HIS Exam 3
Know details about army exploration and the development of forts across Texas during this time. Map, pg. 196.
**
Study the Republic of Texas, 1836 map in this chapter (pg. 148 in the Third Edition).
**
What part did the military and establishment of forts play?
- Army began to explore West Texas frontier in 1894. - Explorers faces dangers such as severe weather, water shortages, and uncertain relations with Indians. - Problems involved in occupying and pacifying the frontier proved even more difficult to overcome - Distance - Create mobility of the enemy - Army attempted to counter these problems by building strings of forts along the frontier just ahead of the settlement line
What were relationships like between Anglos and Mexicans in Texas at that time?
- Arrival of increasing number of Anglos put great pressure on the Mexican population of South Texas. - Tejano landholders found themselves threatened with violence and at times actually assaulted b/c they stood in the way of ambitious Anglos.
What were some of the political and economic challenges of the new republic?
- Britain and the U.S playing political game - other nations did not want trouble with Mexico - Republics land policy meant that a huge number of claims and surveys had to be recorded-- created General Land Office - insurmountable problems in fiscal policy-- Houston administration inherited a debt of 1.25 million - final resort-- paper money-- didn't work
Know details about who opposed secession in Texas. What groups? Where did they live?
- Central Texas and in the North - Ten counties in the area and around west of Austin rejected disunion, party because the Central Texas frontier benefitted from the presence of the US army and party due to voters of German descent who tended to support the Union.
Know details about the War with Mexico.
- Dispute over the boundary with Mexico -republic of Texas claimed Rio Grande marked boundary with Mexico - Mexico claims the Nueces River is boundary - President Polk also wanted to acquire California for the U.S and to settle financial claims American citizens had against Mexico -Mexico breaks diplomatic relations with US - Fighting began earnest on the Texas side of the Rio Grande even before the US congress formally declared war. - Gen. Zachary Taylor- camps south of Nueces -Dec. 1845: US diplomat John Slidell to MExico to negotiate -Jan 1845: Taylor moves his army to Rio Grande(US power) -Mexico sees as an invasion and call to war
What was happening in West Texas at this time? Why was El Paso important?
- First step in exploring western Texas - Hired Colonel "Jack" Hays to locate a wagon route from their city to El Paso. - Men who hired Hayes saw this settlement as an ideal spot to open trade w/ silver mining region Chihuahua. - Wagon road which became known as the "lower" El Paso road, received heavy traffic from the army, mail stages, cattle drovers, and settlers on they way west - Expedition commanded by Lt. Francis T. Bryan retraced the route taken by Neighbors, and the establishment of a wagon road soon followed. This "upper"El Paso road became a key route for travelers from the South who came into central Texas on their way to California
What roadblocks stood in the way of Texas's annexation in 1836?
- First, Mexico did not accept the independence of its rebellious province, so recognition by the U.S would almost certainly mean trouble between the government in Washington and Mexico City - Second, antislavery spokesman especially Benjamin Lundy and Congressman John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts, insisted that revolution had resulted from conspiracy to add more slave territory to the Union.
Who were the candidates for president of Texas? Who won?
- Henry Smith, Stephen F. Austin, and Sam Houston had entered in less than 2 weeks of the election - Houston won
Know details about Texas's relationship with Mexico during this time.
- Houston says caution with Mexico, don't provoke them. -Repercussions from Santa Fe expedition - Many Texans welcomes any excuse for conflict with Mexicans.
What was the Battle of Glorieta Pass?
- In March Confederate units moving into the mountains east of Santa Fe on their way to attack Fort Union near present say Las Vegas were met by Federal troops at Glorieta Pass. Texans under the command of Scurry won the battle, but while it raged, a Union force moved in behind the Confederates and destroyed a wagon train carrying essential food, ammunition, and medicine. Gen. Sibley, facing problems of supply and hearing of Union reinforcements, decided to return to Texas, effectively ending all Confederate presence there.
After the war, what became the southern boundary of Texas?
- In some ways the Nieces River subdivided this region
What part did the Texas Rangers play in the war?
- Incidentally, these early Indian conflicts brought the first appearance of the famed Texas Rangers. - The Rangers took on a different roles permanent law- enforcement agency of the state of Texas
How did the 1860 election affect Texans?
- Lincoln's election led to a spontaneous grassroots movement for disunion in Texas. - Communities held mass meeting and adopted resolutions condemning Lincoln as a dangerously radical "Black Republican" and calling for the election of a state convention to consider session.
