Truth in Texas Textbooks Review
Publisher/Publication/Year: Houghton Mifflin/Texas History/2015
Editor: Dr. Amy Jo Baker
Problem: Bias (B), Omission of Fact (OF), Half-Truth (HT), Factual Error (FE)
The publisher responded to all 39 items in this review.
Page #/Line #
Quote
Problem
1.
Page 19 Line
Graph
“In 2012 there were more than 244,700
farms in Texas.” In 2012 there were 2.2
million farms in the U.S.”
2.
Page 19 Bottom
center page
Answer: modified-water pumped from it for
irrigation and other uses; consequences –
economic benefits to farmers and others,
decreases in the aquifer’s water levels.”
3.
Page 19 in line
graph
“Caddo Lake is the largest natural lake in
Texas, covering more than 39 square miles.
HT
4.
Page 55 First
paragraph, 2nd
sentence
Page 55 Last
paragraph, third
sentence
“Early settlers here certain that the land
could not be farmed.”
Syntax
5.
OF
“This limestone ridge lies on a fault, or
OF
break in Earth’s crust. This fault extends up
from the southwestern part of Texas through
San Antonio and Austin.”
Fact & Source
http://www.texasalmanac.com/topics/agriculture/state-texas-agriculture
Important information left out is that the number of farms stated, correct
for 2012, diminished from 420,000 in 1940. This is an alarming trend,
noteworthy in this book, as well as the reason why.
Publisher’s response: There is no graph on p. 19; pp. 18–19 present
a selected listing of various comparisons between Texas, on the one
hand, and the United States or the world, on the other. It is not
intended to be an exhaustive list.
The answer, unlike the question, is an incomplete sentence, making it
difficult to understand.
Publisher’s response: Answers in Teacher’s Editions are often given
in abbreviated/fragment form. Teachers can be expected to
understand them.
http://www.caddolake.com/history.htm
Half the lake is in Texas and the other half is in Louisiana.
Publisher’s response: The reviewer’s point is correct about Caddo
Lake being half in Texas and half in Louisiana; on p. 19, we will add
“(half of which is in Louisiana)” after “39 square miles”
Sentence lacks clarity.
Publisher’s response: On p. 55, we will change “settlers here” to
“settlers were” (fix typo).
Considering how critical living on a fault can be, this reader believes that
more should have been said about a fault, including the consequences of
living in a house that is on a fault, physical and financial, e.g. foundation
problems
1
Publisher’s response: We believe this level of detail is beyond the
scope of this history course.
6.
Page 55, Map of
Subregions of
the Great Plains
Obstruction
7.
General
Comments about
the Unit on
Geography
8.
Page 88
Timeline
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca not on
timeline at the date 1530
OF
9.
Page 106 Last
line
In Texas, clashes between these two points
of view would continue for over one
hundred years
OF
There is an inset of a compass over part of the subregion that is being
presented on this page, obstructing a big part of the area which the reader
believes includes the Panhandle.
Publisher’s response: The compass rose and inset map are in the
non-subject area of the map, to the left of the Panhandle.
Pages are very “busy”, the layout is inconsistent from one page to the
next, making difficult it to read off an iPad due to constant page
adjustments to move right or left.
Publisher’s response: The online edition of the textbook has been
designed to work on computer Web browsers as well as other
electronic devices. Particular user issues can be reported to our
customer service.
Add deVaca to timeline He is recorded in Unit 2
Also add to last paragraph on page 97: The accounts and later writings of
Cabeza de Vaca provided the first descriptions of Texas landforms,
Indians of south Texas and to locate them relative to each other. His
description of the Mariames, Avavares, Yguaces, and associated Texas
Indians supplied cultural information that quantitatively exceeds that of
all successors combined.
Tshaonline.org/handbook/Spanish Texas
Publisher’s response: General Note A: The timelines in the
textbook are not meant to be exhaustive; they present selected
events that fall within the time frame of the chapter. This note
applies to many of the points in this review.
(Cabeza de Vaca is discussed at length on pp. 95–98.)
Add: It was not until 1873 that the U.S, Army under colonel Ranald S.
Mackenzie led a force into Mexico, destroyed the Apache villages, and
forced the survivors onto a reservation in New Mexico.
Tshaonline.org/handbook/Spanish texas
Publisher’s response: General Note B: This history course must
not only comply with the TEKS in terms of what is to be included,
but is also subject to other constraints both pedagogical and
technical (e.g., reading level, concept load, visual/verbal balance,
space on the page); it is not possible to include all the historical
details that one might wish.
2
(Mackenzie is discussed on pp. 422, 427, 450.)
10. Page 119 Para 2
line 5
After a few days, they finished building San
Francisco de los Tejas
OF
11. Page 120 Para 2
Line 5
After it was abandoned, Father Hidalgo
OF
helped found the San Juan Baustista mission
along the Rio Grande
12. Page 121 Para2
Line 3
When the governor of Louisiana
OF
13. Page 125 Para 1
In June 1719-----
OF
14. Page 137 Para 1
Line5
In 1766, the Marques de Rubi----
FE
15. Page 143 Para 2
Line 1
When they first heard of his actions,
Spanish officials thought that Philip
Noland------
OF
Add: the first mission in East Texas, perhaps near the site of modern
Augusta in northeastern Houston County.
Tshaonline.org/handbook/Spanish Texas
Publisher’s response: See General Note B. (The mission San
Francisco de los Tejas is also discussed on pp. 65, 118, 120, 122.)
Add: The mission has appropriately been called the “Gateway to Spanish
Texas”. It was founded on January 1,1700 at the site of present-day
Guerrero, Coahuila.
Tshaonline.org/handbook/Spanish Texas
Publisher’s response: See General Note B. (San Juan Bautista is also
discussed on pp. 121, 122.)
Add: Antoine de La Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac.
Tshaonline.org/handbook/Spanish Texas
Publisher’s response: See General Note B.
Add: a group of 6 soldiers led by Philippe Blondel----Tshaonline.org/handbook/Spanish Texas
Publisher’s response: See General Note B.
The visiador general of importance for Texas was Marques de Rubi, who
arrived in 1767--Tshaonline.org/handbook/Spanish Texas
Publisher’s response: There is no factual error on p. 137. The text
notes that “In 1766, the Marqués de Rubi began a tour … of New
Spain” and that “he traveled through Texas the next year”
(emphases added)—i.e., 1767.
Add: a famous filibuster.
Tshaonline.org/handbook/Spanish Texas
Publisher’s response: “Nolan” is the correct spelling. Nolan is often
described as a filibuster, and the textbook does not disagree.
However, in the narrative his actions are described first and then
the term is introduced (on p. 144—still under the heading “The
Philip Nolan Expeditions”). It is thus clearly inferred that he, too, is
a filibuster.
