51,99 €
Mehr erfahren.
- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
The most comprehensive, best-illustrated survey of the Lone Star State—the new, updated edition of the classic text
The History of Texas offers a sweeping exploration of the Lone Star State, covering its history from the pre-Columbian period, to the era of Spanish control, to nineteenth century watershed events, through the 1900s and into the new millennium. This engaging, student-friendly textbook looks at how people of diverse politics, identity, class, ethnicity, and race shaped the state’s past and continue to influence its present. Recent knowledge on the political, social, and cultural history of Texas provides insights on the celebrated figures, unsung heroes, and ordinary people of the state’s past.
The sixth edition of this classic text has been revised and updated to reflect the latest scholarship in all fields of Texas history, among them New Indian History and cultural and gender studies. The text offers fresh perspectives on Texas history, including discussions of the Progressive Era, the Great Depression, the Second World War and post-war modernization, and the state’s transition during the 1960s and into the 1980s. Revised chapters provide wide-ranging coverage of Texas in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, including recent statewide and national elections and political debates. This textbook:
- Connects events in post-World War II Texas to the larger U.S. historical narrative
- Offers substantial coverage of events occurring from 1900 to 2018
- Uses a chronological approach to divide chapters into easily identifiable eras
- Includes engaging illustrations, maps, and tables, an appendix, and inclusive lists of recommended readings
- Features online resources for students and instructors, including a test bank, maps, presentation slides, and more
Effectively organized to better meet the needs of instructors, The History of Texas is the ideal resource for undergraduate and graduate courses in Texas history at colleges and universities across both the state and the nation.
Sie lesen das E-Book in den Legimi-Apps auf:
Seitenzahl: 1398
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020
Ähnliche
Table of Contents
Cover
Maps
Preface and Acknowledgments
About the Companion Website
1 Contact of Civilizations, 1521–1721
The Diversity of New World Cultures
The Indians of Texas
The Iberian Legacy
Los Reyes Católicos
Looking for Fortunes in Texas
Readings
2 Spaniards in a Far Northern
Frontera
, 1721–1821
Frontier Institutions
Frontier Society
Indian Accommodation and Resistance
The Bourbon Reforms
Texas Toward the End of the Spanish Era
Independence from Spain
Resilience
Readings
3 Mexican Texas, 1821–1836
Immigration
Empresario Contracts
The Native Mexicans of Texas
Anglos and the Mexican Government
Mexican and American Capitalists
The Law of April 6, 1830, Resisted
Liberals in Power
The Ineffectiveness of the Law of April 6, 1830
Multicultural Society
The Centralists Back in Power, 1834–1836
The War for Texas Independence
Readings
4 Launching a Nation, 1836–1848
Republicanism
The Politics of Caution
The Politics of Action
Retrenchment
Demographic Growth
The Texians
Cultural Regions
Women in the Republic of Texas
Religion
The Rise of Towns
Learning and Plain Folks
Transportation
Recognition in Europe
Friction with Mexico
Annexation
The War with Mexico
End of the Lone Star Republic
Readings
5 Statehood, Secession, and Civil War, 1848–1865
The Texas Economy at Midcentury
Texas Society at Midcentury
Texas Politics at Midcentury
Texas and the Civil War
Readings
6 The Era of Reconstruction, 1865–1876
Aftermath of the War
Congressional Reconstruction
The Davis Administration and Radical Reconstruction
Black Texans During Reconstruction
A Perilous Place in Which to Live
The Indian Displacement
The Rise of the Cattle Kingdom
“Redemption”
The Constitution of 1876
Readings
7 A Frontier Society in Transition, 1876–1886
The Texas Population
The Closing of the Open Range
Sheep and Goats
Violence and Lawlessness
The Return of the Texas Rangers
The Railroads and Economic Development
Public Land
Lumber and Other Industries
Minerals
The Growth of South Texas
Labor Unions
Cities in the Late Nineteenth Century
Plain Living
Agriculture
Education and Other Public Services
Politics
The Legacy of the Frontier
Readings
8 Texas in the Age of Agrarian Discontent, 1886–1900
Economic Change
Ethnic Groups in the Late Nineteenth Century
Women in Late‐Nineteenth‐Century Texas
Agrarian Organizations
Texas Politics, 1886–1900
Populism
Texas at Century’s End
Readings
9 Texas in the Progressive Era, 1900–1929
Oil
Urban Growth and Workers
Labor Unions
Agriculture and Rural Life
Ethnic Texans
Texas Politics in the New Century
Women in Action
Prohibition in Texas
Texas after World War I
Readings
10 Texas and the Great Depression, 1929–1941
Texans Confront the Depression
State Politics, 1929–1933
The Return of “Fergusonism,” 1933–1935
The New Deal and Taxes
Minorities During the Great Depression
State Politics, 1935–1938
National Politics, 1935–1938
State Politics, 1938–1944: The End of the New Deal
Literature and the Arts Prior to World War II
Readings
11 War, Prosperity, and Modernization, 1941–1960
Texas and World War II
Postwar Politics
Texas Industrialization
Texas Workers and Urban Growth
Labor Unions
Texas Farms
The Texas Family
Texas Schools
Texas Society and Culture at Midcentury
Readings
12 Texas in Transition, 1960–1986
The Decade of Johnson and Connally
Challenges to the White Male Elite for Control of Texas
The Civil Rights Crusade
Sharpstown and the End of an Era
The Texas Economy
Toward a Two‐Party State?
Leisure and the Arts
Readings
13 A New Texas? 1986–2001
The Texas Population in Transition
The Oil Bust and Its Aftermath
Rural Texas in Crisis
Religion in Texas: A Force for Tradition
Texas Culture in the Late Twentieth Century
Texans at Play: Sports and Leisure
The Paradox of Texas Politics
Historic Assumptions in Transition
Conclusion
Readings
14 Into the New Millennium, 2001–2018
A Changing Population
The Modern Texas Economy
The Changing Face of Urban Texas
Texas Politics in the Twenty‐First Century
Current Issues, Future Challenges
Conclusion
Readings
Appendix
Spanish Governors of Texas
Provincial Governors of Texas
Governors of Coahuila y Texas
Presidents of Texas
Governors of Texas
United States Senators
Index
End User License Agreement
List of Tables
Chapter 5
Table 5.1 Origins of the Texas population, 1850.
