Section 1
The Texans




Describe what life was like in the Republic and explain how the government attracted new settlers.
Analyze how the Ashworth Act affected free
African Americans.
Explain how the status of Tejanos changed after the Texas Revolution.




Many Texans had abandoned their homes during the Runaway Scrape .
Sam Houston made a call to them after the
Battle of San Jacinto, “Tell them to come on, and let the people plant corn.”
Entire towns including Harrisburg, Refugio, and San Felipe, had been burned or destroyed. Stephen F. Austin’s home was destroyed as well.




To help people rebuild, the Constitution of 1836 granted land to many of the people who had lived in Texas before the revolution.
In 1836, the population of Texas was approximately 52,700, including some 22,700
American Indians, African Americans, and
Tejanos.
To encourage immigration, the Republic of Texas extended land grants modeled after the empresario system.



The government’s land policy sparked an increase in immigration to Texas, and the population began to grow by leaps and bounds.
From 1836 to 1847, the population of Texas increase by nearly 100,000.


What happened to the Republic’s population, and why?

It increased as more immigrants, drawn by the availability of land, came to Texas.



By far, the largest group of new immigrants to the Republic were from the United States.
They came in search of land and economic opportunities, particularly after the economic depression caused by the Panic of 1837.


Although they came from almost every state, most settlers were from the Mississippi Valley area south of the Ohio River.





Life for free African Americans in Texas changed dramatically after Texas gained its independence.
The Constitution of 1836 required free
African Americans to get permission from the
Texas Congress to continue living in Texas.
In February 1840, Congress passed a new law that outlawed the immigration of free African
Americans to Texas.
The law stated those in the Republic would have to leave within two years or be sold into slavery.




Petitions to remain were often made for veterans of the Texas Revolution like James
Richardson and Greenbury Logan. Logan had fought in the battles at Concepcion and San
Antonio.
In November 1840, three petitions were presented to the Texas Congress on behalf of the Ashworth family.
In response, Congress passed the Ashworth
Act, which allowed the Ashworths and all free
African Americans who were in Texas at the time of the Texas Declaration of
Independence to stay.




Over the next several years, however, Texas passed new laws that strictly controlled the lives of free African Americans.
Those who broke the laws faced whipping, branding, and other harsh punishments.
By 1850, fewer than 400 free African
Americans were reportedly living in Texas.


Why do you think petitions were made for free African Americans who were veterans of the Texas Revolution?
Because Texans may have felt it wrong to deport people who had fought in their country.




Many Tejanos lived in the Rio Grande valley, an area claimed by both the Republic of
Texas and Mexico.
Most Tejanos were laborers who owned no land and worked for hire.
Of the Tejanos who owned ranches and farms, most worked small plots of land with only their families’ help.




In 1839, repeated attacks forced more than
100 Tejanos families in Nacogdoches to leave their homes. Some Tejanos were forced to leave temporarily flee Texas.
Juan Seguin, mayor of San Antonio from 1840 to 1842, witnessed several conflicts between
Tejanos and U.S. settlers. The City of Seguin, just outside of San Antonio, is named after him.
Jose Antonio Navarro , a signer of the Texas
Declaration of Independence, served in the
Republic’s Congress.


Tejanos maintained their culture, practiced their Catholic faith, ate traditional Mexican foods, and celebrated Mexican holidays.

To these traditions they added some traditions of the other cultural groups, helping to create a unique Texas-Mexican cultural tradition.


Why might Tejanos have been disappointed by life in the Republic?
They suffered discrimination; sometimes driven from their homes.


European Immigration to Texas




Why did the European immigrants come to
Texas, and where did they settle?
How did these immigrants maintain their culture in Texas?





The largest European group to settle in Texas was the Germans , who had first arrived around the 1830’s .
The Germans formed a Emigration Company, know as Adelsverein.
They hoped that this would help encourage more Germans to settle in Texas.
Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels was sent to
Texas in 1844, after the company acquired
Hill Country in Texas.






Once in Texas Prince Carl established a port for incoming settlers called, Karlshafen.
Later the Port became known as Indianola.
Two months later Prince Carl returned home to Germany, and was replaced by Baron
Otfried Hans Freiherr Von Meusebach.
Baron later changed his name to John O.
Meusebach.
New Braunfels had began to prosper, by 1847
Germany had sent more than 7,000 ppl to TX.



They settled in the Texas Hill Country.
They established communities that helped maintain their culture, including churches, architecture, food and language.





In 1840, Texas and France signed a treaty that would encourage French immigration.
Henri Castro brought one of the first French settlements to Texas.
Castro also founded to town of Castroville in
1844, near the Medina River.
By 1846, Castro had helped more than 2,000
French settlers come to Texas.




