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Constituent state of the United States of America. With the fourth longest seacoast among the 48 coterminous states and a large shipping industry to match, it occupies the south-central segment of the nation. Its 266,807 square miles (691,030 square kilometres) make it larger than any nation in Europe with the exception of Russia. Water delineates many of its borders: the Rio Grande carves a shallow channel that separates Texas from Mexico on the southwest; the Gulf of Mexico laps its crescent-shaped coast on the southeast; the Sabine River forms most of the eastern boundary with Louisiana, where by land it is bounded by Arkansas as well; and the wriggling course of the Red River on the north makes up two-thirds of the state's boundary with Oklahoma. The Panhandle section juts northward, forming a counterpart in the western part of Oklahoma, and New Mexico lies to the west. Austin is the state capital.
The vastness and diversity of Texas, the largest state in the Union except for Alaska, are evident in nearly all aspects of its physical character, its history, and the economic and social life of its people. As an example, January temperatures in the Rio Grande valley have been known to register well over 90° F (32° C), while at the same time, nearly halfway to Canada, blizzards were blocking highways in the Panhandle section of the state. The image of Texas was that of a raw and lawless frontier when, in 1845, it surrendered its status as an independent republic to become the 28th state of the United States. This picture has altered drastically in the 20th century and now combines great agricultural wealth, major oil and natural gas production, high national rankings in industry and finance, huge urban centres that foster a cosmopolitan cultural life, and seemingly unending stretches of high prairie and range devoted to cattle and cotton.
The name of the state derives from the Spanish name (from an Indian word meaning “allies” or “friends”) for an Indian group. Texas is commonly divided into East and West, although the dividing line between the two is ambiguous. Generally, though, East Texas has a wet climate and is characterized by cotton and ties to the Old South, while West Texas is dry and is characterized by cattle ranching and an affinity to the West.
![The Southwest. [Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]](http://images.bookrags.com/images/eb/4840.gif) The Southwest. [Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]
Far from being merely wide, arid plains that are filled with cattle and cowboys, Texas comprises a series of gigantic steps, from the fertile and densely populated Coastal Plains in the southeast to the high plains and mountains in the west and northwest.
Stretching inland from the Gulf Coast, the Coastal Plains range from sea level to about 1,000 feet (305 metres). These flat, low prairies extend inland to form a fertile crescent that is well adapted to farming and cattle raising. Near the coast much land is marshy, almost swamp, except where drained by man-made devices.
![The Rio Grande flowing through the desert at the foot of the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National &elipsis; [Credit: Tom Algire]](http://images.bookrags.com/images/eb/3081.gif) The Rio Grande flowing through the desert at the foot of the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National &elipsis; [Credit: Tom Algire]
The western anchor of the Coastal Plains is the Rio Grande valley, where a heavy investment in citrus farming occasionally is damaged by disastrous freezes. It now features diversified farming, with vegetables and citrus. The low coastal lands between Port Lavaca and Port Arthur are ideal for rice cultivation. Inland from Houston the flatlands provide grazing for fine-breed cattle. Forests of pine and cypress grow extensively from Beaumont to the Red River and spill into Louisiana and Arkansas, making lumbering and paper mills important industries.
Access to water transportation, reservoirs of natural gas and oil, and availability of raw materials have made the coastal area the centre of industry in Texas. It is also the most densely populated part of the state. Houston, Texas' largest city, is a focal point, while Fort Worth, Dallas, Waco, Austin, and San Antonio form a line at the inner edges of the Coastal Plains. Corpus Christi, Galveston, and the Beaumont–Port Arthur–Orange complex augment Houston's port, one of the nation's largest.
The Coastal Plains, encompassing about two-fifths of the state's land area, break abruptly at the Balcones Escarpment, where in the distant geologic past the surface of the Earth cracked and slipped. Northwest of the fault, the land rears up into the Texas Hill Country and then into the tablelands of the Edwards Plateau to the south and the North Central Plains to the north. These last two regions are extensions of, respectively, the Great Plains and the Central Lowlands. The entire region varies from about 750 to 2,500 feet above sea level. Farming and livestock raising constitute the basic economy. The Hill Country mixes orchard crops with ranching, small industries, summer camps, and tourism.