How was Sam Houston treated following the battle of San Jacinto? How did Houston and Burnet handle Santa Anna?
- President Burnet and cabinet members began to treat Houston as anything but a hero this was because they were jealous of his success in the campaign - Burnet agreed with Houston's words "Santa Anna dead is no more than Tom, Dick or Harry dead, but living may avail Texas much."
What role did slavery play in Texas's admission to the union?
- Protection of slavery in Texas only made the matters worse
Who served in Houston's administration? What were some of Houston's major policies?
- Stephen F. Austin : Secretary of State - Henry Smith: Secretary of Treasury - Thomas Jefferson Rusk: Secretary of War - Mirabeau B. Lamar: vice president - James Pickney Henderson olive branch Policies - Austerity in Economics - Indian pacification - Caution with Mexico
Know details about the contested boundary between Texas and Mexico.
- The Republic of Texas, citing the Treaties of Velasco and the Boundary Act of 1836 for support, consistently claimed that the Rio Grande marked its boundary with Mexico - Texas anyhow, insisted that the province stopped at the Nueces River, as it had while part of Mexico
According to the book, what was the main reason for Texas to secede and join the Confederacy?
- The U.S threatened states' rights. In reality, however states' rights is largely an abstract constitutional principle usually appealed to by minorities who believe that an opposing majority in control of the national government threatens they interests.
Describe the interim government of Texas.
- The interim government struggled unsuccessfully with the army and it had equally bad fortune in attempting to gain diplomatic recognition by the United States.
Under what unique conditions did Texas enter the union (how did Texas differ from other states)? What rights and responsibilities did the state retain upon entering the union?
- The new state would differ from all others by retaining its public lands and its public debt - Public buildings, weapons, and military establishments are turned over to the US - US would settle boundary disputes
Know details of the Treaty of Velasco.
- The public Treaty of Velasco , signed on May 14, brought an end to the war and provided that all Mexican armies would move South of the Rio Grande
What was the economic situation during the early years of the Republic of Texas?
-$1.25 million -No effective way to raise money -Tax revenues tiny, free land, no one buys bonds -PAPER MONEY issued-- not legal tender, had nothing to back it up -Quickly loses value
Know details about the reservation system in Texas.
-Accordingly, in March 1849 he proposed the creation of a system of reservations for the Indians, each with its own agent and nearby military post to enforce all laws and treaties -Nothing came of the call for a reservation system for the next four years. Indian raids continued, and the army and Texans took what amounted to a "no prisoners" response -In spite of these successes, however, the reservation system did not provide an answer to the "Indian question" in Texas -The reservation experiment came to an end in 1858
What factors affected slavery in Texas during the war?
-Agriculture disrupted very little -About 30,000 slaves transported to texas -Few slaves ran away -Slaves used to build fortification
What were the casualty rates for Texans during the Civil War?
-Approximately 20 to 25 percent of Texas soldiers died while in the army. -The final death toll can be estimated at between 12,000 and 15,000 men, most of them in their twenties and thirties. -More than half of these deaths resulted from a variety of illnesses.
What was the "Twiggs Incident"?
-Committee of public safety take over federal property -San antonio federal installation under control of Gen. David Twiggs -Twiggs sympathetic to the cause, agrees to surrender property -Asked that troops be allowed to withdraw honorably (with arms) -Ben McCulloch moves in 1000 troops and forces Twiggs out
Know details about politics in Texas at that time. How did the issue of slavery affect politics in Texas? What part did Sam Houston play in Texas politics at that time?
-Democratic system - All adult white males could vote/hold office without paying taxes or owning property -Generally elected slaveholding elite -Southern consensus to state politics(No one could criticize slavery and expect to receive support @ the polls) -Democrats-- pro southern positions and supported annexation -Protected slavery - Houston took stand I support of the Union - took no stand against slavery
What was happening with Indians in Texas at this time?
-Frontier loses US troops -Confederate create Frontier Regiment and Border Regiment -1863 Comanche and Kiowa figure out the routine patrols schedule; begin raids -Indian gained ground during the Civil War
What role did the development of stagecoach lines play at this time? Why were they important?
-In 1851, Henry Skillman began mail and passenger service by stagecoach between San Antonio and El Paso.
Know details about Mirabeau Lamar's administration. What were some of his major policies?