Chapter 6
Table 6.1 Phases of Reconstruction.
Chapter 7
Table 7.1 Makeup of the Texas population.
Table 7.2 Dollar value of Texas crops.
Chapter 9
Table 9.1 Ranking of Texas crops by acreage, 1909–1929.
List of Illustrations
Chapter 1
Figure 1.1 White Shaman. Cave art of the prehistoric inhabitants of the Peco...
Figure 1.2 Over 1,200 years ago, a group of Caddo Indians known as the Hasin...
Figure 1.3 This famous panther is an outstanding example of the prehistoric ...
Figure 1.4 Early Spanish exploration.
Figure 1.5
Coronado on the High Plains
by Frederic Remington.
Figure 1.6 Mission San José, San Antonio.
Chapter 2
Figure 2.1 Frontier institutions in Texas.
Figure 2.2 The pobladores turned to the environment for materials with which...
Figure 2.3 The funeral of an “angel” or baptized infant. Infant mortality ra...
Figure 2.4 Indian tribes of Colonial Texas.
Figure 2.5 Buffalo Hump, Comanche Indian.
Figure 2.6 The marketplace was the center of life in frontier towns.
Figure 2.7
Corrida de la Sandía
(Watermelon Race) by Theodore Gentilz. ...
Chapter 3
Figure 3.1 Stephen F. Austin. CN 01436, The Dolph Briscoe Center for America...
Figure 3.2 Empresario contracts.
Figure 3.3 José Antonio Navarro. Painting by Dee Hernández. University of Te...
Figure 3.4 Lorenzo de Zavala. University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries S...
Figure 3.5 Ethnic settlements, 1836. Terry G. Jordan, “A Century and a Half ...
Figure 3.6
Dawn at the Alamo
. This romantic painting is exhibited at the Tex...
Figure 3.7 The Battle of San Jacinto.
Chapter 4
Figure 4.1 The Republic of Texas and boundary claims.
Figure 4.2 Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar.
Figure 4.3 Towns of the Republic of Texas, 1836–1845.
Figure 4.4 Six o’ clock a.m., Military Plaza, San Antonio.
Figure 4.5
Shooting of the 17 decimated Texians at El Salada, Mexico
.
Figure 4.6
The Republic of Texas is no more–President Anson Jones conducts t
...
Figure 4.7 William A. “Big Foot” Wallace in San Antonio.
Chapter 5
Figure 5.1 Land forms of Texas.
Figure 5.2 Ethnic settlements, 1850.
Figure 5.3 Leñeros, Tejano wood haulers with their donkeys.
Figure 5.4 Military posts.
Figure 5.5 Batting cotton. Frontier women were responsible for every step of...
Figure 5.6 Sam Houston in the latter years of the 1850s. Elected governor in...
Figure 5.7 The Confederates evacuating Brownsville, Texas. Sketched by an En...
Figure 5.8 Union soldiers on Elizabeth Street in Brownsville. Drawing from a...
Figure 5.9 Albert Sidney Johnston. From a painting by E.F. Andrews. Exhibite...
Chapter 6
Figure 6.1 Andrew Jackson Hamilton.
Figure 6.2 James W. Throckmorton, governor, 1866–67.
Figure 6.3 Elisha M. Pease.
Figure 6.4 George T. Ruby, Republican senator from Galveston and president o...
Figure 6.5 Watercolor of Matt Gaines and G. T. Ruby in the Senate Chambers, ...
Figure 6.6 Portrait of Edmund J. Davis. Exhibited in the Texas State Capitol...
Figure 6.7 “Uncle” George Glenn, an honored life member of the Trail Drivers...
Figure 6.8 The 9th Cavalry at Fort Davis.
Figure 6.9 West Texas forts and the Comanche Range, 1866 to 1880s.
Figure 6.10 Satanta, Kiowa Chief.
Figure 6.11 Quanah Parker–Comanche Chief.
Figure 6.12 Quanah Parker as whites perceived him in highly stylized dress....
Figure 6.13 Cattle trails.
Figure 6.14 Richard Coke, Democratic governor of Texas, 1874.
Chapter 7
Figure 7.1 Angora Goats on Pig Foot Ranch.
Figure 7.2 Five captains and one major of the Texas Rangers. Among them (low...
Figure 7.3 Major Texas railroads to 1900.
Figure 7.4 Kansas City Southern Passenger Depot, Port Arthur, Texas.
Figure 7.5 Cotton bale at Galveston before compression.
Figure 7.6 Stagecoach at Concho Mail Station, Tom Green County, 1879.
Figure 7.7 Mail station in Concho Country, West Texas, ca. 1870s.
Figure 7.8 Prisoners, mostly black, at the stone dressing area of the quarry...
Figure 7.9 Norris Wright Cuney (R).
Figure 7.10 George W. “Wash” Jones (Grnbk).
Chapter 8
Figure 8.1 Jesse Boyd plowing Charlie Swenson’s farm in the late 1890s or ea...
Figure 8.2 Freed slaves celebrate Juneteenth.
Figure 8.3 Ethnic settlements 1880.
Figure 8.4 Suffragist Frances E. Willard.
Figure 8.5 James S. Hogg family portrait, ca. 1890.
Figure 8.6 Populist political leader Thomas Lewis Nugent.
Chapter 9
Figure 9.1 Oil fields of Texas and date of discovery 1894–1918.
Figure 9.2 Texas City oil refineries, 1911.
Figure 9.3 Desdemona, Texas, ca. 1920.
Figure 9.4 Boulevard and bath houses, Galveston, Texas.
Figure 9.5 Percentage of cotton grown in each state, crop of 1933.
Figure 9.6 A group of dogs on a car at the Fords Lake Lumber Co. An African ...
Figure 9.7 This photograph of fig‐shipping employees in the early twentieth ...
Figure 9.8 The burning and mutilation of the body of Jesse Washington follow...
Figure 9.9 Tillie Brackenridge in San Antonio, ca. 1900.
Figure 9.10 Confirmation class of 1905 at Temple B’nai Israel, Galveston, Te...
Figure 9.11 Driver for the Temple Lumber Company, 1927.
Figure 9.12 James E. Ferguson and Miriam A. Ferguson, c. 1925.
Figure 9.13 Some soldiers from the Punitive Expedition, 1916.
Figure 9.14 Anti‐Ferguson rally at the University of Texas, May 28, 1917....