At the western edge of the North Central Plains lies the Cap Rock Escarpment, an outcropping of rock that stretches to the north and south for about 200 miles (320 kilometres). Protruding above the plains like a huge barricade, it is starkly visible in some places in cliffs that rise from 200 to almost 1,000 feet. Beyond that escarpment lies the third big step of Texas: the High Plains country and, to the south, the Trans-Pecos region.
From the High Plains country of West Texas emerged many of the legends of Texas weather and of the Texas cowboy. In this region lies the flat, dry area known as the Llano Estacado (Staked Plains). According to legend, as the Coronado expedition moved westward, it laid down stakes to serve as guides for the return trip, and even Indian tribes hesitated to venture across these lands. On these plains, sandstorms can obstruct vision in midday, filter tiny bullets of sand into the best-built homes, and scour the paint from exposed automobiles. Many wide, flat riverbeds remain dry most of the year, but they can become sluiceways for flash floods. Through the northern portal, beyond Amarillo, “blue northers” sweep out of the Rocky Mountains with a frenzy of freezing wind, ice, and snow. In the 19th century such famous ranches as the XIT, the Spur, the JA, and the Matador spread their cattle over these ranges.
The North Plains subdivision, centred around Amarillo, depends on grain farming, ranching, oil, and small industries. The South Plains subdivision, with Lubbock as the principal city, has large underground water reservoirs that allow large-scale irrigated cotton farming.
![Guadalupe Peak (right) in the Guadalupe Mountains, western Texas, U.S. [Credit: Josef Muench]](http://images.bookrags.com/images/eb/1091.gif) Guadalupe Peak (right) in the Guadalupe Mountains, western Texas, U.S. [Credit: Josef Muench]
The state's most rugged terrain lies to the west of the Pecos River. Trailing down from the Rockies, the Guadalupe Mountains lead into mountains of the Big Bend country, a name that is derived from a loop of the Rio Grande. The highest peak in Texas is Guadalupe Peak, which rises 8,749 feet (2,667 metres) above sea level. Big Bend National Park preserves the native ruggedness of the region.
There is immense variation in the types of Texas soil. The Piney Woods region of East Texas has a gray and tan topsoil that covers the red subsoil usually within a foot or two of the surface. The soil along the upper and middle Texas coast is black clay or loam, with lighter-coloured sandy soil on the coastal islands, bars, and spits. The soil of the southern Texas coast and inland to the Rio Grande is sandy, like that of East Texas, but is less eroded and leached.
The Blackland Prairie, a belt of fertile black clay to the west of the Piney Woods, extends southwesterly from the Red River to San Antonio. The soil of the Grand Prairie region, just to the west of the Blackland Prairie, is more rocky and resistant to erosion.
The Cross Timbers, a forest region with light-coloured, slightly acid, sandy loam soil, stretches across the prairies of northern Texas, enclosing part of the Grand Prairie. Red sandy and dark clay soils are found in the Llano Basin, in the centre of the state. The Edwards Plateau has thin, stony soil with a limestone bedrock.
Most of the soils of the western North Central Plains are red or tan-coloured and sandy, but some black clay is found in the region. The High Plains, just to the west, has dark brown to reddish clay loams, sandy loams, and sands. In the Trans-Pecos region are found reddish brown sandy soil in the mountains and grayish brown to reddish brown clay soil in the basins.
The rich fertility of the soils first attracted settlers to Texas. Much of the soil was lost through wasteful practices in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but since the 1930s efforts by federal and state governments have done much to promote soil conservation in the state.
Generalizations about the weather in Texas are almost meaningless. The Gulf Coast area around Houston has an average annual temperature of about 70° F (21° C) and rainfall of 45 inches (1,145 millimetres), whereas the Panhandle averages about 60° F (16° C) and less than 20 inches of rain. The driest region is the Trans-Pecos country, and the wettest is the southeast. Southern areas have freezing weather only rarely. In Brownsville, the southernmost city, no measurable snow has fallen in the 20th century, but the northwestern corner averages 23 inches annually.