3
16. Page 145 Para 2
Line 2
One of his recruits was a U.S. Army officer,
Agustus W. Magee,
OF
17. Page 145 Para 6
Last line
He then led a campaign of revenge across
Texas, executing hundreds of Tejanos----
OF
18. Page 149 Last
Para Last line
19. Page 175
Reading Check
OF
/Evaluating: Which empresarios were the
most successful in establishing colonies in
Texas?
Answer: Green DeWitt and Martin deLeon
No. 6: Who were some successful
empresarios?
Answer: DeWitt and deLeon
FE
20. Page 197 Para 3
Line 4
Although slavery was not totally outlawed
in Texas, it remained a devisive issue.
OF
21. Page 230 Para 2
Last line
On December 10, Cos surrendered and
agreed to lead his men out of Texas
OF
22. Page 247
“That’s
Interesting”
Description of the finding of Santa Anna’s
discovery after the battle at San Jacinto
23. Page 262 Para 2
Last line
The Republic distributed another 4.5 million OF
acres under this system.
Page 178
Understanding
Main Ideas
Add: a West Point graduate----Tshaonline.org/handbook/Spanish Texas
Publisher’s response: See General Note B.
Add: including some Americans. A young lieutenant, Antonio Lopez de
Santa Anna, was recognized for valor under fire.
Tshaonline.org/handbook/Spanish Explorations
Publisher’s response: See General Note B.
Add after last line: Between 1833 and 1855, the Mexican presidency
changed hands 36 times.
Tshaonline.org/handbook/Spanish Explorations:
Publisher’s response: See General Note B. (This fact is pointed out
in the Teacher’s Edition on p. 298.)
Stephen F. Austin was the most successful of the empresarios. More than
1,100 titles to land in Texas were issued to settlers accepted in his
colony. In addition to his contract under the 1823 law, he secured a
contract under the State Colonization Law of 1825 to settle 500 families,
another in 1827 for 100 families, and one in 1828 for locating 300
families in the coastal area. http://www.glo.texas.gov/what-wedo/history-and-archives/_documents/history-of-texas-public-lands.pdf
Publisher’s response: On p. 175, we will change the Reading
Check question to read: After Stephen F. Austin, which
empresarios were the most successful in establishing colonies in
Texas? 16
(The answer in the Teacher’s Edition answer will remain as is.)
Add: Austin got the state legislature to recognize labor contacts under
which slaves were technically free but bound themselves to their masters
for life. Often, entire families were covered by a single contract.
Tshaonline.org/handbook/ Spanish Explorations
Publisher’s response: See General Note B.
Add: Ironically, Cos’s final stand was at the Alamo.
Tshaonline.org/handbook/Texas Revolution
Publisher’s response: See General Note B.
Should properly be placed after description of the actual battle on page
251.
Publisher’s response: We will move the Teacher’s Edition That’s
Interesting! anno from p. 247 to p. 250 (p. 251 is too crowded).
No one was required to live on the land at that time.
Tshaonline.org/handbook/Republic of Texas
4
Publisher’s response: See General Note B.
24. Page 269 Para 2
Line 2
The Texans waiting there expected to
receive many returned captives. However,
the Penateks brought only a few.
FE
25. Unit 6
Chapter 18
Black soldiers are not mentioned
OF
On March 19, 1840, sixty-five Comanches showed up with one white
prisoner, a twelve-year old girl by the name of Matilda Lockhart.
Tshaonline.org/handbook/Republic of Texas
Publisher’s response: There is no error on p. 269. According to the
Handbook of Texas (online), “Council House Fight” (see
https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/btc01), the
Penateka Comanches brought “several Mexican children” as well as
Matilda Lockhart.
Black Soldier was First Native Texan to Receive Medal of Honor
The first recipient of the Medal of Honor who was born in Texas was
Milton M. Holland. The nation’s highest military honor (originally called
the Congressional Medal of Honor) was instituted at the beginning of the
Civil War to recognize the heroic actions of Union soldiers in that
struggle.
Holland was born in Panola County in August 1844 (some sources say
Austin). Along with two brothers, he was sent to school in Athens
County, Ohio, before the Civil War by his owner, Bird Holland.
When the Civil War broke out, he worked as a civilian for the
quartermaster corps until blacks were allowed to join the army in 1863.
The young man raised a company of African-Americans in Athens, and
the group was mustered into the 5th Regiment, U.S. Colored Troops.
Holland attained the rank of sergeant-major, the highest rank open to
blacks at the time.
When the officers of his unit were either killed or wounded in an advance
on Richmond, Virginia, on Sept. 29, 1864, Holland assumed command
and led a courageous charge that allowed a white military unit to return
to the Union line. The actions of Holland and his regiment earned the
highest praise from Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.
Holland was presented with his Medal of Honor on April, 6, 1865. His
citation states: “Took command of Company C, after all the officers had
been killed or wounded, and gallantly led it.” In all, 23 black soldiers and
sailors won the Medal of Honor during the Civil War. Because Holland
entered the Union army in Ohio, his military service and heroism are
credited to that state in U.S. military records.
Holland did not return to Texas after the war, migrating instead to
Washington, D.C. In the 1890s, he founded the Alpha Insurance
Company in Washington, D.C., one of the first black-owned insurance
companies in the nation. He died in 1910 in Silver Springs, Maryland.
5
26. Unit 6
Chapter 19
Section 4
Page 410
Irrigation is not mentioned in farming.
OF
27. UNIT 8
1876 – (completely omitted from timeline)
OF; FE
CHAPTER 24
OF
TIMELINE
p.496-497
28. CHAPTER 24
THE
POPULISTS
p. 501
1888 – (completely omitted from timeline)
1894 – (completely omitted from timeline)
Southern farmers had traditionally voted for
Democratic Party candidates. However, the
Democrats’ failure to back the subtreasury
plan prompted Alliance members to help
form the People’s Party—commonly called
the Populist Party—in 1891. Its members
were known as Populists. The Populists
wanted to reduce the influence of big
business on government. They called for
government ownership of railroads and the
telephone and telegraph system. They also
demanded an eight-hour workday and an
OF
Milton’s brother, William, did return to Texas and taught for a time in
Austin. A staunch Republican, William Holland served in the 15th
Legislature, where he authored legislation creating Prairie View Normal,
the first college for blacks in Texas and now Prairie View A&M
University.
Sources: Texas Almanac 1994–1995 and the Richmond Battlefield
website, National Park Service;
www.nps.gov/rich/historyculture/holland.htm.
—From the Texas Almanac 2012–2013.
Publisher’s response: See General Note B.
1868
Landowners at Del Rio form a company to begin first large-scale
irrigation in Texas. The canal system is completed in 1871.
www.texasalmanac.com
Publisher’s response: See General Note B.