Figure 9.15 William Pettus Hobby at the Galveston Convention in 1930 (campai...
Figure 9.16 Katherine Stinson being sworn in as an airmail pilot by Postmast...
Figure 9.17 “Wet and dry” counties of Texas 1911.
Figure 9.18 Ku Klux Klan parading, Beaumont, Texas, November 10, 1922.
Chapter 10
Figure 10.1 Ross S. Sterling making his first speech in the 1930 campaign fo...
Figure 10.2 Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, Governor James V. Allr...
Figure 10.3 Jesse A. Jones, A. J. McKenzie, and Col. W. B. Tuttle at Chamber...
Figure 10.4 Free Nursery School at 122 Nolan Street, San Antonio, a WPA proj...
Figure 10.5 A quiet moment out of the hard life in the barrio.
Figure 10.6 Pugilist Jack Johnson.
Figure 10.7 Two members of
Conjunto Alamo
: Leandro Guerrero (left) and Frank...
Figure 10.8 Emma Tenayuca, organizer for the Workers Alliance of America, wi...
Figure 10.9 G. H. Johnson and Gus Brown, officers from the Texas Liquor Cont...
Figure 10.10 “Pappy” O’Daniel campaigning for governor, 1938.
Figure 10.11 Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys in front of tour bus.
Chapter 11
Figure 11.1 Marine volunteers.
Figure 11.2 Nurses at the Brooke General Hospital, Fort Sam Houston.
Figure 11.3 Judy Garland (left) smiles as she waits for parade to start in l...
Figure 11.4 Governor Beauford Jester delivers his inaugural address, Austin,...
Figure 11.5 Lyndon Johnson, Harry Truman, John Nance Garner, and Sam Rayburn...
Figure 11.6 Lyndon Johnson during his 1948 senatorial campaign.
Figure 11.7 Ralph Yarborough campaigning, 1954.
Figure 11.8 Recruiters attempt to hire Texan Mexicans for migrant farm work ...
Figure 11.9 Henry B. González (center) conferring with supporters during the...
Figure 11.10 Heman Sweatt in registration line at the University of Texas....
Figure 11.11 Recently returned World War II veteran purchasing a shotgun in ...
Figure 11.12 “Horseback swimming” in Brackenridge Park, August 1938.
Figure 11.13 Texas blues great Mance Lipscomb.
Figure 11.14 Lydia Mendoza, whose singing career began in the 1920s, receive...
Chapter 12
Figure 12.1 State Capitol Building.
Figure 12.2 John Tower.
Figure 12.3 The Johnsons, Humphreys, Connallys, and Yarboroughs deplaning in...
Figure 12.4 George Bush at the University of Texas during his unsuccessful 1...
Figure 12.5 Barbara Jordan, US representative of the 18th Congressional Dist...
Figure 12.6 William P. Clements, Jr., left, during his term as US Deputy Sec...
Figure 12.7 Inside the Astrodome.
Figure 12.8 Indoor shot of the Armadillo World Headquarters, the place many ...
Figure 12.9 The cast members from the television series
Dallas:
(standing L‐...
Figure 12.10 Larry McMurtry, the famed Texas novelist, screenwriter, and boo...
Chapter 13
Figure 13.1 Willie Nelson at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater on October 4,...
Figure 13.2 A statue of Our Lady of Fatima in Buddhist‐like pose in present‐...
Figure 13.3 Henry Garza of Los Lonely Boys, Tejano musician (and father of H...
Figure 13.4 Minute Maid Park, 2010.
Figure 13.5 Lifelong Texan and eight‐time World Champion calf roper Fred Whi...
Figure 13.6 Ann Richards.
Figure 13.7 George W. Bush taking the oath of office as governor of Texas, J...
Figure 13.8 The Ogallala Aquifer, as part of the High Plains Aquifer System....
Chapter 14
Figure 14.1 Governor Greg Abbott.
Figure 14.2 A Newfield Exploration reservoir engineer stands in front of the...
Figure 14.3 Texas Longhorn.
Figure 14.4 Texas counties.
Figure 14.5 Turning basin of the Houston Ship Canal. The fifty‐five mile lon...
Figure 14.6 Beto O’Rourke speaks at a town hall meeting in Austin.
Figure 14.7 Looking toward the southeast over some of the older parts of ind...
Figure 14.8 The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Figure 14.9 Flooded homes are shown near Lake Houston following Hurricane Ha...
Figure 14.10 Texas today.
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Begin Reading
Pages
iii
iv
vi
vii
viii
ix
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
The History of Texas
SIXTH EDITION
Robert A. CalvertArnoldo De León
Distinguished Professor of History EmeritusAngelo State University, Texas
Gregg Cantrell
Erma and Ralph Lowe Chair in Texas HistoryTexas Christian University, Texas
This edition first published 2020© 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Edition HistoryJohn Wiley & Sons, Inc. (5e, 2014), Harlan Davidson, Inc. (1e, 1990; 2e, 1996, 3e, 2002, 4e, 2007)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by law. Advice on how to obtain permission to reuse material from this title is available at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
The right of Robert A. Calvert, Arnoldo De León, and Gregg Cantrell to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with law.
Registered OfficeJohn Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA
Editorial Office111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA
For details of our global editorial offices, customer services, and more information about Wiley products visit us at www.wiley.com.
Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats and by print‐on‐demand. Some content that appears in standard print versions of this book may not be available in other formats.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of WarrantyWhile the publisher and authors have used their best efforts in preparing this work, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives, written sales materials or promotional statements for this work. The fact that an organization, website, or product is referred to in this work as a citation and/or potential source of further information does not mean that the publisher and authors endorse the information or services the organization, website, or product may provide or recommendations it may make. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a specialist where appropriate. Further, readers should be aware that websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read. Neither the publisher nor authors shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data
Names: Calvert, Robert A., author. | De León, Arnoldo, 1945– author. | Cantrell, Gregg, 1958– author.Title: The history of Texas / Robert A. Calvert, Arnoldo De León, Gregg Cantrell.Description: Sixth edition. | Hoboken, NJ : Wiley‐Blackwell, [2020] | Includes bibliographical references and index.Identifiers: LCCN 2019053446 (print) | LCCN 2019053447 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119581437 (paperback) | ISBN 9781119581451 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119581444 (epub)Subjects: LCSH: Texas–History.Classification: LCC F386 .C26 2020 (print) | LCC F386 (ebook) | DDC 976.4–dc23LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019053446LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019053447
Cover Design: Wiley
Cover Image: Between Abilene and Albany. Courtesy Randy Bacon, artist. www.randybacon.net.
