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Sam Houston ended up being the Cherokee spokesman in Washington, and went on to lead Texas to independence. Santa Anna rose through the ranks of the Spanish army due to his heroism -- or at least his ability to draw attention to himself -- and managed to retain and even increase his power in an independent Mexico. It was the specific, individual personalities of these two men that allowed them to shape history in the way they did, and this concept is clear in the earliest details of their lives as told by Michener.
This is not to say that Michener describes the two men as the same. Though both were involved heavily in the political and military actions of their countries, they did so in different ways. Santa Anna is portrayed as power-hungry and very politically driven, changing sides when necessary and playing the game of politics to get what he wants. In the end, he ceded huge amounts of territory to the United...
Sam Houston, on the other hand, is what we might consider a maverick of politics, doing his own thing in his own very skilled and very effective way. In this book, he is shown as a larger-than-life adventurer; the prototypical Texan.
Though this book tells a lot bout early Texas and American -- and Mexican -- history, I would not really recommend it. It is written in a fairly dry style, without much sense of a real story. The subjects and events discussed are very interesting, but the method in which they are presented is not. There are books that probably offer a more detailed account of the history, if that is what a reader is interested in. If not, there are far more exciting novels about the time period than this tome. Still, it is a decent combination of novel and history, just not too exciting.
Texas Politics There are vast differences in the ideological beliefs of the political parties in Texas. Their stances on a number of issues ranging from education to immigration are vastly different. Furthermore, there relationship and views to the role of the Federal government are also substantially different. For example, the Texan Republic Party strongly emphasizes their sovereignty and states (Republican Party of Texas, 2014): "We strongly urge the Texas Legislature ignore, oppose,
Texas Constitution The fundamental law of the State of Texas is clearly stated out in the Constitution of the State of Texas. This document was officially adopted by the voters of the State in 1876 and has since them been amended in several occasions. In addition, under this constitution, the principles for the operation of state government and legal system have been outlined. The principle of separation of powers has given
Texas courts have two levels: local and state. Article 5 of the State's Constitution lays out the judiciary structure, and further definition can be found in the Texas Probate Code and Texas Government Code (Bessette, et al., 15). There is a very complex structure to the courts in Texas, featuring numerous layers of courts and a great deal of jurisdictions that overlap one another. The appellate system is also unusual
Texas Judges Selection Process and Qualifications In the words of Maxwell, Crain, and Santos, "Texas elects its judges (except municipal court judges) in partisan elections" (286). In theory, therefore, the selection of judges in Texas does not differ significantly from presidential and congress elections (Streb 7). To begin with, the basic qualifications of most judges in Texas are established in the constitution. However, additional qualifications may be prescribed in the relevant legislation
Baggett continues by pointing out that the Texas Republican Party was basically born out of the policies of the Whig party, and reflected the vision of Henry Clay. What was the Whig party all about? In the Wikipedia encyclopedia explains that the Whig Party was "formed to go against the policies of President Andrew Jackson and the Democratic Party" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_whig_party.The Whigs believed that Congress should have more power than the
Pluralist theorists often dispute that political power in Texas is dispersed among an extensive range of rival groups and interests, and that this rivalry serves to limit the power of any single group on the institutions of government. Even though there are noticeable dissimilarities in the resources of groups, there is adequate opposition and dealings among the groups to attain the objectives of a democratic society. Public policy, in this