 1876-Feb. 15 – The present state constitution is adopted.
 1876-Charles Goodnight establishes the JA Ranch in Palo Duro
Canyon, the first cattle ranch located in the Panhandle.
 http://www.texasalmanac.com/topics/history/reconstruction
 1888-May 16 - The present Texas state capitol is dedicated.
 1894-June 9 – Oil is discovered at Corsicana by workers drilling for
water
 Texas experiences its coldest winter on record statewide.
 http://www.texasalmanac.com/topics/history/reonstruction
Publisher’s response: See General Note A. (There is no factual
error—the reviewer does not state what is alleged to be an error.)
 Rural discontent had brewed in the United States since the sharp
decline of farm prices in the 1870s. …the return of hard times in the
1880s led to emergence of the farmers' alliances. In December
1890, representatives from a number of the alliances met in
Ocala, Florida to examine the issue of united political action.
This initial foray into direct involvement came to nothing;
allegiances to the Democratic Party still remained strong.
Racism, as well as loyalty, played a role; some feared that
splitting the Democratic vote would revive the old Republicanblack alliance. Two events in 1890 paved the way for a new
political party. First, Congress passed the Sherman Silver Purchase
6
increase in the money supply.
29. CHAPTER 24
THE
POPULISTS
p. 502
This Populist platform, or statement of
political goals, was taken from the Southern
Farmers’ Alliance. Many Alliance
members joined the new party, as did some
factory workers and other laborers. The
Populists also enlisted the support of
African Americans such as John Rayner, a
labor recruiter and influential speaker. He
traveled around East Texas, building
African American support.
OF
Act, a totally inadequate gesture toward currency expansion.
Second, Republicans in Congress chose to withhold support from a
bill to enforce civil rights in the South, thus ending any hope for
cooperation between the former slaves and the party of Lincoln. Into
this void moved figures like Tom Watson of Georgia, who urged
Southern white farmers to overcome their antipathy toward blacks
because both groups were suffering at the hands of the same
oppressors. Despite running candidates in the presidential elections
from 1892-1908, the Populist effort was probably doomed from the
start. They advanced a number of stellar ideas, but fell prey to the
allure of free silver, an issue that resonated poorly with urban
workers whose votes were badly needed. Discontented farmers,
despite their enthusiasm, simply lacked the numbers to move the
nation.
 http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h876.html
Publisher’s response: See General Note B.
 The story of this man’s life and influence on Texas History is
important.
 RAYNER, JOHN BAPTIS (1850–1918).
John Baptis (J. B.) Rayner, leader in the People's party in Texas, son
of white planter Kenneth Rayner and slave Mary Ricks, was born a
slave on November 13, 1850, in Raleigh, North Carolina. He was
raised by his great-grandparents Henry and Matilda Jett and worked
on his father's plantation. Kenneth Rayner, a Whig congressman and
leader of the Know-Nothing party, helped John secure a college
education at Shaw University and St. Augustine's Normal and
Collegiate Institute. In the early 1870s John B. Rayner moved to
Tarboro, North Carolina, where he taught and, as a Republican
during Reconstruction, held a series of local political offices, which
included constable, magistrate, and deputy sheriff. He married Susan
Clark Staten in 1874, and they had two children. In 1881 he led a
migration of black farmworkers to Robertson County, Texas, and
settled in Calvert, where he taught school, preached, and dabbled in
politics. Shortly after his arrival in Texas his wife died. He then
married Clarissa S. Clark, with whom he had three children.
Rayner's first recorded political activity came in the 1887 statewide
prohibition campaign, during which he earned regional notoriety as
an proponent of prohibition. In 1892 he joined the fledgling Populist
party, and by 1894 he had become its best-known black spokesman.
At the party's 1894 state convention delegates elected him to a
7

member-at-large position on the state executive committee and to the
platform committee, where he used his influence to move the party
toward stronger positions on black rights. Until 1898 Rayner traveled
the state incessantly, lecturing and organizing on behalf of the
People's party. He earned a reputation as one of the great orators of
his day, black or white. After the demise of the Populist movement
and his return to the Republican party, Rayner split his time between
fund-raising for black education, writing newspaper essays, and
campaigning against prohibition (a reversal of his earlier position).
He served as chief fund-raiser for two black vocational schools:
Conroe College and the Farmers' Improvement Society School; he
was president of the former. In the age of disfranchisement and Jim
Crow, he worked publicly for accommodation and curried the favor
of the lumber magnate John Henry Kirby, who contributed to his
educational projects and occasionally employed Rayner as a labor
recruiter. Privately, however, Rayner wrote bitterly of "the white
man's hallucinated idea of his race superiority." Rayner was active in
the Texas Law and Order League and was grand master of the United
Brothers of Friendship. Toward the end of his life he wrote editorials,
was active in community work, and pressed for African Americans to
be in the armed forces during World War I. He died of liver or
kidney failure at his home in Calvert on July 14, 1918.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Jack Abramowitz, "John B. Rayner: A Grass-Roots Leader," Journal
of Negro History 36 (April 1951). Gregg Cantrell, Kenneth and John
B. Rayner and the Limits of Southern Dissent (Urbana: University of
Illinois Press, 1993). Roscoe C. Martin, The People's Party in Texas
(Austin: University of Texas, 1933; rpt., University of Texas Press,
1970). Douglass Geraldyne Perry, Black Populism: The Negro in the
People's Party in Texas (M.S. thesis, Prairie View University, 1945).
John B. Rayner Papers, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History,
University of Texas at Austin.
Gregg Cantrell, "RAYNER, JOHN BAPTIS," Handbook of Texas
Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fra52),
accessed October 11, 2014. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by
the Texas State Historical Association.
8
Socialism Settled in Texas
America’s top socialist, Eugene Debs, top
center, visited Texas socialists. Photo courtesy
of Marty Boswell, a descendant of
Halletsville’s Meitzen family
Socialism is nothing new in
Texas, it has been here almost as
long as in Europe.
A communistic society in Bettina,
one of several, collapsed in 1848.
Others lasted longer and made a
more enduring mark in Texas
history. During that period,
several utopian communities were started. Comfort and Sisterdale in the
Hill Country near Fredericksburg and La Reunion just outside Dallas
were examples.
A leading European socialist, Victor Considerant, came to North Texas in
1853. Considerant had been an early influence on Karl Marx. He wrote
Manifeste de la Democratie Pacifique in 1843 and Marx read it, as he
read all of Considerant's writings. Five years later, Marx co-authored The
Communist Manifesto. Parts of the earlier work are covered without
disagreement in the later one. Thus Considerant and Marx had broad
agreement on their diagnosis of the ills of capitalism, even though they
differed greatly on the prescription.
