CHAPTER 9 Life in Early Texas Section 1: Texas Fever Section 2: Daily Life on the Frontier Section 3: Trade and Transportation Section 4: Government and Society SECTION 1 Texas Fever Question: Why and how did U.S. settlers come to Texas? SECTION 1 Texas Fever GONE TO TEXAS Why U.S. Settlers Came: How They Traveled: • escaping hard times, debts • escaping criminal charges • U.S. creditors and authorities had no power in Texas • Texas had cheaper land; easier payment terms • • • • • on foot by covered wagon on horseback by flatboats on rivers by oceangoing steamships SECTION 2 Daily Life on the Frontier Question: What were religion and education like in early Texas? SECTION 2 Daily Life on the Frontier Education in Texas under Mexican Rule • available: home schooling; a few small private and community schools; wealthier children schooled in the United States • problems: few funds or good teachers; no public school system; little time for school for farm children; slaves denied schooling Religion in Texas under Mexican Rule • official: Roman Catholicism • actual: most Tejanos Catholic; most U.S. settlers Protestant, and privately worshipped as pleased. • Protestant activity: plentiful; traveling preachers; missionaries SECTION 3 Trade and Transportation Question: What were the economic activities and transportation routes in Texas in the early 1800s? SECTION 3 Trade and Transportation Economy • economy based on farming and ranching; cotton main cash crop • some craftspeople, merchants; some commercial centers; engaged in free enterprise • trade mainly by barter • exports—cattle, corn, cotton, cowhides, furs, horses, pork, salt; imports—U.S. goods • little manufacturing Transportation • few roads and in poor condition • few navigable rivers • ports on the Gulf of Mexico (e.g. in Galveston Bay); connected Texas to other regions but did not solve internal transportation problems SECTION 4 Government and Society Question: How did the Mexican Constitution of 1824 affect Texas? SECTION 4 Government and Society Mexican Constitution of 1824 formed state of Coahuila y Texas gave states strong local control Roman Catholicism the official religion EFFECT EFFECT EFFECT • The capital was far from Texas. • It was hard for Texans to participate in state government. • Some Texans were angered. • Local government could adjust to meet local needs; particularly those of U.S. settlers. • Local government became a mixture of Mexican and U.S. practices. • Texans, and in particular U.S. settlers, publicly claimed to be Catholic but privately worshiped as they pleased. CHAPTER 9 Chapter Wrap-Up 1. Why did so many Texas settlers like how the Constitution of 1824 divided government power? 2. Do you think that Texas settlers who broke Mexican laws were good citizens? Provide reasons for your answer. 3. How did poor transportation networks in Texas affect the region’s economy?