A great variety of vegetation is found in Texas due to differences in the amount of rainfall and type of soil. Native longleaf, shortleaf, and loblolly pine provide most of the commercial timber in East Texas. A belt of post oak grows just west of the pine woods, as do blackjack oak, elm, pecan, and walnut. Marsh and salt grasses are found along the Texas coast, with bluestem and tall grasses growing a little farther inland.
The region south of San Antonio was originally brush country with mesquite, small live and post oak, prickly pear cactus, bluestem, buffalo grass, and bunchgrass. Irrigation in the 20th century has resulted in extensive vegetable and fruit production along the lower Rio Grande.
Bluestem, grama, Indian grass, switch grass, and buffalo grass grow in the prairies and plains regions of West Texas. Oak, pecan, elm, Osage orange, and mesquite are native trees found in the prairies and the Cross Timbers region. Cedar, mesquite, yucca, cactus, and some islands of cypress make up the vegetation of the Edwards Plateau.
Desert plants provide much of the vegetation of the Trans-Pecos region. Piñon pine, ponderosa pine, spruce, cedar, and oak grow in the higher mountains of the region.
Some 550 species of birds (nearly three-fourths of all species found in the United States) have been identified in Texas. Among the more exotic are the once nearly extinct whooping cranes that winter in the protected Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, near Corpus Christi.
Many of the domestic animals that are important in the economy of the state—cattle, horses, sheep, goats, and hogs—were introduced by the Spanish, but more than 100 mammals are native to Texas. Some, such as the bison, black bear, mountain lion, pronghorn, and red wolf, almost disappeared in the late 19th century and have been saved from extinction only through the efforts of conservationists. Some 100 species of snakes, including the poisonous copperhead, cottonmouth, rattlesnake, and Texas coral snake, are native to the state. The alligator is found in the lower reaches of all the major rivers and bayous.
Texas has long been a huge reservoir for diverse streams of races and cultures. For the bands of prehistoric hunters, for the waves of Indian tribes, for the Spanish and Mexicans pushing northward, for the Anglo-Americans from the North and East, and for colonizers who came to Texas directly from Europe, there was more than enough room for settlement and for the opportunity to influence the institutions of the state. Some churches still conduct services in Swedish, Czech, or Spanish; throughout the south and west, Spanish remains the family language of many people.
During the 19th century there were streams of migration into Texas. Between 1821 and 1836 an estimated 38,000 settlers, on promises of 4,000 acres (1,620 hectares) per family for small fees, trekked from the United States into the territory. In the 30 years before the Civil War, shiploads of Germans, Poles, Czechs, Swedes, Norwegians, and Irish arrived. Church-oriented, they took with them the Roman Catholic and Protestant faiths.
During the post-Civil War years numerous families moved from devastated Southern plantations to farms and ranches of the Southwest. From the north central states came communities of farming families with Swedish, Polish, and Irish backgrounds seeking relief from the tight economy. Others came from Europe, including Belgians, Danes, Italians, and Greeks, to become city dwellers, craftsmen, and keepers of small shops. Since the 1960s the Asian population has grown rapidly.
About 50,000 Indians live in Texas, but this figure fails to account for the many families who have some Indian ancestry. Most of the present-day Indians are city dwellers, but three tribes remain cohesive units. The Alabama-Coushatta Indians occupy one of the two reservations in the state, in East Texas. The Tigua live on a reservation in El Paso, and the Kickapoo live near Eagle Pass.
More than one-fifth of all Texans are of Hispanic descent, and their number continues to grow. Many of the communities along the U.S. side of the southwestern border are almost totally Hispanic, and larger cities such as Brownsville, Laredo, Corpus Christi, El Paso, and San Antonio carry the mark of Spain and Mexico in their architecture, names, and language. With the urbanization of the state and the decrease in the demand for agricultural workers, large Hispanic populations have converged on the major metropolitan centres that lie farther from the border.
The Civil War brought freedom for thousands of black slaves within the state. In the 20th century the black population clustered in the central parts of the larger cities, and more than 40 percent of blacks are now concentrated in the urban areas of Dallas and Houston.