Considerant had been active in French politics. When Louis Bonaparte
III became President, Considerant joined a rebellion against him. For
that, he was driven into exile in Belgium. From there he came to the U.S.
to meet with a co-thinker and famous American socialist, Albert
Brisbane. They toured the country and ended up riding horseback into
North Texas.
Considerant was what Marx termed a "utopian socialist." He believed
that capitalism could be coaxed into changing by providing good
examples of functional socialist enterprises. His elaborate plans for
experimental communities were tried in many places in Europe and
America. They were not economically successful. However, many of the
Europeans stayed even after their original settlements collapsed. They
made great contributions in the sparsely settled areas where they finally
raised their families.
In Texas, the Civil War put a final end to all of the communities. The
slave-holding Confederacy could not tolerate the free thinking
Europeans. A number of them were massacred at the "Battle of the
9
30. CHAPTER 24
Farmer Jim
p. 506
James E. Ferguson was another influential
member of the Texas Democratic Party. He
gained the support of the state’s poor
citizens, particularly its tenant farmers, by
working for reforms. Because of his
support for Texas farmers and poor people,
Ferguson was nicknamed Farmer Jim. One
OF; FE
Nueces" as they tried to escape conscription by fleeing from Comfort,
Texas, to Mexico.
It has been suggested that Karl Marx himself once considered coming to
Texas. Or, possibly, he only mentioned the idea as a ruse to throw
authorities off his trail.
Texans Voted for Reds
The State of Texas web site will give you the presidential vote totals for
all Texas elections. There, you’ll find that Texas may not be as backward
historically as most information sources would like you to believe. In
1888, for example, the Union Labor Party received 8.2% of the total
357,513 votes.
Texas Socialist Party Peaked Around 1914
A great deal of what is known about the Socialist Party in Texas is
intertwined with the history of the remarkable Meitzen family of the
Halletsville area. From the 1850’s to today, and from Texas to Florida
and Connecticut, Meitzens have been involved in progressive political
activities.
Otto Meitzen and Jennie Caroline Alpine Holmgren emigrated from
Germany after the repression following the failed revolution of 1848.
They arrived in Texas in early 1850. Like most of the Germans in Texas,
they opposed slavery. The Meitzens waited out the Civil War rather than
attempting to flee to Mexico as others did.
They educated their son, Edward Otto, who eventually worked as a
blacksmith, teacher, lawyer, publisher, and political leader. E.O. was
active in the entire succession of progressive organizations in Texas from
the Greenback Party in the 1880s, through the Farmer’s Alliance and the
Texas Populist movement, to the Socialist Party. Many historians believe
that the end of the progressive movement began when they co-endorsed
William Jennings Bryan for President in 1896 along with the Democrats.
Meitzen and others of the Texas movement opposed that endorsement at
the convention.
 http://www.labordallas.org/hist/reds.htm
Publisher’s response: See General Note B.
 The text skims past the corruption charges that plagued Ferguson’s
administration and presents the opposition as the mere opinion of
some people.
 FERGUSON, JAMES EDWARD (1871–1944).
James Edward (Pa) Ferguson, Texas governor, son of James Edward
and Fannie (Fitzpatrick) Ferguson, was born on August 31, 1871,
near Salado, Bell County, Texas. When he was four years old, his
10
of his admirers wrote, “he swayed them
(rural voters) like the storm sways the
slender pines.” Those opposed to Ferguson,
in contrast, said that he was dishonest and
stirred up people for his own benefit. Most
Texas voters seemed to like Ferguson,
however, and he was elected governor in
1914 and 1916.
father died. His mother continued to live on the farm, and he began
working in the fields as a young boy. He entered Salado College, a
local preparatory school, at age twelve but was eventually expelled
for disobedience. He left home at sixteen and wandered for two years
through the states of the Far West, where he lived by accepting any
employment offered. After returning to Bell County, he farmed and
worked with a railroad-bridge gang until, after a brief study of law,
he was admitted to the bar in 1897 and began the practice of law in
Belton. On December 31, 1899, he married Miriam A. Wallace (see
FERGUSON, MIRIAM A. W.); they had two children. His law
practice did not require all of his time, so Ferguson expanded his
interests to include real estate and insurance and later turned his
attention to banking. He was associated with the Farmers State Bank
of Belton for several years and was a member of the Texas Bankers
Association. He moved to Temple and in 1907 joined with others in
establishing the Temple State Bank. Throughout his years in banking
he took an active interest in county and local politics.
Although he had never held office, he was not a stranger to political
problems; he had done much work in keeping local-option
prohibition from Bell County, had been one of the Bell County
managers in the campaign of Robert L. Henry for Congress in 1902,
had helped carry Bell County for Cone Johnson in his contest with
Joseph Weldon Bailey in 1908, had served as a campaign manager
for Robert V. Davidson in 1910, and had aided Oscar B. Colquitt in
his successful gubernatorial campaign (1912). Prohibition was a
major issue in the campaign of 1914, with several aspirants for the
governorship on both sides of the question. The prohibitionists held
an elimination convention and pledged their support to Thomas H.
Ballqv of Houston. The antiprohibitionists attempted to have a similar
convention, but Ferguson, whose statements and Bell County record
identified him as an antiprohibitionist, refused to submit his name to
it. As a result it was impossible for the convention to eliminate him
and obviously unwise to divide the vote by naming a rival candidate.
The convention did not endorse Ferguson, but the other
antiprohibition candidates withdrew from the race. Ferguson won the
nomination by a majority of about 40,000 votes.
The campaign proved him to be a man of considerable native ability
and the possessor of a captivating personality. As a political speaker
he had few equals. The most discussed plank in his platform, which
appealed especially to tenant farmers, proposed a law that would
11
limit the rent charged by landlords and prevent the collection of
bonuses. Landowners were assured, however, that they need not be
alarmed by the proposal, as it would benefit all concerned. During
Ferguson's first term, the legislature passed several measures of
major importance. The tenant law was passed but remained on the
statute books only a short time before being declared
unconstitutional. The policy of state aid to rural schools was begun,
and a rather timid law requiring compulsory school attendance was
passed. Three new normal schools were authorized. Provision was
made for the establishment of the Austin State School. Needed
buildings were provided at other eleemosynary institutions. The
colleges were permitted to begin building programs, and the
educational appropriation bills were more generous than usual. As a
result of these and other expenditures, the ad valorem tax rate for
state purposes advanced from 12½ to 30 cents. The landholdings of
the prison system were greatly increased, and because of the rising
price of farm commodities, the system became self-sustaining; during
the years of war prosperity, it showed a profit.
