1. Unit 02: Celebrate Freedom Week
Coach G’s Texas History

2. Freedom Week Vocabulary/Key Terms
Preamble: an introductory part of a document.
Constitution: document outlining the fundamental principles and structures of a government.
Popular Sovereignty: independent power given to the people.
Individual Rights: personal liberties and freedoms.
Republicanism: government in which representatives are chosen.
Federalism: political system in which power is shared between a national centralized government and a collection of smaller state governments.

3. Principles reflected in the Texas Constitution:
Republicanism – a belief that government should be based on the consent of the people; people exercise their power by voting for political representatives
Article III. SEC. 4. The members of the House of Representatives shall be chosen by the qualified electors, and their term of office shall be two years from the day of their election.
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4. Principles reflected in the Texas Constitution:
Limited Government – the principle that requires all U.S. citizens, including government leaders, to obey the law
Article III. SEC. 14. Senators and representatives shall, except in cases of treason, felony or breach of peace, be privileged from arrest during the session of the Legislature, and in going to and returning from the same, allowing one day for every twenty miles such member may reside from the place at which the Legislature is convened.
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5. Principles reflected in the Texas Constitution:
Checks and Balances – the ability of each branch of government to exercise checks, or controls, over the other branches
Article IV. SEC. 14. Every bill which shall have passed both houses of the Legislature shall be presented to the governor for his approval. If he approve he shall sign it; but if he disapprove it, he shall return it with his objections, to the house in which it originated, which house shall enter the objections at large upon its journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of the members present agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, with the objections, in the other house, by which likewise it shall be reconsidered; and, if approved by two-thirds of the members of that house, it shall become a law; but in such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the members voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively.
Article XV. SEC 1. The power of impeachment shall be vested in the House of Representatives
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6. Principles reflected in the Texas Constitution:
Federalism – a system of government where power is shared between the central (or federal) government and the state governments
Article I SEC. 1. Texas is a free and independent State, subject only to the Constitution of the United States; and the maintenance of our free institutions and the perpetuity of the Union depend upon the preservation of the right of local self-government unimpaired to all the States.
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7. Principles reflected in the Texas Constitution:
Separation of Powers – the division of basic government roles into branches
Article II. SEC. 1. The powers of the government of the State of Texas shall be divided into three distinct departments
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8. Principles reflected in the Texas Constitution:
Popular Sovereignty – a government in which the people rule; a system in which the residents vote to decide an issue
Article VI. SEC. 3. All qualified electors of the State, as herein described, who shall have resided for six months immediately preceding an election within the limits of any city or corporate town, shall have the right to vote for mayor and all other elective officers.
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9. Principles reflected in the Texas Constitution:
Individual Rights – a personal liberty and privilege guaranteed to U.S. citizens by the Bill of Rights
Bill of Rights – 29 Sections
SEC. 2. All political power is inherent in the people and all free governments are founded on their authority, and instituted for their benefit. The faith of the people of Texas stands pledged to the preservation of a republican form of government, and, subject to this limitation only, they have at all times the inalienable right to alter, reform or abolish their government in such manner as they may think expedient.
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