TEKS Standards Covered in Taming Texas: How Law and Order Came to the Lone Star State
Chapter 113. Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Social Studies
Subchapter B. Middle School
Section 113.19. Social Studies, Grade 7
113.19 (b) Knowledge and skills.
(1) History. The student understands traditional historical points of reference in Texas history… Natural Texas and its People; Age of Contact; Spanish Colonial; Mexican National; Revolution and Republic; Early Statehood; Texas in the Civil War and Reconstruction; Cotton, Cattle, and Railroads; Age of Oil; Texas in the Great Depression and World War II; Civil Rights and Conservatism; and Contemporary Texas.
The chronology and thematic development of the Taming Texas book correspond with these historical points of reference.
(2) History. The student understands how individuals, events, and issues through the Mexican National Era shaped the history of Texas.
The stories in Taming Texas include individuals and events specified under TEKS items (B) through (F): Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, Friar Damián Massanet, Francisco Hidalgo, the merger of Texas and Coahuila as a state, Moses Austin, Stephen F. Austin, and the contrasting Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo settlements in Texas.
(3) History. The student understands how individuals, events, and issues related to the Texas Revolution shaped the history of Texas.
Stories in Taming Texas cover a number of developments that led up to the Texas Revolution, and that are specified in TEKS item (A): the Fredonian Rebellion, the Mier y Terán Report, and the arrest of Stephen F. Austin. They also highlight the roles played by Sam Houston, Antonio López de Santa Anna, José Antonio Navarro, and other key individuals specified in TEKS item (B).
(4) History. The student understands how individuals, events, and issues shaped the history of the Republic of Texas and early Texas statehood.
Taming Texas places in a legal history context the administrations of Republic of Texas Presidents Sam Houston and Mirabeau B. Lamar, and ties in stories about the Texas Rangers and William Goyens [all in TEKS item (A)].
(5) History. The student understands how events and issues shaped the history of Texas during the Civil War and Reconstruction.
Three full chapters in Taming Texas cover a range of issues and individuals relevant to the ante-bellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction periods in Texas, as outlined in TEKS items (A), (B), and (C).
(6) History. The student understands how individuals, events, and issues shaped the history of Texas from Reconstruction through the beginning of the 20th century.
The chapters called “Taming the Plains” and “Taming the Giants: Railroads and Ranches” deal with many of the issues outlined in TEKS items (A), (B), and (C).
(7) History. The student understands how individuals, events, and issues shaped the history of Texas during the 20th and early 21st centuries.
Taming Texas ties a number of the social, political, and cultural trends of the 20th and early 21st centuries to the state’s legal history. It touches on such topics as women’s rights, prohibition, the development of the oil industry, and civil rights, as specified in TEKS items (A), (C). and (D).
(15) Government. The student understands the structure and functions of government created by the Texas Constitution. The student is expected to (A) describe the structure and functions of government at municipal, county, and state levels.
Taming Texas, with its focus on the history of Texas law and the third branch of government, explains how the court system works at all levels. This information will be reinforced through the classroom visits offered through the Taming Texas Judicial Civics and History Project.
(16) Citizenship. The student understands the rights and responsibilities of Texas citizens in a democratic society. The student is expected to: (A) identify rights of Texas citizens; and (B) explain and analyze civic responsibilities of Texas citizens and the importance of civic participation.
The Taming Texas Judicial Civics and History Project will supplement the civics-oriented information in the Taming Texas book with classroom presentations designed to promote these citizenship standards.
(18) Citizenship. The student understands the importance of effective leadership in a democratic society. The student is expected to: (A) identify the leadership qualities of elected and appointed leaders of Texas, past and present; (B) identify the contributions of Texas leaders.
The last chapter of the Taming Texas book talks about many of the state’s past and present judicial leaders. The Taming Texas Judicial Civics and History Project will take a number of elected and appointed judges into Texas history classrooms.