It declared that Texas was a free and independent state, subject only to the Constitution of the United States, that all free men have equal rights, and that the writ of habeas corpus could not be suspended or unduly delayed. It has our bill of rights.
Booker t Washington was a big believer that education would be the source of social mobility and a means to acquire power in American society. He believed that if a large amount of the black population could become educated (and keep in mind a majority of the black population was illiterate at the time) they would rise to power in society and become respected as equals in American society. This was in contrast to his contemporaries who believed that political demonstrations, protests and other ways of "fighting" for social and political power were more effective. Booker T Washington was also a career educator and founded the Tuskegee Institute which was one of the first historically black colleges, and is still educating students to this day.
Stock of a corporation, is all of the shares into which ownership of the corporation is divided. In American English, the shares are collectively known as "stock". A single share of the stock represents fractional ownership of the corporation in proportion to the total number of shares.
The cause for the scandal was the discovery of bribery in the cabinet and the government regarding oil trade. One effect was that it proved that cabinet members are not all powerful and can be arrested and indicted just like anyone. Another effect was the Supreme Court's ruling in McGrain v. Daugherty which explicitly established that Congress had the power to compel testimony. A third effect was that the government was given back the oil fields that were leased and they stayed in US ownership until 2015 when it was legally sold.