Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced on Twitter the new "1836 Project" that will teach the state's history and "Christian Heritage" to students.
"To keep Texas the best state in the nation, we can never forget WHY our state is so exceptional. I signed a law establishing the 1836 Project, which promotes patriotic education & ensures future generations understand TX values. Together, we'll keep our rich history alive," Abbott said on Tuesday.
The post contained a video of Abbott with the law's authors during the actual signing. At writing time, the video was already viewed 2.1 million times and was received positively by netizens who gave it 9,235 likes, retweeted it 1,578 times, and shared it with their own quotes for 4,176 times.
To keep Texas the best state in the nation, we can never forget WHY our state is so exceptional.
I signed a law establishing the 1836 project, which promotes patriotic education & ensures future generations understand TX values.
Together, we'll keep our rich history alive. pic.twitter.com/4yZuygS2yX"” Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 7, 2021
As per The Christian Post, the new law is composed of a nine-member advisory committee that includes the Speaker of the House, the lieutenant governor, and the governor who are to pick three people each to serve for two years.
The new law promotes Texas history for topics on "the indigenous peoples of this state, the Spanish and Mexican heritage of this state, Tejanos, the African American heritage of this state, the Texas War for Independence, Juneteenth, annexation of Texas by the United States, the Christian heritage of this state, and this state's heritage of keeping and bearing firearms in defense of life and liberty and for use in hunting."
The 1836 Project, as per the law's literature, believes that patriotic and values education actually "stimulate" prosperity for the state. The law enlists the duties of the committee that involves promotion awareness, advisory capacity to the governor on the founding principles, development and facilitation of the Gubernatorial 1836 Award, and advisory capacity to state agencies on patriotic education. The committee also acts as a resource of the public on the subject.
The law said the Gubernatorial 1836 award is designed to recognize the knowledge of students on Texas Independence.
The Christian Post cited the Texas Public Policy Foundation's Next Generation Texas Campaign Manager Lucky Meckler appreciating the new law since it "does not gloss over Texas' unique history but instead embraces it."
Meckler told The Christian Post in an interview that the law was a "unique and robust way" of teaaching the state's founding principles, diverse culture, and rich history to Texans.
"(The law ensures) that all voices have the ability to participate in the creation and dispersing of Texas history and civics education to the public. "At a time when our state is struggling with a civic literacy crisis and growing rapidly in population, it is more important than ever to ensure that every Texan has the opportunity to learn about what makes this state so great," Meckler said.
Former President Donald Trump has launched a similar initiative during his administration through the 1776 Commission that focused on America's founding principles. The 1776 Commission released their report days before Trump left office.
However, President Joe Biden signed an executive order that revoked the commission before all information on it was removed from the White House website.
