Story of Texas

Felix Alvarado. It was Mexican territory for 15 years. Before that, it was European property because the country of Spain ruled Mexico. Before that, it was the Mayans, the Toltecs etc.  who might be considered indigenous people. So actually the Spaniards took it away from the indigenous people. They managed to hang onto it for 300 years during which time a stratified population developed. Some indigenous people retain their identity, but many mixed with the Spaniards to create the mixture of races that came to be known as Mexican. Among these groups, there was a cast system that certainly compared to slavery, although it was not called slavery. The Mexicans were having a hard time hanging on to their newly acquired property, due to the horrendous genocide created by a Spaniard named Arendondo. He had a young lieutenant that he trained named Santa Anna. When Mexico finally gained its independence from Spain, Santa Anna threw his lo

with the revolutionaries and became more Mexican. The Mexican government invited North American settlers to come in and fill the void created by the Arendondo genocide in the early 19th century. Mexico had created a government under the constitution of 1824, which was actually attractive to these North Americans. By the way, those first North Americans did not bring very many slaves at all. When the constitution of 1824 was destroyed by Santa Ana, who had risen to power in Mexico by this time, the Texians and Tejanos, who came in to settle the void areas in Texas(and create a buffer state between the Comanches and others but mostly these expert riders and shooters), became angry and revolted. They won their revolt at San Jacinto and created a republic. The United States meanwhile, was arguing about the institution of slavery. Many southern planters, especially cotton growers, saw Texas as a Haven where they could move and continue their lucrative agriculture efforts along with their slaves. It was during the period of the Republic of Texas, that the number of slaves and slave owners increased exponentially . The Republic had incurred quite a bit of debt, so in return for paying that debt the United States moved in and the Republic of Texas became a state in the United States. The debt was paid off, and the map was redrawn, and Texas became a slave holding state in the U.S, thus helping to balance the slave states with the free states. I will not defend their mindset because they were wrong. When other southern states seceded, Texas seceded also stating in its articles of secession  that slavery and the retention of it was one of the main reasons they were joining the confederate states. Unfortunately, like most of the south, the people who fought that war were not the slave owners. It was the little people such as Yeoman farmers, who were convinced that there was a.Cause but that cause was actually aimed at maintaining the upper economic class ability to make money. It was rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight. However, those southerners, some of my ancestors included, never accepted the fact that they lost the Civil War. Unfortunately, that has had repercussions. The story is not a clean, unblemished story, but then there is no part of history from the beginning of the time until now that is. Not the Spanish take over nor the Mexican rule nor the period of slavery!

If one would go back and try to make up for the wrong created over the years, there would be no end to the reform! I am being redundant by saying that one has to learn from the past and not make the same mistakes in the future, but it’s still true. At the same time one has to teach history according to the age group of the child. One thing we have learned from history is that it can be embedded with hate for years and years, and that hate passes from generation to generation. We see that in the Middle East, the Ukraine,and any number of other places — and what we see is death, destruction, and devastation of culture.