Cotton, cattle, and oil—all based on land resources—dominated the successive stages in Texas' economic development until the mid-20th century, and they have continued to undergird the state's basic wealth. Retailing and wholesaling, banking and insurance, and construction have been among the activities reflecting the general affluence, urbanization, and diversification of the state's economy. Despite the growth of manufacturing and other industries, however, the Texas economy has remained heavily dependent on oil and gas. Fluctuations in oil prices—such as those occurring in the 1980s—have directly affected the economy, with the result that the classic Texas “boom and bust” economic cycle has continued.
Numerous national corporate headquarters have moved to Texas, and petroleum companies have explored for new sources of energy to continue their leadership in providing fuel for the nation. The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, an installation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), is located in Houston and is among many federal air installations in Texas. In addition, tourism has become a major business, and Dallas has attracted attention as a fashion centre—generally a low-wage industry, however, for most employees. Texas also has become preeminent in its oceanographic investigations into uses of the continental shelf and in the areas of medicine and surgery.
The fertile lands of East Texas attracted cotton farmers before the Civil War, and, following that struggle, cotton became the state's major crop. As mechanized farming developed, cotton production shifted to the High Plains country of West Texas, where irrigation and fertilizer fostered bountiful crops and maintained Texas' national leadership in cotton production. Occasional crop failures due to drought led to crop diversification. In total value of farm crops, Texas consistently has ranked in the top five among the states since the mid-20th century and has been a leading producer of grain sorghums, peanuts (groundnuts), and rice.
Nearly all of the mohair that is produced in the United States comes from the Angora goats of Texas. The state leads all others in the raising of beef cattle and sheep. The vast cattle empires of the 19th century have tended to shift to coastal areas during the 20th century, reversing the path of cotton.
New uses for oil were being developed when in 1901 the Spindletop gusher blew in near Beaumont. Texas leads all other states in oil and natural gas production. It also ranks first in oil-refining capacity. Oil deposits have been found under more than two-thirds of the state's area, though many finds seem too small for commercial development. Texas also leads all other states in the production of sulfur, crude gypsum, and magnesium.
Manufacturing began originally with the processing of local raw materials: cotton gins and cottonseed mills, meat-packing plants, flour mills, and fruit- and vegetable-canning plants. The production of electric and electronic equipment is now the largest manufacturing employer, followed closely by nonelectric machinery.
Oil refining is a major processor of raw materials, and oil-field equipment is manufactured. The Gulf Coast area is the centre for the petrochemical industrial complexes. A large percentage of the basic petrochemicals that are produced in the United States come from plants located from Beaumont to Corpus Christi. Development in aerospace, military, and health industries has led to some economic diversification in this area.
Reflecting a maturing economy, manufacturing has moved toward the fabrication of finished consumer products. The growth of the electronics industry has been outstanding, and other finished goods manufactured in quantity include air conditioners, furniture, boats, household appliances, machinery, leather goods, and clothing.
The vastness of Texas and its contrasts in terrain originally posed great difficulties for transportation yet greatly stimulated its development. The desire to develop inland areas was one factor leading to the establishment of Austin as the capital. In 1852 the legislature granted public lands to railroads for each mile of track constructed, and in 1883 it authorized a county road tax for farm-to-market dirt roads. By 1900 railroads crisscrossed the state, and dirt roads straggled between most communities.
Today Texas leads the nation in road and rail mileage. It has a well-developed federal and state highway system, although concentrated in the more heavily populated east; this system is supplemented by an extensive network of roads maintained by counties and cities. As in other states, the actual mileage of mainline railroads has diminished, and passenger transportation has been discontinued over most lines. Operating freight revenues, however, have increased tremendously since the mid-20th century.
Texas was a pioneer in the development of the airplane. In or near San Antonio were located the first army flying schools, established at Fort Sam Houston in 1910; Kelly Field, which became a training camp for pilots in 1917; and Randolph Field, which by 1931 was serving as “the West Point of the Air.” The need for air power in World War II brought air training to more than 40 military bases in Texas. Dallas–Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio are focal points for civilian air transportation. The Dallas–Fort Worth International Airport is the nation's largest in terms of land area and one of the busiest. The Houston Intercontinental Airport, one of two airports serving Houston, encompasses 7,300 acres and provides a computer-run train to carry passengers between terminals.
