.

Bicameral legislature

Two-chamber legislature (e.g., Texas House and Senate).

Battle of Gonzales (1835)

First armed clash of the Texas Revolution; "Come and Take It" cannon.

Battle of Medina (1813)

Bloodiest battle in Texas history; Spanish royalists crushed the Republican Army of the North.

Battle of the Alamo (1836)

13-day siege in San Antonio ending in Texan defeat but inspiring resistance.

Battle of San Jacinto (1836)

Decisive 18-minute Texan victory securing independence from Mexico.

Constitution of Coahuila y Tejas (1827)

Mexican state charter combining Coahuila and Texas; established Catholicism and limited slavery.

Runaway Scrape

Mass civilian evacuation eastward during Santa Anna’s march across Texas in 1836.

Emily West ("Yellow Rose of Texas")

Legendary free woman of color said to have distracted Santa Anna before San Jacinto.

Constitution of 1845

Document admitting Texas to the United States; limited state debt and provided for homesteads.

Constitution of 1861

Texas secession charter aligning the state with the Confederacy.

Constitution of 1876

Current Texas constitution emphasizing limited government and decentralized power.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)

Ended U.S.–Mexican War; Mexico ceded vast lands including future Texas border at Rio Grande.

Coke-Davis Controversy (1873)

Disputed Texas gubernatorial election between Democrat Richard Coke and Republican E.J. Davis.

Edmund "E.J." Davis

Radical Republican governor of Texas during Reconstruction (1870-74).

Miriam "Ma" Ferguson

First female governor of Texas (1925-27, 1933-35).

Travis Guard and Rifles

Historic Austin militia unit named after Alamo commander William B. Travis.

Texas political culture

Blend of individualistic and traditionalistic values stressing limited government and business dominance.

Political ideology

Coherent set of beliefs about the role and scope of government.

Daniel J. Elazar

Political scientist who classified U.S. state political cultures (moralistic, individualistic, traditionalistic).

Spindletop – Lucas Gusher (1901)

Oil strike near Beaumont that launched the Texas petroleum industry.

Ann Richards

Democratic governor of Texas (1991-95); noted for wit and advocacy for women.

Women’s suffrage movement (Texas)

Campaign leading to Texas ratifying the 19th Amendment in 1919.

William P. Hobby

Texas governor who signed state women’s suffrage bill (1918).

19th Amendment

1920 constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote.

Texas Equal Rights Amendment (1972)

State constitutional provision guaranteeing equality regardless of sex.

Frances “Sissie” Farenthold

Progressive Texas legislator and 1972 candidate for U.S. vice-president.

Barbara Jordan

First African-American woman from the South elected to U.S. House (1972); Watergate figure.

Kay Bailey Hutchison

First woman elected U.S. Senator from Texas (1993-2013).

Part-time legislature

Texas Legislature meets biennially for 140 days; members hold outside jobs.

Plural executive

Texas system in which key statewide officials are elected independently of the governor.

Bifurcated high court system

Texas has separate courts of last resort for civil (Supreme Court) and criminal (Court of Criminal Appeals) cases.

Texas Supreme Court

Nine-member court of last resort for civil and juvenile matters.

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

Nine-member court of last resort for criminal cases, including death penalty appeals.

County judge

Elected executive of a Texas county; presides over Commissioners Court and some judicial duties.

County Courts-at-Law

Statutory county trial courts handling civil, misdemeanor, and probate matters.

Municipal court judge

City judge handling traffic, ordinance, and Class C misdemeanors.

County Commissioners’ Court

Governing body of a Texas county; consists of county judge and four commissioners.

Justice of the peace courts

Lowest-level courts in Texas handling small claims and minor criminal matters.

Fletcher v. Peck (1810)

First U.S. Supreme Court case to strike down a state law as unconstitutional; protected contracts.

Furman v. Georgia (1972)

Temporarily struck down death penalty as applied; led to new sentencing guidelines.

Gregg v. Georgia (1976)

Reinstated death penalty under revised procedures; upheld capital punishment.

Clinton v. City of New York (1998)

Invalidated federal line-item veto as violating the Presentment Clause.

Governor Greg Abbott

Republican chief executive of Texas since 2015.

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick

Presiding officer of the Texas Senate; succeeds governor if vacancy occurs.

Attorney General Ken Paxton

Texas’s chief legal officer and head of civil litigation for the state.

Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham

Oversees Texas General Land Office, veterans’ programs, and state lands.

Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht

Presides over the state’s highest civil court (note: as of 2024, Nathan Hecht, not James Blacklock).

Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge David Schenck

Leads Texas’s highest criminal court.

State Senator Brandon Creighton (District 4)

Republican representing portions of Southeast Texas in the Texas Senate.

State Representative Dade Phelan (District 21)

Republican Speaker of the Texas House representing Jefferson and Orange counties.

U.S. Senator John Cornyn

Senior Republican senator from Texas since 2002.

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz

Junior Republican senator from Texas since 2013.

U.S. Representative Dan Crenshaw (District 2)

Republican congressman representing parts of Houston metro.

Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick

Chief executive of Jefferson County, Texas.