Who Was The First Governor Of Texas
Texas is the second largest state in the United States of America. Texas shares a border with Mexico, New Mexico, Arkansas and Louisiana. The capital city of Texas is Austin but the largest and most internationally recognized city in Texas is Houston. Texas has a plural executive branch system of government. This means that Texas has both a house of representatives and a senate. The head of the government system in Texas is the Governor.
Who was the first governor of Texas?
Prior to becoming an American state Texas was occupied by a number of different countries and was a Republic after they gained independence from Mexico. On December 29, 1845 Texas officially became part of the United States of America.
The first President of the Republic of Texas, after gaining it independence from Mexico, was Samuel Houston. Sam Houston was also the senator for Texas after the state joined the United States. As the first president of the Republic of Texas he lobbied for the annexation of Texas by the United States. In 1859 he became the 7th Governor of Texas and held that office until 1861. During the American Civil War he refused to swear loyalty to the confederacy and resigned from his position as governor of Texas.
The state’s first constitution made provision for a Governor in 1845. This person was to serve for two years and no more than four out of six years. This only allowed the governor to serve for two consecutive terms. The constitution of Texas has been amended a number of times since the first constitution and governors are now able to serve as many consecutive terms as they are elected to.
The first Governor of the state of Texas was James Pinckney Henderson. He held this position from February 1846 until December 1847. James Pinckney Henderson served as the attorney general under the president of the Republic of Texas Sam Houston prior to Texas becoming a state. James Pinckney Henderson did not run for a second term as the governor, but in November 1857 he became a U.S senator for the state of Texas. He continued his work in the senate until his death in June 1858.
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