Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Engle, Stephen

Abstract

When former Confederates and their conservative allies retook power in the South after Reconstruction, they rewrote state constitutions. Lawmakers in the individual states gave their governors different powers based on their state’s experience throughout Reconstruction and Redemption. The Texas Constitution of 1876 created a weak governor, producing a state governed by elected county leaders and court judges. The Florida Constitution of 1885 on the other hand, kept a strong executive but placed it underneath the power of a private organization, the Democratic State Executive Committee – the Democratic Party. The state governments - and governors – redeemers designed in the 1870s and 1880s still governed Texas and Florida well into the twenty first century. Reconstruction directly shaped the size and scope of these modern-day state executives.

Extent

169 p.

Comments

Includes bibliography.|Thesis (MA)--Florida Atlantic University, 2024.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Includes bibliography.

Identifier

FA00014507

Format

pdf

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