Maps
Figure 1.4 Early Spanish exploration.
Figure 2.1 Frontier Institutions in Texas.
Figure 2.4 Indian Tribes of Colonial Texas.
Figure 3.2 Empresario Contracts.
Figure 3.5 Ethnic Settlements, 1836.
Figure 3.7 The Battle of San Jacinto.
Figure 4.1 The Republic of Texas and boundary claims.
Figure 4.3 Towns of the Republic of Texas, 1836–1845.
Figure 5.1 Land Forms of Texas.
Figure 5.2 Ethnic settlements, 1850.
Figure 5.4 Military Posts.
Figure 6.9 West Texas forts and the Comanche Range, 1866 to 1880s.
Figure 6.13 Cattle Trails.
Figure 7.3 Major Texas Railroads to 1900.
Figure 8.3 Ethnic settlements 1880.
Figure 9.1 Oil fields of Texas and date of discovery 1894–1918.
Figure 9.17 “Wet and dry” counties of Texas 1911.
Figure 13.8 The Ogallala Aquifer, as Part of the High Plains Aquifer System.
Figure 14.4 Texas counties.
Figure 14.10 Texas today.
Preface and Acknowledgments
The sixth edition of The History of Texas presents the fascinating story of the various peoples who have inhabited the land we know as Texas. Readers of this book will gain an understanding of the forces of cause and effect that have shaped the disparate pasts of different groups within the state as well as the heritage shared by all Texans. They will also develop an appreciation for the dynamic interpretations that scholars give to historical movements and specific events.
When initially published in 1990, the textbook was innovative in several ways. First, it took a social history approach, placing ordinary Texans at the center of the story, instead of the traditional “great man” approach. It thus became the first Texas history textbook consistently and systematically to include the histories of women, Tejanos, African Americans, and working‐class people. The book was also innovative in its chronological coverage. Texas history textbooks had traditionally emphasized the nineteenth century at the expense of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and particularly of the twentieth century. This Sixth Edition devotes two‐thirds of its pages to the post‐Civil War era and nearly 50 percent to the twentieth and twenty‐first centuries.
All peoples make history; we have continued to honor that tenet by incorporating the many cultures embraced by the Texas experience. The same principle also drove our effort to give due attention to the lives of ordinary Texans, as seen in the continued coverage of topics such as agriculture, industrialization, urbanization, economic disparity, migration patterns, and demographic change. Also included are the unsung subjects who contributed to the Texas saga, among them plain white folks, women, and the leaders and members of local labor, agricultural, and other grassroots organizations. Like its predecessors, this edition also pays attention to the history of folklore, music, literature, sports, religion, and other aspects of Texas culture that help determine the flavor of Texas, past and present. Believing that the history of Texas in recent times is as significant as that of past periods, we once again provide a comprehensive, unflinching analysis of Texas history in the more modern era.
Since 1990, the authors have kept abreast of new scholarly literature, incorporating it into each new edition and keeping the book historiographically current and relevant. Here we continue this practice. We have amplified some parts of the text and streamlined others for clarity. Therefore, the sixth edition features expanded discussions on the era between 1821 and 1848, on hardships civilians experienced during the Civil War, on agricultural reform in the early twentieth century, on women and minority groups, on the modern LGBTQ‐rights movement, and on recent environmental issues. At the same time, we cut statistics where we thought them repetitious or where we felt removing them would not harm the narrative. We also dropped passages when we considered them to overlap with information covered in American history survey classes. Our intent has always been to produce a highly readable work.
Like the text, we have updated the lists of suggested readings that conclude each chapter. Space limitations permitted the mention of only a small number of titles that have informed our writing or that we think must come to the attention of serious students of the state’s past. Primary material also proved crucial to this endeavor, particularly in the final chapter, whose suggested reading list includes many of the online sources that provided information on contemporary Texas.
Finally, and like its predecessor, the sixth edition offers students and instructors a dynamic website in support of the text, making The History of Texas ideal for traditional as well as online courses.
Over the course of six editions and nearly three decades, we have accumulated more debts than we can acknowledge here. Our greatest thanks, of course, must go to the late Robert A. “Bob” Calvert, a devoted scholar, writer, and teacher who conceptualized this book in the 1980s and contributed directly to the first two editions. Over the course of his long career, Bob influenced thousands of students of Texas history, a subject to which he was ever devoted.
Other scholars who have contributed in varied and important ways include Paul D. Lack, Larry D. Hill, Fane Downs, Charles Martin, Alwyn Barr, William Childs, Jesús F. de la Teja, Walter L. Buenger, Robert Wooster, David La Vere, Randolph B. Campbell, Charldean Newell, Bernard Weinstein, James E. Crisp, Ty Cashion, George N. Green, Carl H. Moneyhon, James Smallwood, Patrick G. Williams, H. Sophie Burton, F. Todd Smith, Paul J. Sugg, Neil Carman, Karen Hadden, Barbara J. Rozek, Paul Carlson, Richard Bruce Winders, and the late Malcolm D. McLean, Dorothy DeMoss, Ben Procter, Barry A. Crouch, Stanley Siegel, Norman D. Brown, and Robert Weddle. In preparing the sixth edition, we gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Andrew J. Torget, Walter L. Buenger, and Paul J. Sugg.
We also owe a special debt of gratitude to our friend and editor for the first five editions, Andrew Davidson, who has continued his long tradition of help and support, even though he has now moved on to other enterprises. It is safe to say that this book would not exist without him.
Arnoldo De LeónSan Angelo
Gregg CantrellFort Worth
About the Companion Website
This book is accompanied by a companion website:
https://www.wiley.com/go/calvert6
The website includes the following supplementary materials:
Test Bank
PowerPoint presentations
Student Guide
1Contact of Civilizations, 1521–1721
The story of Texas begins many thousands of years before the birth of Christ. Between 12,000 and 40,000 years ago nomads from Asia trekked from present‐day Siberia to present‐day Alaska, entering North America in a series of distinct migrations. As they hunted for edible plants and animals, the nomads crossed broad fields of ice that spanned the Bering Strait during this long period of intermittent low sea levels. Even after the Bering Sea finally reclaimed this bridge of ice, other Asians managed to navigate the waters of the strait to arrive in the new continent. More such migrations followed but ultimately ceased, cutting off the early voyagers from humankind elsewhere on Earth.