-Lamar wasted no time in taking an aggressive stance toward the Indians of Texas -The Lamar administration dealt with the Comanches, who continued in the late 1830s to raid all along the Republic's western frontier, in an equally bloody but somewhat less successful fashion -In 1841 the Lamar administration mounted an important offensive against the Wichita Indians in North Texas. Forced the Indians to ask for peace the next year. Overall, Lamar's approach, although it inflicted severe losses on the western Indians such as the Comanches, did not bring lasting peace to the frontier.
What happened at Palmito Ranch?
-May 13, 1865 at Palmito Ranch near Brownsville -John Salmon "Rip" Ford and his Confederate troops beat the Federal troops and ran them upriver -The Battle of Palmito Ranch is considered by some criteria as the final battle of the American Civil War. It was fought May 12 and 13, 1865, on the banks of the Rio Grande east of Brownsville, Texas and a few miles from the seaport of Los Brazos de Santiago.
What were some of the factors that influenced the annexation of Texas? Who was against it? Who was for it?
-No internal stability -Majority wanted annexation -US president John Tyler favored annexation
What were the "Texas Troubles" discussed in this chapter and what were the consequences?
-Panic about slave uprisings -Fires in various North Texas towns -Slaves forced to confess -Whipping and lynching -"It is better for us to hang ninety-nine innocent(suspicious) men than let one guilty one pass" -Unionists lose supporters - Subsided in Aug and Sept, but they played a party in destroying what little hope Unionists had of a strong showing in the election
Who was John Slidell?
-Polk sent John Slidell of Louisiana on a special mission to Mexico, empowering the envoy to make several offers where California and the claims were concerned but to make no deal that did not include the Río Grande as the boundary of Texas - Slidell's mission failed to produce any agreement, and Polk decided in early May 1846 to ask for a declaration of war even though Mexico had committed no act of aggression.
Why was California significant at that time?
-President Polk wanted not only the Río Grande boundary; he also intended to acquire California for the United States and to settle financial claims American citizens had against Mexico. - Gold Rush
Know details about the social institutions in Texas
-Religion and education resembled the Old South -Evangelical traditions -Methodists and Baptists -Emotional, morality based on the 10 commandments -Few public schools -Schooling mostly private undertaking
What factor did Sam Houston play in the secession debate?
-Spoke for Union -Called for moderation and calm -Criticized 'whipsters and demagogues' for encouraging 'disunion'
How did Texas differ from other Southern states?
-Texas did not match older southern states such as Virginia in sheer numbers of slaveholders and slaves, but it was closely comparable in the proportions of masters and bondsmen in its total population. -Texas differed from most other states of the Old South in notable ways. It had a large concentration of immigrants from Europe, primarily Germans, who arrived during the 1840s and 1850s. By 1860 at least 20,000 residents of German birth, pulled from their native country by the lure of cheap, rich land and pushed by political repression and revolution, lived in a belt stretching across the south-central part of the state from Galveston and Houston to Kerrville and Mason in the Hill Country. -Texas differed from the rest of the South, too, in having a southern frontier occupied primarily by citizens of Mexican rather than Anglo ancestry and a western frontier populated by Indians still strong enough to resist encroachments on their lands.
What role did Texas and Mexico play in the cotton trade during the war?
-Texas producers because their state's border with Mexico, were perfectly situated to get around the Union blockade and sell cotton - Rout that ran through the King Ranch to Matamoros - Small steamboats then took the cotton down to the Rio Grande to a coastal town called Bagdad - Texas exported 320,000 bales of cotton during the civil war
Know details about the growth of slavery and cotton production in Texas.
-Texas soils typically produced one bale of cotton (weighing from 450 to 500 pounds) per acre, so as the increasing population of farmers and slaves brought more and more land into cultivation, the total crop skyrocketed. -Most of the planters and farmers who produced cotton with slave labor profited from their investments
Know details about Dick Dowling and the Battle at Sabine Pass.
-The Second Battle of Sabine Pass took place on September 8, 1863, the result of a failed Union Army attempt to invade the Confederate state of Texas during the American Civil War. It has often been credited as the most one-sided Confederate victory during the War. - Three union gunboats move up the pass and land troops -Dowling troops (42 mean) fire with great success -Killed of captures 350 union troops -Less than an hour: union troops forced to withdraw
Know details about the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
-The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican War in February 1848, established beyond debate the Río Grande as the boundary between Texas and Mexico. -Ended war February 2, 1848 Definitive---Rio Grande River IS southern boundary of Texas -Most residents in that area were Mexican -After the war, Anglos descend on area (merchants, ranchers, doctors, lawyers, politicians)
Know details about Juan Cortina.