In 1916 Ferguson's reelection seemed certain. The prohibitionists
passed over their better-known leaders and gave their support to
Charles H. Morris of Winnsboro, a political unknown. The issues
were prohibition, the tax rate, and certain unpalatable rumors
concerning the Ferguson administration. Ferguson was reelected by a
majority of about 60,000 votes, but opposition was sufficient to show
that many Texans, including a number who were not prohibitionists,
were displeased with his stewardship. Aside from the act instituting
the highway department, the second Ferguson administration was
marked by little in the way of important legislation. The legislature
passed generous appropriation bills, and the ad valorem tax rate
reached the constitutional maximum of thirty-five cents. Early in his
second term the governor became involved in a serious quarrel with
the University of Texas. The controversy grew out of the refusal of
the board of regents to remove certain faculty members whom the
governor found objectionable. When Ferguson found that he could
not have his way, he vetoed practically the entire appropriation for
the university. The excitement that greeted the veto was soon
overshadowed by the greater excitement that surrounded the
impeachment trial. While the campaign of 1916 was in progress, the
Ferguson administration had been charged with a number of
irregularities. Preliminary investigations failed to uncover any charge
12
that would merit impeachment, and for a time the incident seemed
closed. The Ferguson controversy with the university brought
renewed interest in the old charges, however, and at about the same
time a number of new charges were made. On July 21, 1917, in the
midst of the excitement, Ferguson appeared before the Travis County
grand jury, and several days later it was announced that he had been
indicted on nine charges. Seven of the charges related to
misapplication of public funds, one to embezzlement, and one to the
diversion of a special fund. Ferguson made bond of $13,000 and
announced his candidacy for a third term as governor.
As a result of these developments, the speaker of the House called a
special session to consider charges of impeachment against the
governor. This call was of doubtful legality, but Ferguson removed
all question by calling the legislature to meet for the purpose of
making appropriations for the University of Texas. The House
immediately turned its attention to the numerous charges against the
governor and, after a lengthy investigation, prepared twenty-one
articles of impeachment. The Senate, sitting as a High Court of
Impeachment, spent three weeks considering the charges and finally
convicted the governor on ten of them. Five of the articles sustained
by the Senate charged Ferguson with the misapplication of public
funds, three related to his quarrel with the University, one declared
that he had failed properly to respect and enforce the banking laws of
the state, and one charged that he had received $156,500 in currency
from a source that he refused to reveal. Nine of the charges can be
described as violations of the law, while the obtaining of $156,500
from a secret source was certainly not in keeping with good policy.
The Court of Impeachment, by a vote of twenty-five to three,
removed Ferguson from office and made him ineligible to hold any
office of honor, trust, or profit under the state of Texas. Ferguson
declared that the legislature constituted little more than a "kangaroo
court," but only a few months before, both the House and the Senate
had refused to sustain charges against him, and his removal from
office was far from certain when the legislature convened in special
session. He resigned his office the day before the judgment was
announced and contended that it did not apply to him. The question
was eventually carried into the courts, where the judgment of the
Court of Impeachment was sustained. But the mere fact that
Ferguson had been impeached and made ineligible to hold any office
of trust or profit under the state did not in any sense remove him
13

from the field of Texas politics. In 1918 he sought the Democratic
party nomination for the governorship but was defeated by William
P. Hobby. In 1920 he was an unsuccessful candidate for President on
his own American party ticket. In 1922 he was an unsuccessful
candidate for the United States Senate.
In 1924, unable to run under his own name, he ran his wife's
campaign for the governorship against Judge Felix Robertson, the
candidate endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan. The Fergusons beat
Robertson and went to the Governor's Mansion for a third time. Two
years later they lost a reelection bid amid new scandals concerning
excessive pardons and political patronage abuses. In 1928, for the
first time since 1914, Ferguson was not an active participant in a
political campaign, but even then he took some interest in the race for
the governorship and gave his support to Louis J. Wardlaw. In 1930
he conducted the unsuccessful campaign of his wife for the
governorship, and in 1932 he conducted her successful campaign for
the same office. In 1940 Mrs. Ferguson again sought the
governorship, and for the last time "Farmer Jim" appealed to the
voters of Texas. He was by this time an old man. He made only a few
speeches and must have known long before the votes were cast that
Mrs. Ferguson had no chance to win. James Ferguson died on
September 21, 1944, and was buried in the State Cemetery in Austin.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Norman D. Brown, Hood, Bonnet, and Little Brown Jug: Texas
Politics, 1921–1928 (College Station: Texas A&M University Press,
1984). James T. DeShields, They Sat in High Places: The Presidents
and Governors of Texas (San Antonio: Naylor, 1940). James Edward
Ferguson Collection, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History,
University of Texas at Austin. Lewis L. Gould, Progressives and
Prohibitionists: Texas Democrats in the Wilson Era (Austin:
University of Texas Press, 1973; rpt., Austin: Texas State Historical
Association, 1992). W. V. Howerton, ed., Facts on Ferguson: A
Review of the Impeachment and a Reply to Charges Made by ExGovernor Ferguson (Austin, 1918). Norman Kittrell, Governors Who
Have Been and Other Public Men of Texas (Houston: Dealy-AdeyElgin, 1921). Ouida Ferguson Nalle, The Fergusons of Texas, or
"Two Governors for the Price of One": A Biography of James
Edward Ferguson and His Wife (San Antonio: Naylor, 1946). Ross
Phares, The Governors of Texas (Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican, 1976).
Bruce Rutherford, The Impeachment of Jim Ferguson (Austin: Eakin
14
31. CHAPTER 25
Texans at Home
and Abroad
TIMELINE
p. 517
32. CHAPTER 26
TIMELINE
P. 534
1907 – The first Neiman Marcus department OF
store opens in Dallas.
1923 – (completely omitted from timeline)
1925 – (completely omitted from timeline)
1928 – (completely omitted from timeline)
1929 - (completely omitted from timeline)
1937 - (completely omitted from timeline)
OF
Press, 1983).
Ralph W. Steen, "FERGUSON, JAMES EDWARD," Handbook of
Texas Online
(http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ffe05), accessed
October 11, 2014. Uploaded on June 12, 2010. Published by the
Texas State Historical Association.
Publisher’s response: See General Note B. There is no error on p.
506. We believe that it is appropriate to report what Ferguson’s
contemporary opponents said. The text goes on to discuss the
charges against Ferguson and his impeachment and removal from
office.
 There were several big department stores that opened and operated
successfully in Texas and should be covered as historical
accomplishments in this textbook, including Joske’s, Foley’s,
Leonard Brothers, and Krupp.
Publisher’s response: See General Note A.
 1923- Legislature passes law explicitly barring blacks from voting in
the Democratic primary. Overturned by the US Supreme Court in
March, 1927, the state Democratic Party acted in 1927 and again in
1932 to bar blacks from voting in the primary. The Supreme Court
upheld the 1932 action in 1935.