Scientists now agree that American Indians descended from a relatively small number of parent migrants who contributed to the “founding” gene base. Once the ancestors of the American Indians were cut off from other Asians, natural selection and genetic mutation produced distinctive physical types.
Through the ages, these ancient nomads dispersed throughout the vast lands of North and South America. As bands struck out in different directions in search of fresh sources of game and vegetation, different cultural and linguistic patterns appeared. These cultural patterns further evolved over time as New World peoples began to develop agriculture, around 7000 BC. Once prehistoric societies learned to till the soil and harvest plants, human beings began to exercise some control over nature and develop strong ties to the land. Family units eventually formed into complex social and political organizations. Religious figures emerged as leaders or spiritual advisers, and gender roles became more clearly defined. As each group adapted in order to survive in its local environment, distinctive customs and practices developed, as evidenced by the different types of housing, decoration, clothing, and tools used by the people of particular regions.
The Diversity of New World Cultures
Various groups and cultures spread throughout all regions of the New World. Although historians disagree over population estimates, most concur that more people lived in what we now know as Latin America than remained in North America. At the time of Columbus’s voyage in 1492, roughly twelve million people lived north of the line dividing present‐day Mexico and the United States; between this boundary and the Isthmus of Panama lived an estimated thirty‐five million people; finally, some sixty million people inhabited the continent of South America and the Caribbean Islands.
Of the pre‐Columbian civilizations, that of the Maya has generally been considered the most intellectually advanced. Situated in what are today the Yucatán Peninsula and Guatemala, the Maya, during the height of their civilization (about AD 300 to AD 900), made brilliant advances. For example, the Mayas’ discovery of the zero cipher, well before Arab mathematicians introduced the concept to Europe in the thirteenth century, helped them make significant achievements in architecture, astronomy, and calendrics. Speculation lingers as to why the Mayan civilization declined. A deadly disease may have spread throughout the population, natural catastrophes may have produced food shortages, or a social revolution to undermine the ruling class may have hastened their demise.
Another major civilization thrived for a time at Anáhuac (Valley of México), this of the Toltecs, who raised a mighty empire at Tula until drought and famine forced them to desert their capital city. In 1215, new barbarians named the Méxica, but more commonly known as Aztecs, arrived from unknown parts in the north and built upon the collapsed Toltec empire by establishing themselves in Tenochtitlán, today’s Mexico City. One of the cleanest and most populous cities in the world at the time of its “discovery” by explorers from the Old World, Tenochtitlán contained pyramids, royal palaces, and other large structures; homes for the several social classes; canals crafted from stone that served as waterways for canoes, botanical gardens, and zoos; and causeways connecting the island city to the mainland. Although the Aztecs had a warlike disposition and a penchant for human sacrifice, they abided by strict codes of morality, esteemed education, adhered to an honest and efficient system of legal and political administration, and excelled in various branches of the arts.
In South America, another civilization flourished at the time of the European conquest of the Western Hemisphere. Embracing an area extending from today’s Ecuador to Chile, the Inca civilization had its headquarters in Cuzco, in present‐day Peru, and ruled through a remarkably efficient system of civil administration. A road system superior to any in Europe at the time enabled government officials to carry out their responsibilities, laborers to travel throughout the empire to maintain public works, and soldiers to move quickly in order to protect the realm and suppress rebellions. Unsurpassed by other Native American civilizations in architectural skills, the Incas designed and built structures that flexed with the tremors of earthquakes, resuming their original forms after each jolt. The Incas also possessed advanced scientific skills. Amazingly, archaeological findings point to their apparent success in performing brain surgery.
The Indian tribes that inhabited the North American continent generally developed less sophisticated civilizations. The Northeast Woodlands Indians, found from the Ohio Valley to the Atlantic Ocean and southward to Chesapeake Bay, lived in loghouse villages or in wigwams, and survived by farming corn, squash, and beans near their homes, or by hunting deer and wild fowl and fishing from canoes. Among the most famous of the Woodlands tribes was the Iroquois, who despite their renown as warriors organized the famous League of the Iroquois. The League, considered the most effective Indian alliance north of the Aztec Empire, succeeded in ending the chronic bloody conflicts among its member tribes.
South of the Woodlands tribes, stretching from the Atlantic Coast to the Mississippi Valley and even into East Texas, lived a culture group that maintained ties to moundbuilding societies of a past age. These were the Choctaws, Seminoles, Chickasaws, Creeks, and Cherokees–later referred to by Anglo Americans as the “Five Civilized Tribes” because they adopted European American ways. The most famous of the descendants of the mound builders were the Natchez. At the time of the European exploration of the area, trappings of the classic Natchez era remained evident in villages along the lower Mississippi River. These villages surrounded temple mounds and ceremonial council houses, the identifying traits of the ancient mound builders.
A third advanced culture group that flourished at the time of Europeans’ arrival in the Western Hemisphere was located roughly from what is now West Texas to Arizona, and north as far as southern Colorado. Here the Hopi and Zuñi created a distinctive cultural heritage (Figure 1.1). These tribes, who belonged to a group that Spaniards referred to collectively as Pueblos, resided in planned towns consisting of stacked, apartment‐type complexes, sometimes two or more stories high. For defensive purposes, the Pueblos built their adobe villages into rock walls or upon steep mesas and structured them so as to oversee the spacious streets and squares below. In the fifteenth century, the Pueblos cultivated corn and other crops, developed irrigation canals, used cotton to make clothing, and lived much in the same manner as did the European peasant of the same period.
Figure 1.1 White Shaman. Cave art of the prehistoric inhabitants of the Pecos River area.
Credit: Amistad National Recreation Area.
The Indians of Texas
Anthropological evidence reveals that before the Europeans arrived, a number of distinct culture groups lived in the varied geographical areas of what is now Texas. Such pre‐horse people shared numerous characteristics, certainly the result of evolutionary processes, adaptation to historical situations, and common responses to environmental factors. Generally, Native Americans bonded around self‐reliant bands or extended families. Leaders rose through the ranks, gaining their positions by a proven display of bravery, wisdom, or special attributes. Their religion embraced the supernatural; today, it would be said that they were animistic. They thought, for instance, that natural objects–whether the galaxy, Earth’s geographical landscape, the flora or fauna–had an existence that paralleled that of humans and could be summoned for help in times of need. These culture groups recognized social/gender distinctions. Women cared for the household: cooking, preserving foods for later use, and fashioning animal skins into clothing. Women maintained a close contact with the land, cultivating it, foraging for edible products, and gathering clay from which they made cooking utensils or wares to be traded with other Indian nations.