-The best known involved Juan N. Cortina, the son of an aristocratic mother whose family held title to a huge land grant near Brownsville. -Cortina developed a hatred for Anglos, whom he accused of stealing land from Tejanos in the lower Río Grande Valley.
Know details about the antebellum economy.
-The economy of antebellum Texas, like that of many states in the Old South, grew and developed during the 1840s and 1850s—but in only one way. Clearly, where agriculture was concerned, expansion occurred. -Antebellum Texas had the overwhelmingly agricultural economy typical of the Old South. -About two-thirds of the farmers in antebellum Texas owned no slaves and practiced a subsistence or "safety-first" type of agriculture; that is, they focused on feeding their families before turning their energies to the production of a cash crop. -The one-third of antebellum Texas's farmers who owned slaves produced food for the people on their places and cultivated sizable cash crops as well.
Know details about camels in Texas.
-Used camels for transportation. -The army used these camels successfully in exploring the Big Bend area and on expeditions across New Mexico and Arizona to California. They carried loads of as much as 600 pounds over long distances, required little water, and ate almost anything available. -Came to an end after the Civil War, not because the animals failed as beasts of burden but because of other problems. Camels smelled awful, caused horses to spook, and were despised by American handlers used to dealing with mules.
What was the Council House Fight?
-conflict between Republic of Texas officials and a Comanche peace group that met with the purpose of negotiating peace after two years of war. As a result, 12 Comanche leaders were shot including others, ending all chances for peace between the two groups. The Council House Fight led to the greatest Comanche raid in the history of the Southwest. In August 1840 a band of approximately 500 warriors and another 500 members of their families swept into the Guadalupe Valley south of Gonzales. Led by chief Buffalo Hump
Know details about the slave culture in Texas
-producing cotton and sugar with slave labor meant that the planters, the state's richest and most enterprising businessmen, had no reason to look for other types of investment. -Slavery also contributed to the state's limited economic diversity by drastically limiting the number of free consumers in the population.
Who were Mifflin Kenedy and Richard King? Why were they significant to Texas history?
-ran business enterprises, built towns, acquired huge estates, and gradually transformed South Texas into a land of profit-oriented ranching and commerce. -became ranchers. Both acquired huge estates, but King began building a ranch that would outstrip all others.
Describe David Burnet's relationship with Sam Houston.
Burnet was jealous of Houston - treated Houston as anything *but* a hero
Know details about the Indian threat in the early Texas republic.
Indians constituted an equal if not greater threat than Mexico - Comanches and their alien, the Kiowas, had complete control of the Republic's western reaches and regularly raided frontier settlements. - Wichitas and Caddos spent summer of 1836 raiding Anglo settlements in central and north Texas
In what regions of Texas did Anglos settle? Tejanos?
Anglos - San Antonio and along the river toward the coast. - Victoria and Goliad Tejanos - Below the Nueces River
Cotton and slavery production details
Cotton -⅓ owned slaves and grew cash crops -Larger farms- averaging 1000 acres Mostly Anglos -Enormous growth in productivity/ profit -Invest in more slaves
Who was Cynthia Ann Parker?
Cynthia Ann Parker, one of the children taken captive at Parker's Fort in 1836. She had become thoroughly Comanche, married Peta Nocona, and given birth to three children, including Quanah Parker, who was destined to become the last leader of his tribe. - Never readjusted to white society - Died in early 1870's
Know details about the social structure in Texas prior to the Civil War
Social structure -Social mobility(Anglos) -Distinctly southern class structure -Slaveholding planter elite 3% of population (20 or more slaves) -Small planter 5% -Elite and small planters considered upper class in Texas -Wealthy merchants/ professionals(owned some slaves) *Upper-income class* -Worth at least $10,000 in 1860 -Wealthiest 15% owned about 75% of slaves in Texas -Most land-- best homes -Middle class -⅔ of free population -Mostly southern born Anglos -Germans -Called yeoman or plain folk -Small share of land-- most ere farmers -Some tradesmen *Poor whites* -Bottom rung , but highly mobile -Poorest 25%(less than $500) owned 1% of all property -Many did not own land, but worked someone else's property -Overseers(managers of the plantations), day laborers, clerks -Some moved up-some moved on looking for opportunity *Free blacks* - their presence threatened slavery - After 1836 no free person of color could live in Texas without the permission of legislature.