 SANTA RITA OIL WELL. Santa Rita No. 1, located in Section 2,
Block 2, University of Texas lands in Reagan County, came in on
May 28, 1923. Several shady promotions of "salted" wells were
perpetrated in West Texas in the 1920s. But the Santa Rita well,
which flowed intermittently until the end of June, proved that oil
existed in the region.
 (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/dos01),
accessed October 11, 2014. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by
the Texas State Historical Association.
 1925-Sept. 30- Texas Tech University begins classes in Lubbock as
Texas Technological College.
 1928-June 26-29-The Democratic National Convention is held in
Houston, the first nominating convention held in a Southern city
since 1860.
 1929-Feb. 17-The League of United Latin American Citizens
(LULAC) is founded in Corpus Christi.
 1937-March 18-A massive explosion, blamed on a natural-gas
leak beneath the London consolidated School building in Rusk
15
33. UNIT 9
CHAPTER 27
TIMELINE
1943 – (completely omitted from timeline)
1944 – The U.S. Supreme Court declares
the Texas white primary unconstitutional.
1947 - (completely omitted from timeline)
p. 562-563
1949 – (completely omitted from timeline)
1950 – (completely omitted from timeline)
1953 – (completely omitted from timeline)
1954 – (completely omitted from timeline)
1956 – (completely omitted from timeline)
1958 – (completely omitted from timeline)
FE; OF
County, kills an estimated 296 students and teachers.
Subsequent deaths of people injured in the explosion bring the
death count to 311. As a result, the Legislature requires that a
malodorant be added to the odorless gas so that leaks can be
more easily detected.
 http://www.texasalmanac.com/topics/history/20th-century
Publisher’s response: See General Note A.
 1943-June 15-16-A race riot in Beaumont leads to a declaration
of martial law; 200 arrested; 2 blacks and 1 white died.
 1944-April 3-US Supreme Court rules blacks could not be barred
from voting in the Texas Democratic primary.
 1947-April 16-The French-owned SS Grandcamp, carrying
ammonium nitrate, explodes in the Texas City harbor, followed
the next morning by the explosion of the SS High Flyer. The
disaster kills almost 600 and injures at least 4,000 more. The
concussion is felt 75 miles away in Port Arthur, and the force
creates a 15-foot tidal wave.
 1949-Aug. 24-The University of Texas Medical Branch in
Galveston admits its first black student.
 1950-June 5-The US Supreme Court orders racial integration of
The University of Texas law school.
 1953-Jan. 20-Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes the first Texasborn President of the United States.
 1953-May 11-Tornado kills 114, injures 597 at Waco; 150 homes
and 185 other buildings destroyed.
 1953-May 22-The Tidelands Bill is signed by President
Eisenhower, giving Texas the rights to its offshore oil.
 1954-Nov. 2-Texas voters approve amendments to the state
constitution allowing women to serve on juries, and ending the
ban on voting by members of the US Armed Forces.
 1956-Nov. 6-Henry B. Gonzalez of San Antonio becomes the
first Hispanic elected to the state Senate since 1848 when Jose
Antonio Navarro, a signer of the Texas Declaration of
Independence, served.
 1958-Sept. 12- The integrated circuit, developed by Jack Kilby at
Texas Instruments, Dallas, is successfully tested, ushering in the
semiconductor and electronics age.
 http://www.texasalmanac.com/topics/history/20th-century
Publisher’s response: See General Note A. There is no error on pp.
16
34. CHAPTER 27
Connection to
Music
p.573
Artists including the Beatles and Bruce
Springsteen have pointed to Holly as an
important influence.
OF
35. CHAPTER 28
1962 – (completely omitted from timeline)
OF
TIMELINE
1964 – (completely omitted from timeline)
p. 584-585
1965 – (completely omitted from timeline)
1966 – (completely omitted from timeline)
1971 – (completely omitted from timeline)
1974 – (completely omitted from timeline)
1978 – (completely omitted from timeline)
562–563—the reviewer does not state what is alleged to be an
error.)
 Waylon Jennings was a member of the Crickets and was also
influenced by his close friend Buddy Holly.
 Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson sang
together and influenced other singers of all genres.
 Texas students need to learn about these Texas legends, not just
be fed more of what they already know.
 The Beatles and Springsteen are not even Texans!
 http://www.biography.com/people/waylon-jennings-9354063
Publisher’s response: See General Note B.
 1962-March 1-NASA opens the Manned Spacecraft Center in
Houston. The Center moves to a new campus-like building complex
in 1964. It is renamed Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center on Aug. 17,
1973.
 1964-Jan. 23- The poll tax is abolished by the 24th Amendment to the
US Constitution as a requirement for voting for federal offices. It is
retained in Texas, however, for state and local offices.
 1965-May-The Legislature, following a federal court ruling,
reapportions legislative districts on the principle of “one man, one
vote.”
 1965-June 3-San Antonio native Ed White becomes the first
American to walk in space.
 1966-Nov. 8-The poll tax is repealed as a requirement for in all
elections by amendment of the Texas Constitution.
 1966-Nov. 8-Barbara Jordan of Houston becomes the first black
woman elected to the state Senate.
 1971-Jan. 18-Attorneys at the Secrurities and Exchange Commission
file a lawsuit alleging illegal manipulation of stock transactions
involving Frank Sharp and his Sharstown State Bank of Houston.
The Sharpstown Scandal results in the conviction of House Speaker
Gus Mutscher and two associates for conspiracy and bribery in 1972.
 1974-Jan. 8-A Constitutional Convention meets to attempt to write a
new state constitution. However, the delegates, comprising the
membership of the 63rd Legislature, become mired in divisive
politics, and the conventuion adjourns on July 30, 1974, without a
document.
 1978-Nov. 7-William Clements is elected the first Republican
governor of Texas since Reconstruction.
17

1979 – (completely omitted from timeline)
36. CHAPTER 29
TIMELINE
p. 608-609
1984 – (completely omitted from timeline)
OF
1990 – (completely omitted from timeline)
1993 – (completely omitted from timeline)
2001 – (completely omitted from timeline)
2003 – (completely omitted from timeline)
2004 – (completely omitted from timeline)
2005 – (completely omitted from timeline)
2006 – (completely omitted from timeline)
2008 – (completely omitted from timeline)
37. CHAPTER 32
TIMELINE
p. 676-677
1975 – (completely omitted from timeline)
OF

1979-April 10-Several tornadoes kill 53 in West Texas, including 42
in Wichita Falls, and cause $400 million in damages.
 http://www.texasalmanac.com/topics/history/20th-century
Publisher’s response: See General Note A.