During the 1820’s Irishmen began to receive contracts to settle in Texas. One Irish
, James Hewetson , had come to
Texas in 1821 with Stephen F. Austin.
Many Irishmen fought with the Texans at the
Alamo, San Jacinto and Goliad.
One Irish born Texan, William Kennedy , encouraged immigration to Texas with his
1841book,





Polish and Czech immigrants settled in South and Central Texas.
During the revolution, Polish immigrants had fought at Goliad and San Jacinto.
Polish and Czech immigration later increased as economic and political conditions pushed many from their homelands.
Later immigrants from eastern Europe came to find good farmland.








Many Texans, whether old settlers or new immigrants, were farmers and ranchers.
Although some farms were large plantations, most were small family farms.
Texas farmers mostly grew food for their own needs, although they often produced a small cash crop-such as corn, cotton, wheat, rye, or oats-to sell for a profit.





Ranchers supplied townspeople and farmers with food, hides, and other materials.
Some ranchers drove their cattle to New
Orleans to sell them in markets there.
Tejanos owned many ranches in the Rio
Grande valley. Macedonio Vela, Hipolita
Garcia, and Dionisio Guerra all owned large successful ranches.
Some free African American such as Robert
Thompson of Montgomery County also owned ranches.




Most of the jobs in the Republic’s towns were related to agriculture.
Doctors, shopkeepers, blacksmiths, silversmiths, tailors, cabinetmakers, and bankers operated in the largest towns.
Towns like Houston and Galveston grew quickly as immigrants moved to them. New towns further inland such as Dallas began to grow.




Many smaller towns were founded by land speculators, but failed because they could not attract enough settlers.
In some cases people were unable to pay for the land they had agreed to buy.
Cash was so rare in Texas that “not a man of them can pay me a dollar,” one speculator wrote.




Travel between towns was difficult. The government tried to build new roads, but with limited success.
Texas roads remained poor, particularly in bad weather.
Travel by horseback or stagecoach was often uncomfortable and dangerous. One traveler described the road conditions. “I was obliged
(forced) in the worst places to relieve the mule by getting off and leading for a mile at a time, with water to my knees and sometimes to my britches pockets.”







The first steamboat to enter a Texas river was the
Ariel.
Henry Austin , who was Stephen F. Austin’s cousin, had begun operating this boat of the lower Rio
Grande in 1829.
By the 1840’s several steamboats traveled the Brazos,
Colorado, and Trinity Rivers.
These boats shipped cotton and other farm products from Texas farmers and bought in needed goods to
Texas settlers.
Floods, low water, and sandbars often prevented travel.
The lack of a good transportation system slowed the growth of business and towns in the Republic.



How did geographic factors affect the economic development of
Texas?
The lack of a reliable transportation system slowed the
Republic’s economic growth.





Texans enjoyed a number of leisure activities.
Some were part fun and part work, such as building houses for newcomers, participating in log splitting contests, and hunting and fishing.
Other activities were all fun, such as songfests featuring popular tune of the day, including
“Yankee Doodle.”
Dances were one of the most popular pastimes, from the small rural affair to the large plantation ball.
Many Texans also enjoyed concerts, horse races, and the theater.




Some citizens enjoyed literature and art, although both were scare in frontier Texas.
Most books published in the Republic dealt with its history or travel in Texas.
Authors on these subjects included Mary
Austin Holley and William Kennedy.


Artists, including portrait painters Charles
Kneass and Jefferson Wright, practiced in
Texas.
Many of the Republic’s artists were new immigrants. French painter and surveyor
Theodore Gentilz came to Texas with Henri
Castro. Gentilz is known for his scenes of
Texas Life.




There were many different denominationsorganized religious groups with similar beliefsacross Texas.
Churches and temples served as the religious and social centers of most Texas communities. In addition to sermons and Sunday school, many churches sponsored revival meetings, picnics, and bazaars.
Circuits riders, or traveling preachers, typically served a region on the frontier. They traveled to their areas on a regular basis to preach and to provide religious support to the settlers.





Churches also ran most schools.
Rutersville College was founded by the
Methodist Church in 1840. Later colleges included Galveston University and the
University of San Augustine.
Houston was the only town in the Republic to establish a public school. The school operated off and on throughout the 1840’s.
Several towns, however, established private academies-schools that offered classes at the high school level.



How did churches contribute to
Texas communities during the years of the Republic?
They served as religious centers and ran schools. As social centers, churches offered picnics, bazaars, and meeting places for
Texans.