The discovery of oil and gas necessitated cheaper routes of water transportation to markets in the East and North. Federal aid permitted harbour improvements at Galveston, Sabine Pass (opening water routes to Port Arthur and Beaumont), Aransas Pass, and Corpus Christi. The opening of the 44-mile Houston Ship Channel has made Houston a major international port. In the 1930s an intercoastal canal was completed from New Orleans to Sabine Pass and from Galveston to Corpus Christi, and in 1946 the Gulf Intracoastal Canal was opened from Brownsville to Florida. Continuous dredging operations have opened lanes of ocean commerce to many smaller ports. Galveston, oldest among the major ports, is the headquarters for extensive commercial fishing enterprises.
The constitution of 1876 outlines the prevailing structure of Texas government. The governor, elected for a four-year term, may initiate legislation, call special legislative sessions, veto bills, and appoint boards and commissions. The governor's power is limited, however, because numerous officials and executive boards are elected rather than appointed. The bicameral legislature comprises the Senate of 31 members who serve for four years and the House of Representatives, with 150 members elected for two years. The top court for civil matters is the Supreme Court, with a chief justice and eight associate justices elected for six-year terms. The highest court for criminal matters is the Court of Criminal Appeals, with nine justices elected for six-year terms. There are 14 courts of civil appeal and more than 370 state district courts, with judges elected for four-year terms. Lower courts comprise county courts, justice of the peace courts, and municipal courts.
Texas comprises 254 counties; the largest of them, Brewster, with some 6,200 square miles, is roughly equal to the combined areas of Connecticut and Rhode Island. Within constitutional limitations the legislature may create new counties. Each county is administered by a commissioners' court, which is an administrative rather than a trial body. Cities with a population of more than 5,000 may adopt their own home-rule charters.
The more critical problems of local government inevitably involve finances. The traditional source of local financing has been the property tax, but the movement of workers to suburbs and a hodgepodge of governmental agencies with taxing power has complicated the matter.
The Democratic Party has dominated elections since the Reconstruction period, pitting the many splinters of the party against one another in primaries that usually determine the eventual winners of state offices. Within the party the political philosophies of candidates have ranged from extreme liberalism to extreme conservatism. Certain contrary trends have emerged, however. The influx of new businesses and industries has brought many Republicans into Texas. The conviction that a two-party system would allow elections based on issues rather than personalities led some Democrats into the Republican camp, and strong support of civil rights by the national Democratic Party caused widespread defections by conservative Democrats. In addition, many influential Texas liberals have begun subtly to support Republicans, whom they consider more liberal than the old-time Democratic leaders.
Politics also has become more organized. Both Hispanics and blacks have used the power of the ballot to elect city officials, to influence state decisions, and to move upward in the power structure.
Efforts to meet, understand, and solve educational problems arising from the social, economic, and other changes since World War II have brought mixed results. Some schools have library self-study in buildings designed to accommodate innovation and to place the educational emphasis upon individual growth rather than grade classification. Conversely, there are also formal classrooms in which Hispanic children are forbidden to speak in their family language and where traditional instructional methods are used. In general, local school systems, despite minimum standards established by the state, vary greatly in accordance with local financial resources, prevailing adult educational levels, and demands for equal education for all segments of the population.
Public lands have been used to support education from the years of the Republic of Texas. The Texas Congress in 1839 set aside lands in each county to support schools. The state constitution of 1876 affirmed the endowment of 52,000,000 acres for public schools and another 2,000,000 acres for a state university and agricultural college.
The University of Texas system enrolls more than 100,000 students, nearly half of them on the main campus in Austin. The state has some 140 colleges and universities, including public senior institutions and junior colleges. The University of Texas and Texas A&M University have outstanding graduate and research programs. Rice University, a private institution in Houston, long has been recognized for its high academic standards.
Texas has a number of private or church-supported colleges and universities. Baylor University, in Waco, founded in 1845, is the only remaining university of the five established during the republic. Southern Methodist University, in Dallas, is a private institution affiliated with the United Methodist church.