 1984-July-The no-pass-no-play rule is part of an education-reform
package enacted by the Legislature.
 1984-Aug. 20-23-The National Republican Convention is held in
Dallas.
 1990-Nov. 6-Democrat Ann Richards is elected the first woman
governor of Texas in her own right.
 1993-April 19-Ending a siege that began on Feb. 28, federal agents
storm the compound called Mount Carmel near Waco, where cult
leader David Koresh and his followers, called Branch Davidians, had
reportedly been storing a large cache of assault weapons. The assault
and ensuing fire kill four agents and 86 Branch Davidians.
 1993-June 14-Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison becomes the first
woman to serve as US Senator from Texas.
 2001- Enron filed for bankruptcy protection
 2003-Space shuttle Columbia broke apart across southeastern Texas
as it descended toward its planned landing, all crew members were
lost.
 2004-Lance Armstrong won sixth Tour de France.
 2005-Hurricane Rita forced over 1 million to evacuate.
 2006-Two Enron executives convicted of conspiracy, fraud
 Hurricane Ike struck Texas Gulf Coast, caused major flooding, loss
of life, billions of dollars in damages
 http://www.texasalmanac.com/topics/history
Publisher’s response: See General Note A.
1975- HOGG, IMA (1882–1975). Ima Hogg, philanthropist and patron of
the arts, daughter of Sarah Ann (Stinson) and Governor James Stephen
Hogg, was born in Mineola, Texas, on July 10, 1882. She had three
brothers, William Clifford Hogg, born in 1875; Michael, born in 1885;
and Thomas Elisha Hogg, born in 1887. According to family history, Ima
was named for the heroine of a Civil War poem written by her uncle
Thomas Elisha. Her name became a part of Texas folklore, along with the
myth of a fictitious sister supposedly named Ura. Ima Hogg was
affectionately known as Miss Ima for most of her long life. She was eight
years old when her father was elected governor; she spent much of her
early life in Austin. After her mother died of tuberculosis in 1895, Ima
18
attended the Coronal Institute in San Marcos, and in 1899 she entered the
University of Texas.
She started playing the piano at age three and in 1901 went to New York
to study music. Her father’s illness drew her back to Texas in 1905. After
his death in 1906 she continued her music studies in Berlin and Vienna
from 1907 to 1909. She then moved to Houston, where she gave piano
lessons to a select group of pupils and helped found the Houston
Symphony Orchestra, which played its first concert in June 1913. Miss
Ima served as the first vice president of the Houston Symphony Society
and became president in 1917. She became ill in late 1918 and spent the
next two years in Philadelphia under the care of a specialist in mental and
nervous disorders. She did not return to Houston to live until 1923.
In the meantime, oil had been struck on the Hogg property near West
Columbia, Texas, and by the late 1920s Miss Ima was involved in a wide
range of philanthropic projects. In 1929 she founded the Houston Child
Guidance Center, an agency to provide therapy and counseling for
disturbed children and their families. In 1940, with a bequest from her
brother Will, who had died in 1930, she established the Hogg Foundation
for Mental Hygiene, which later became the Hogg Foundation for Mental
Health at the University of Texas. In 1943 Miss Hogg, a lifelong
Democrat, won an election to the Houston school board, where she
worked to establish symphony concerts for schoolchildren, to get equal
pay for teachers regardless of sex or race, and to set up a painting-tomusic program in the public schools.
In 1946 she again became president of the Houston Symphony Society, a
post she held until 1956, and in 1948 she became the first woman
president of the Philosophical Society of Texas. Since the 1920s she had
been studying and collecting early American art and antiques, and in
1966 she presented her collection and Bayou Bend, the River Oaks
mansion she and her brothers had built in 1927, to the Museum of Fine
Arts in Houston. The Bayou Bend Collection, recognized as one of the
finest of its kind, draws thousands of visitors each year.
In the 1950s Miss Ima restored the Hogg family home at Varner
Plantation near West Columbia, and in 1958 she presented it to the state
of Texas. It became Varner-Hogg Plantation State Historical Site. In the
1960s she restored the Winedale Inn, a nineteenth-century stagecoach
stop at Round Top, Texas, which she gave to the University of Texas.
The Winedale Historical Center now serves as a center for the study of
Texas history and is also the site of a widely acclaimed annual fine arts
festival. Miss Hogg also restored her parents' home at Quitman, Texas,
19

and in 1969 the town of Quitman established the Ima Hogg Museum in
her honor.
In 1953 Governor Allan Shivers appointed her to the Texas State
Historical Survey Committee (later the Texas Historical Commission),
and in 1967 that body gave her an award for "meritorious service in
historic preservation." In 1960 she served on a committee appointed by
President Dwight D. Eisenhower for the planning of the National
Cultural Center (now Kennedy Center) in Washington, D.C. In 1962, at
the request of Jacqueline Kennedy, Ima Hogg served on an advisory
panel to aid in the search for historic furniture for the White House. She
was also honored by the Garden Club of America (1959), the National
Trust for Historic Preservation (1966), and the American Association for
State and Local History (1969).
In 1968 Miss Hogg was the first recipient of the Santa Rita Award, given
by the University of Texas System to recognize contributions to the
university and to higher education. In 1969 she, Oveta Culp Hobby, and
Lady Bird Johnson became the first three women members of the
Academy of Texas, an organization founded to honor persons who
"enrich, enlarge, or enlighten" knowledge in any field. In 1971
Southwestern University gave Miss Hogg an honorary doctorate in fine
arts, and in 1972 the National Society of Interior Designers gave her its
Thomas Jefferson Award for outstanding contributions to America's
cultural heritage.
On August 19, 1975, at the age of ninety-three, Ima Hogg died of
complications from a traffic accident that occurred while she was
vacationing in England. Her funeral was at Bayou Bend. She was buried
on August 23 in the Hogg family plot in Oakwood Cemetery in Austin.
The major benefactor in her will was the Ima Hogg Foundation, a
charitable nonprofit organization she established in 1964.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Virginia Bernhard, Ima Hogg: The Governor's Daughter , 3rd ed.
(Denton: Texas State Historical Association, 2011). James Stephen
Hogg Papers, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History,
University of Texas at Austin. Louise Kosches Iscoe, Ima Hogg
(Austin: Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, 1976). Notable
American Women: A Biographical Dictionary (4 vols., Cambridge,
Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1971–80).
Virginia Bernhard, "HOGG, IMA," Handbook of Texas Online
(http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fho16),
accessed October 11, 2014. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Modified on
20
May 14, 2012. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
Publisher’s response: See General Note A.
38. FACTS ABOUT
TEXAS
p. R10
The Pledge to the Texas Flag
HT; OF
On April 3, 1965, Governor John Connally
signed an act of the 59th legislature,
officially designating the following as the
pledge to the Texas flag:
Honor the Texas Flag.