Certain shared traits notwithstanding, Native American civilizations in pre‐Columbian Texas were quite diverse. Several of the peoples had different places of origin, some tracing their lineage to culture groups in the modern‐day US South, northern Mexico, or the Rocky Mountain region. No common language united Native American groups in Texas. Although some made war with or raided neighboring groups regularly, most preferred to avoid conflict and lived in terror of attacks by aggressors. Numerous peoples preferred a sedentary life, whereas others maintained a nomadic existence. Adaptation to local environment tended to separate one culture group from another. Thus, one Texas tribe might build villages (and reside in permanent dwellings constructed of cane and grass–Figure 1.2) and rely on farming, whereas another might stay on the move, living in portable shelters such as hide teepees as they migrated seasonally to gather wild vegetation or pursue game, trapping their prey and killing it with clubs and other crude weapons. Region also determined a group’s economy, as livelihoods might turn on agriculture, hunting big game such as the American bison (commonly known as buffalo), or perhaps a mixture of both combined with intertribal trade.
The Coastal Indians
Along the coast of southern Texas and in parts of the Trans‐Nueces lived the Karankawa and Coahuiltecan peoples. Both groups had common roots in modern‐day northern Mexico: the Coahuiltecans were tied linguistically and otherwise to the Native inhabitants of Coahuila. The Karankawas and the Coahuiltecans lacked formal political organization; social life revolved around the family, extending into small autonomous bands (related by kin) presided over by a chieftain. Their religious life was primitive, and they believed that supernatural entities governed the cosmos.
Their respective environments of marshy terrain close to the Gulf Coast and the chaparral of the brush country were harsh ones. The territory of the Karankawa extended along a thin area running down the coast from Matagorda Bay (some archaeologists believe even as far north as the Lower Brazos River region) to Corpus Christi Bay, and the Coahuiltecans lived in the Gulf Coast Plain and much of what is today considered South Texas. Both tribes moved frequently, their migrations generally corresponding to the change of seasons. Over the years, the nomadic Karankawas and Coahuiltecans had learned the ecology of their respective regions well; they knew when nature produced its greatest yields and the precise grounds where such bounties lay. Indeed, they tended to live in the same general site during one part of the year before moving on to another favorite camp. To guarantee a reliable and abundant food supply, during the fall and winter months the Karankawas stayed close to the coast, where they relied heavily on shellfish, aquatic plants, and waterfowl, but also hunted deer and even alligators. For life along the bays and lagoons, the Karankawas built small canoes from tree trunks and made nets, an assortment of traps, lances, and bows and arrows. The Coahuiltecans also preferred to inhabit specific locations during the winter, places where they could expect to find abundant roots and other easily attainable foodstuffs. During the spring and summer, the Karankawas moved inland to the coastal prairies and woodlands. There, they relied less on marine life (though numerous rivers and creeks still provided them with fish) and more on land animals–among them deer, rabbits, prairie fowl, and occasionally buffalo–and the annual offerings of nuts, beans, and fruits produced by indigenous trees and shrubs. During the warmer seasons, the Coahuiltecans foraged for nature’s yields over the large expanse of South Texas. They took advantage of the spring rains, catching fish trapped in receding pools of water, and hunting deer, lizards, birds, fish, and insects and gathering mesquite beans, prickly pears, pecans, and roots. Dome‐shaped wigwams covered by animal skins or improvised windbreaks served as the most common type of Karankawa and Coahuiltecan housing. When it came time to move, they simply dismantled their shelters, taking them and other useful items with them.
Figure 1.2 Over 1,200 years ago, a group of Caddo Indians known as the Hasinai, who were part of the great Mound Builder culture of the southeast, built a village and ceremonial center twenty‐six miles west of present‐day Nacogdoches. Shown here is a reproduction of a typical Caddo house like those found here at this Mount site.
Source: Courtesy of the Caddoan Mounds State Historic Park, Texas Parks and Wildlife.
The Northeast Texas Indians
East of the Trinity River, tribes related to the Indians of the Mississippi Valley prospered, among them the Caddos. Many centuries before Europeans had realized the existence of the New World, people roamed the lower Mississippi River expanse in quest of edible plants and small game. Sometime around AD 800, however, these hunting‐and‐gathering peoples turned to farming, cultivating a variety of vegetables, among them beans, squash, and their major staple–maize, or corn. Around AD 1200, the Mississippian civilization reached its high point of cultural growth and tribal strength before entering a gradual decline. The Caddo Indians of Texas constituted the westernmost flank of Mississippian culture, owing much to it in the way of farming, village life, and religion, though the Caddos had also borrowed cultural traits from tribes to the west (in New Mexico) and the south (Mexico). Although Mississippian culture in general was in a state of decline when Columbus sailed from Spain, Caddoan civilization was persevering.
Caddo settlements extended from the Trinity River, due north past the Red River, and as far east as the Mississippi River. Stable communities–consisting of isolated rural villages–were generally located on the best farming lands in the region. Close to sources of fresh water (primarily rivers and streams), the Caddos constructed dome‐shaped homes from grass and cane. As many as four families shared one such domicile, for Caddo home life apparently revolved around multifamily dwellings. With fields surrounding their settlements, the Caddos had easy access to their principal source of sustenance. Like peoples in the other parts of the world at the time, the Caddos planted twice a year–in the spring and early summer. Notably, Caddo society entrusted the role of agricultural production to women, who through experience and with good judgment tended the plants (generally corn, squash, and beans), rotated the crops as needed, fertilized the soil (with the droppings of wild animals native to eastern Texas), then carefully stored the excess harvest for use during lean times.