What issues did German Texans face during the war?
Some of the county councils of defense turned into vigilante groups and intimidated or attacked Texans of German descent, who were suspected of not fully supporting the war.
What was the Mier Expedition?
The Mier Expedition was an expedition against Mexico. William S. Fisher wouldn't go back to Austin with Jack Coffee Hays; he decided to go to the Mexican town of Mier to fight against Mexico. Mexican troops quickly took care of the matter and sent all of them to jail. was an unsuccessful military operation launched in November 1842 by a Texian militia against Mexican border settlements; it was related to the Somervell expedition. It included a major battle at Ciudad Mier on December 26 and 27, 1842, which the Mexicans won.
What was the ethnic make-up of settlers in the Republic of Texas?
- attracted many immigrants - 1836: 30,000 Angles, 5000 black slaves, 3500 Mexicans, 14,500 Indians - 1847: 103,000 Whites(Approx. 14,000 with Mexican ancestry), 39,000 slaves and about 300 free blacks
Know details of Houston's second administration.
- intended to reverse what he saw as Lamar's mistake. Finance presented the greater difficulties - Houston's proposals for pacifying the Indians through negations and the licensing of trade also received support
Know details about the land policy in the 1836 Texas Constitution.
- provided land to those who had served In the revolution, especially veterans of the siege of Bexar and the Battle of San Jacinto - Huge expanses of land, made available at low prices by grantees and the government, pulled immigrants into Texas in ever- increasing numbers - the republic also accepted the validity ofSpanish and Mexican grants totaling approximately 26,280,000 acres
Know details about the regiments and battles that Texans participated in during the Civil War(west)
- under command of General Albert Sidney Johnston - SHILOH- massive attack on Grant's army near a country church named Shiloh. Bloodiest in US history at the time. (Loss)- Johnston killed -Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi 1863
What were some of the transportation challenges in Texas?
01: few developed roads 02: stagecoaches uncomfortable and expensive 03: heavy freight and cotton shipped slowly- adding the costs 04: Trains ran only across and within Texas
How long was the Republic of Texas in existence?
10 years
Know details about the regiments and battles that Texans participated in during the Civil War (in the east).
East- under John Bell Hood -Only 3 units from the Lone star state-- the First, Fourth and Fifth Texas infant regiments-- fought in the eastern theater as part of the Army of Northern Virginia - At Gaines' Mill on June 27, 1862 , a bayonet charged by Hood's Texas Brigade turned the ride in a key battle that stopped the Federals attempt to take Richmond.(Victory) - Unit saw heavy fighting at the Second Battle of Manassas in August(bull Run)(Victory) - Battle of Sharpsburg on Sept 17,1862- the first Texas had 82% of its 226 men killed, wounded or captured.(loss) - Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania that ended in defeat at Gettysburg on July 1-3(loss) -Hood's Brigade fought in every major battle
What happened at Gainesville Texas?
Gainesville -Cooke County Peace Party; response to conscription -Rumors of seizing arsenal -Arrest of 150 suspected insurrectionists The Great Hanging at Gainesville -"Citizen's Court" Found guilty of treason: sentenced to death -Mob lynches 14 and shot those who tried to escape -In the end 42 men were lynched or otherwise killed
Know details about Galveston's significance during the war.
Galveston - Oct 4, 1862 -Union Commander WIlliam B. Renshaw led eight ships into Galveston harbor -Demanded surrender of the most important Texas port -Confederate Gen. Paul O. Herbert removes heavy weapons from Galveston -Believed Galveston indefensible -Confederates ask for truce; evacuate and surrender Retaking Galveston -Gen. John B. Magruder takes command -January 1, 1963 (midnight)-- 2000 texas troops -4 a.m open fire beaten back -Two confederate gunboats enter the bay -Union more fire power, but Confederates ram Union gunboat, jump on deck -Confusion when explosives blow up -Forced to surrender -U.S did not attack again
Who was president of the U.S. when Texas gained annexation?
James K. Polk
When did Texas secede?
January 1861
What ethnic groups populated Texas? What was the social class structure?
Texans of Mexican descent— old Tejanos and a sizable number of immigrants who crossed the Río Grande to escape political disorder in their native land—dominated most of the region.
How did citizens of Texas feel about annexation in the early days of the republic?
majority wanted annexation