I pledge allegiance to thee,
Texas, one and indivisible.
39. Acknowledgments
p. R58
Excerpt from “Mustang Gray” from I’ll Tell
You a Tale by J. Frank Dobie. Text
copyright © 1928, 1930, 1931, 1935, 1936,
1938, 1939, 1941, 1947, 1949, 1959, 1951,
1952, 1955 and 1960 by J. Frank Dobie.
Reprinted by permission of Little, Brown
and Company.
An excerpt from In a Narrow Grave by
Larry McMurtry. Text copyright © 1968 by
Larry Mc Murtry. Reprinted by permission
of Wylie Agency Inc.
OF
The correct, current pledge of allegiance to the Texas state flag is:
"Honor the Texas flag;
I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas,
one state under God, one and indivisible."
According to The Handbook of Texas Online, in 1933 the legislature
passed a law establishing rules for the proper display of the flag and
providing for a pledge to the flag:
"Honor the Texas Flag of 1836;
I pledge allegiance to thee,
Texas, one and indivisible."
The pledge erroneously referred to the 1836 national flag, known as
David G. Burnet's flag, instead of the Lone Star Flag. Senator Searcy
Bracewell introduced a bill to correct this error in 1951, but the
legislature did not delete the words "of 1836" until 1965. The pledge was
again amended by House Bill 1034 during the 80th Legislature with the
addition of "one state under God." The revised wording became effective
on June 15, 2007.
The text of the current law, Chapter 3100, Sections 3100.101 - 3100.104
of the Texas Government Code, is available to be viewed online.
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
http://www.tsl.texas.gov/ref/abouttx/flagpledge.html
Publisher’s response: The text clearly states that it is quoting the
original (1965) Pledge to the Texas Flag signed by Governor
Connally.
 ONLY THREE (3) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IN THIS WHOLE
TEXTBOOK?
 Texas has a rich and diverse history. More research should have
gone into the factual base of this textbook and those sources should
be made available.
 Every Texas city, county and important person has a history that
should be studied, highlighted, engrained in every Texas student and
acknowledged in this textbook.
The publishers/researchers might want to look at these sources:
 Magnificent Sam: The Amazing Adventures of Sam Houston by
Laurie Cockerell. Copyright 2013 © by Laurie Cockerell.
Kinderfable Press, Fort Worth, Texas, USA.
21
Excerpt from “Why I Write About Mexico”
from The Collected Essays and Occasional
Writings of Katherine Anne Porter by
Katherine Anne Porter. Text copyright ©
1923, 1970 by Katherine Anne Porter.
Reprinted by permission of The Permissions
Company on behalf of the Katherine Anne
Porter Literary Trust.



Texas In Her Own Words as told to Tweed Scott. Copyright © 2006
by Tweed Scott. Redbud Publishing, Victoria, Texas, USA.
 MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TEXAS: HISTORICAL TIMELINE by
Larry L. Foerster, J.D. Copyright © January, 2014 by Larry Foerster
and presented by the Montgomery County Commissioners Court and
the Montgomery County Historical Commission. Published by HPN
Books, San Antonio, Texas, USA.
(There are many more sources, too numerous to list here!)
Publisher’s response: The Acknowledgments on p. R58 pertain only
to those excerpts within the textbook that we as a publisher are
legally obligated to acknowledge using, as part of agreements to
reprint copyrighted material. This brief list in no way represents all
the many primary source quotations throughout the program, most
of which were determined to be either Public Domain or Fair Use
(and thus do not require an Acknowledgment). The textbook is
based on extensive research that is not evident from this list.
Evaluation of Social Studies Skills and other important issues
Number
Questions
Yes
No
1.
Is the appropriate vocabulary relevant to the subject matter presented to students?
For example, on comparative government are terms such as monarchy, oligarchy,
democracy, socialism, fascism, and communism presented?
x
2.
Are the captions under pictures factual?
x
3.
Are the charts and graphs relevant to the topic being presented?
x
4.
Are the maps accurate and relevant to the topic?
x
5.
Are questions thought provoking? Is adequate and accurate material provided so
that the students can formulate appropriate answers?
Questions require answers that are opinionbased, not fact-based.
6.
Are primary and secondary sources presented for students to examine (for bias,
propaganda, point of view, and frame of reference)?*
Opinions from students are required for
sources.
22
7.
Does the text present a lesson on how to evaluate the validity of a source based on
language, corroboration with other sources, and information about the author? *
8.
Does the textbook have a Glossary? Are key terms included and defined?
9.
Does the textbook have accurate timelines to help the student understand
chronological historical developments?
Very few real facts are presented. Therefore,
no information about author or sources is
required.
x
NO. This is a major drawback in this
textbook. The timeline is chopped into areas
the author wants to promote. Too many facts
are omitted in the text and timeline. Every
chapter should cover only a ten-year span and
should include all the events that occurred in
that ten-year span. That would make the
textbook easier to follow and make Texas
history more enjoyable and easier to learn.
Concerns: The texts in both the teacher edition and student edition promote progressive/Marxist ideas of government regulation over personal freedom of choice
in a free-market society. There is no mention anywhere of the fact that “the government is of the people, by the people, for the people.” The texts continue to
indoctrinate that “the government shall regulate…for the public good.” Some omission of facts that should have been presented. Text bounced around so that is is
hard to follow a chronological sequence.
This textbook is divided into issue areas (chapters on reforms, movements) and does not follow events in an historical chronological timeline. In order for this
textbook to be adopted by Texas school districts, the publishers must do more factual research, include more factual history, promote more real Texans and tell
their real stories, and write each chapter to follow the correct historical timeline to make history more accessible and understandable. The textbook must be paper
printed and bound (not limited to online technology.)
“We’re fighting for our culture and for our way of life. You can wipe out a generation of people. You can burn their homes to the ground and somehow they’ll
still come back. But if you destroy their achievements, their history, then it’s like they never existed; just ash floating. That’s what Hitler (socialists, progressives,
revisionists) wants. And it’s the one thing we simply can’t allow… This is our history and it is not to be stolen or destroyed. It is to be held up and admired.”
The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and The Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel and Bret Witter. Copyright © 2013 by Robert
M. Edsel and Bret Witter. Published by Back Bay Books.
All History books should be written based on this statement of fact.
Evaluations based on template
23
Choices
Explanations
1.
This text has minor changes that need to be made
2.
This text has a moderate number of changes
3.
This text has substantial changes that need to be made
4.
This book is so flawed that it is not recommended for adoption.
Yes
No
This book omits so many facts that the presentation of
Texas history here has been severely revised and
compromised and therefore cannot be trusted.
24