Chiefs known as the xinesí presided over Caddo society, both as political and religious leaders. Serving in a hereditary position, the xinesí (whose authority extended over several Caddo communities) mediated between his followers and a supreme deity–the world’s creator who influenced both good and bad things in life–and led religious celebrations, ceremonies, and festivals. In Caddo society, the xinesí was a person whose high status demanded respect from tribal members who looked up to him as a powerful figure able to determine such phenomena as a successful sowing; as such, the xinesí’s wishes and directives were to be followed unquestionably. Under the supervision of the xinesí, the Caddos constructed impressive temple mounds (signature traits of their Mississippian kin) that served both as storehouses and places in which to conduct important meetings and ceremonies. Below the xinesí in the Caddo religious order were lesser medicine men who attended to the spiritual and physical needs of the people. Adept in the use of medicinal herbs and various folk remedies, these healers treated a multitude of wounds and illnesses.
Governing individual Caddo communities (also through hereditary right) were the caddí. Such rulers were members of the upper stratum. Although all but disqualified from holding office, a commoner might elevate himself to a leadership position through feats of bravery on the battlefield. Ostensibly, the Caddo administrators ruled efficiently, for at the time the Spaniards began their exploration of Texas, the Caddo world prospered. Lieutenants enforced the policies determined by the caddí, directing commoners in their tasks of tilling the soil, building shelters for all concerned, and seeing to the public good, which included defending the nation from outside threats. War was not, however, integral to Caddo culture. Indeed, they undertook attacks on neighboring tribes primarily as a social pressure valve, a way to let eager young men act out their bravado, or as opportunities for anyone wishing to rise in social status.
The Caddos granted women rights and recognitions not generally accorded by European societies of the era. Their society was a matrilineal one, meaning that authority was handed down, both in families and in the larger clan, through the mother’s line, so women held a distinct and influential place in kinship networks, within which they molded Caddo social conduct, privileges, and duties. Women could also influence individuals’ economic, political, and social standing as they related to the broader group. Finally, it was women who classified others vis‐à‐vis the clan–as, for instance, friend or foe. In such a kin‐based civilization, Caddo women gave advice on matters of intertribal trade and relations, including terms of war and peace. Ordinarily, women’s presence among visiting Indian delegations symbolized peace; their absence from such teams conveyed hostility.
Although they primarily relied on farming for their sustenance, the Caddos supplemented their diet through other means. In addition to gathering roots, nuts, and fruits, another task assigned to women, Caddo men hunted the native game of eastern Texas: turkeys, rabbits, or quail in the summer; deer and bear (useful for lard, clothing, and shelter) in the fall and winter; and buffalo (present on the western rim of the Caddo confederacy) when the supply of other foods grew scarce during the colder months. Comfortable in their stability and self‐reliance, the Caddos also engaged in extensive trade. Eventually the Caddo world served as a hub for those bringing goods from as far away as New Mexico, northern Mexico, and the Mississippi Valley. The Caddos welcomed many trading partners, bartering their baskets, tools, decorative art, and weapons for certain types of vegetables, furs, and other luxury items not otherwise available to them in East Texas.
The Jumano Indians
Another group inhabiting Texas in the final years of the fifteenth century was the Jumanos, who inhabited the Trans‐Pecos area (Figure 1.3). Ethnographers and other scholars still disagree over the distinct features of Jumano culture. Opinions also differ as to what specific peoples (or tribes) made up the Jumanos, what linguistic groups they derived from, and the precise regions they occupied. Some studies note that the term Jumano, as used by the first European observers, delineate those descendants of the Tanoan‐speakers, a linguistic group from New Mexico, or those tribes that made their living as traders and traveled as far east as the South Plains of Texas. To some anthropologists, the word Jumano identifies people of a shared cultural background, and not necessarily a general grouping of people with a common language or a specific livelihood.
Recent research presents the Jumanos as descending from the Jornada line of the Mogollón, a people indigenous to modern‐day Arizona, New Mexico, and neighboring regions. Sometime in the mid‐fifteenth century, part of the Jornada tribe began migrating eastward toward the Trans‐Pecos, ultimately establishing permanent settlements in the West Texas river valleys such as El Paso, but more specifically in the region that the Spaniards later referred to as La Junta de los Ríos (the confluence of the Rio Grande and the Rio Conchos). Quite plausibly, the whole of western Texas became the domain of the Jumanos–more militant tribes such as the Apaches and Comanches would not enter the region until sometime in the seventeenth century–for what were most certainly Jumano settlements (many of them temporary) have been found beyond the fertile river valleys. In any case, the Jumano civilization stretched from eastern New Mexico and perhaps into Oklahoma, and south to northern Chihuahua in Mexico, with its easternmost appendage extending into the South Plains. In these hinterlands, they made a living by farming and hunting.
Figure 1.3 This famous panther is an outstanding example of the prehistoric art of the Lower Pecos people.
Credit: Amistad National Recreation Area.
At La Junta de los Ríos and other permanent settlements, the Jumanos worked irrigated produce gardens, cultivating traditional farm crops such as maize, beans, and squash. The Rio Conchos and the Rio Grande provided them with a variety of fish. Jumano communities resembled those used by their kinspeople in New Mexico–clustered single‐family dwellings constructed of reeds and grass formed a village, over which a chief ruled. Such farm hamlets were indicative of the branch of the Jumanos that had opted for a sedentary life, though certain village members left on seasonal hunting expeditions.
Hunting nearly full time became the unique trait of the nomadic Jumanos of the West Texas plains. Living in transient camps, this branch of the Jumano people roamed the vast grasslands throughout the spring and fall in pursuit of a variety of game: from snakes, fish, and birds, to deer, antelope, rabbits, armadillos, and, naturally, the indispensable buffalo, which furnished them with meat for food and hides for shelter and clothing. During winter, the hunters relocated near the more permanent villages of their farming relatives, launching the hunting cycle anew in the spring.
Both the sedentary and nomadic Jumanos earned reputations among the Spaniards (who entered the world of the Jumanos in the seventeenth century) as accomplished merchants–as noted previously, some Europeans used the word Jumano synonymously with trader. La Junta de los Ríos served as a distribution hub for provisions, trade items, and intelligence coming in from northern Mexico, the Indian villages of the upper Rio Grande, the world of the Coahuiltecans, or from the exchange marts of the Caddos. The nomadic Jumanos appear to have made commerce as much a part of their way of life as was hunting, and establishing trading villages on the plains as centers of exchange. In these posts, they bartered products manufactured or acquired by the tribespeople–bows and arrows, pearls, and animal furs and hides. But they also traveled widely to exchange horses (stolen from local ranches in northern New Spain), buffalo products, and foodstuffs for vegetables and fruits raised by local tribes, woolen textiles or pottery produced in New Mexico, or wares and foods available through the Caddos’ own commercial network.
The Plains Indians
Strikingly different from the aforementioned Native American tribes were the Apaches, Comanches, Wichitas, and Tonkawas. None of these Indian peoples–all of whom would play important parts in Texas history during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries–lived in Texas in pre‐Columbian times. Their origins may be traced to the northern Rocky Mountain region of the present‐day United States. The Apaches, for instance, were related linguistically to tribes in Canada and Alaska, while the Comanches had originally made their homes in the valleys of the upper Yellowstone and Platte rivers. No one knows when exactly these tribes commenced their pedestrian migration into the Great Plains (the geographical expanse immediately east of the Rocky Mountains) and the Southwest in the pursuit of buffalo. Historians do know that these Plains Indians found new power in the horse (acquired in the seventeenth century from raids upon fledgling Spanish settlements or by capturing wild herds), for they learned to ride horseback with great skill while hunting buffalo, conducting warfare, or relocating to newer locales.
A number of forces ultimately led the Plains Indians toward Texas. Mounted warfare produced winners and losers; the Comanches–the most successful because of their high mobility and unmatched riding skills–became such a terror on the Plains that the Apaches (namely the groups known as the Lipans and the Mescaleros) by the late seventeenth century began heading south to take refuge in Texas. So did the Wichitas from Oklahoma and Central Kansas, though they sought haven from their enemies attacking them from the upper Mississippi Valley. The Comanches, meanwhile, continued expanding their nomadic hunting grounds southward, pursuing buffalo on horseback, fighting the hated Apaches, and bolstering their pony herds by rounding up wild horses. For their part, the Apaches in their retreat southward threw so many lesser Texas tribal units into disarray that in Central Texas there formed a disparate group of refugees that collectively came to be known as the Tonkawas. As with the Apaches, the Tonkawas were no match for the Comanches, who by the early 1700s had arrived in Texas to become the dominant force in the northern, central, and western regions of the province.
In Texas, the Apaches, Comanches, Wichitas, and Tonkawas depended on the buffalo for almost all their essential items, including food, shelter, clothing, weapons, and tools. Using bows and arrows, the Plains Indians effectively hunted not only buffalo but also deer, antelope, turkeys, and other wild game. Small garden plots, however, provided a secondary source of food, and some of these bands raised maize and other vegetables including squash and beans. They also gathered berries and other domestic fauna such as agave, from which they made intoxicating beverages. Additionally, wild plants gave them herbs, fruits, and other products that they consumed themselves and used in barter.
The Plains Indians lacked any pan‐tribal political structure, so families formed the basic social foundation. Groups of families under a chief composed working units that served to defend the people or to retaliate against other groups for wrongs inflicted. In some cases, their livelihood depended as much upon preying on other tribes who had items they needed for sustenance as it did upon reaping nature’s bounty. Fiercely independent, the Plainspeople held religious views that allowed for individual relationships with deities; their faith in a single, all‐powerful being was only ephemeral. Shamans, or religious figures, exerted no great authority among the wanderers of the Plains, as they mainly served to heal the infirm.
The Iberian Legacy
The first white people with whom the indigenous inhabitants of Texas competed for political and economic advantage came from the Iberian Peninsula–a part of Europe in which history had departed in substantive ways from that of the rest of the continent. The early history of Spain, however, does not belie this difference. Like the rest of Europe, the Iberian Peninsula had come under the rule of the Greeks and later was subsumed by the Roman Empire. From the Romans, Spaniards derived their language, law, customs, religious faith, and the name of their country–Hispania. When Spain, along with the rest of Europe, fell to invading tribes in the fifth century, the Visigoths swept over the peninsula and superimposed their way of life over that which the Romans had instilled. Like other Europeans, the Iberians then began forging new lifeways that combined the Roman influence, the newer Germanic contributions, and evolving Christian beliefs, for in Spain, as elsewhere, the Visigoths ended up assimilating the religion, language, and form of government of the people they had conquered.
The Muslim era and the reconquista
What chiefly separated the history of the Iberian peoples from that of the rest of western Europe was the conquest of Spain by Muslims from northern Africa (Arabic or Berber peoples known loosely as the Moors) who sought to spread their Islamic faith. Partly because of the Muslim domination of the peninsula, which began in AD 711, feudalism did not attain maturity in Christian Spain. The constant state of warfare to oust the Muslim intruders equalized social distinctions, thereby blurring class differences then prevalent in northern Europe. In each Christian state, furthermore, the war bolstered the role of the king as the military leader responsible for the reconquista (reconquest), the term generally used to refer to the centuries of struggle to regain Spain from the Muslims. Following a tradition used by the Moorish invaders, Christian fighters surrendered one‐fifth of the spoils of their conquests to the monarch–a custom that granted further power and wealth to the Crown. Because the Muslims were among the world’s best‐connected merchants, their influence helped Spain enjoy brisk economic activity with the Islamic world. Numerous Spanish cities became commercial hubs as their merchants developed prosperous ties with their counterparts in Africa, the several Mediterranean countries, and the Muslim world of the Middle East. Even Iberians who earned their living from the soil participated in the economic good times, as they sold their produce in domestic as well as export markets. Efforts to resist the aggressors and reconquer the motherland molded Spanish culture during the Middle Ages. Of the several Christian states that individually or jointly sought to push back the Moors, none excelled Castile, the heartland of Spain stretching from the peninsula’s northern lands south to the central plateau. Castile’s campaign to expel the Muslim interlopers turned into a way of life that accentuated the warrior hallmarks of valor, tenacity, intrepidness, and survival at any cost–traits embraced by the conquistadores (conquerors) whatever their social station.
Through time, moreover, the Castilian reconquista assumed the aura of a religious crusade. The discovery in AD 900 of what Spaniards believed to be the burial site and body of the apostle Santiago (St. James the Great) in northern Spain, inspired Spanish religious fervor, for St. James supposedly had brought Christianity to Iberia. The reconquista prompted the Crown to bestow the role of ally upon the Catholic Church, and, in turn, the Church’s preaching in support of this cause rendered numerous social and political privileges to the clergy. By the thirteenth century, Catholic religious orders such as the Franciscans and Dominicans engaged in proselytizing activity among the Spanish Muslims.