Programs for the mentally ill and mentally retarded have been slow to develop in Texas, but public concern has made itself felt in the legislature. There are several mental health hospitals within the state. For aged patients there are geriatric centres, and there is also a neuropsychiatric institute. Increasing attention has been given to outpatient clinic services. Several state centres care for the mentally retarded.
In medical education, research, and preventive medicine the state ranks among the nation's leaders. The University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas and the Texas Medical Center, in Houston, are typical of these excellent programs.
The sense of the past has traditionally been strong in born-and-bred Texans. The emphasis long was based upon the heroics of living in a frontier land, upon individuals and their deeds, but an increasing appreciation of the diverse cultures that have enriched the life of Texas has helped to preserve and strengthen those customs. Throughout the state regional historical associations quietly search out and help to restore striking examples of 19th-century homes. San Antonio has re-created the early 18th-century Mexican-Spanish flavour in both restoration and in public shopping and walking areas in the heart of the city. Fredericksburg, with its German background, preserves many 19th-century customs and continues to cling to German as a family tongue. Even a metropolitan city like Houston has found space adjacent to its downtown area for restored historic homes. Laredo vividly dramatizes the marriage of Mexican and Anglo cultures with an annual Washington's Birthday parade and fete. Particularly evident are influences from Mexican culture, from the deep-rooted impact of the cattle country, and from the newer yet vibrant life fashioned by oil booms, wildcatting, refineries, and pipelines.
Art, music, and literature occupy significant places in the lives of many communities in Texas. The Amon Carter Museum of Western Art in Fort Worth houses many paintings and bronzes of Western artists and maintains a microfilm collection of Western newspapers published before 1900. With the Fort Worth Art Museum, the William Edrington Scott Theatre, the Kimbell Art Museum, and the Fort Worth Children's Theater, the Amon Carter Museum provides a cultural centre for study and appreciation of the arts.
Houston's Civic Center nestles in 150 acres amid the city's tall downtown buildings. It serves as the home for the Houston Symphony Orchestra and the Houston Grand Opera. The world-famous Alley Theater is located nearby. In Dallas the Margo Jones Theatre and the Dallas Theater Center provide outlets for cultural and educational groups. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra is among the better known classical ensembles in the nation. Cultural interests, however, are not restricted to large metropolitan areas. Odessa, for example, supports the unique Presidential Museum, showing extensive memorabilia of the U.S. presidents, as well as an accurate replica of London's Globe Theatre, in which a summer program of Shakespearean and other Elizabethan plays is produced. Colleges and universities in the state are active in all areas of the arts.
Water has added new dimensions to popular recreation. In 1913 there were only eight major lakes or reservoirs in Texas, but today there are more than 180, many built to store water against periodic droughts. Several national parks and forests and more than 100 state parks dot the state, many of them providing fishing, swimming, camping, and picnicking facilities. Sports fishing has developed into a major recreation along the Gulf Coast.
Other entertainment centres include Six Flags over Texas, a westernized amusement park between Dallas and Fort Worth, and, near the Dallas suburb of Mesquite, a reservation into which motorists can drive and watch apparently free-roaming elephants, giraffes, and other African wildlife. Sea World of Texas is an aquatic theme park in San Antonio. In Houston the well-publicized Astrodome has become a centre of professional sports, rodeos, bullfights (with no killing), circuses, and other spectaculars.
Book publishing, though not a big business within the state, has gained a strong foothold. The University of Texas Press and the Texas A&M University Press have gained national acclaim through their scholarly and historical works, and the Southern Methodist University Press likewise has established discriminating standards. Several commercial publishing companies concentrate on books and monographs related to the history of the Southwest.
University libraries, art galleries, and special collections contain remarkable treasures. The Armstrong Browning Library at Baylor University houses more than 10,000 books and manuscripts by and about Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. At the University of Texas in Austin, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library, operated as a branch of the Library of Congress, houses millions of documents on public affairs since the mid-1930s related to Johnson's public career. Also at the university are a Latin-American collection, the Michener Collection of Art, and other special collections.
The forerunners of the West Texas Indians lived in camps that were made perhaps as much as 37,000 years ago. Possessing only crude spears and flint-pointed darts, these hunters survived primarily on wild game. In the more fertile areas of East Texas, some of the tribes established permanent villages and well-managed farms and evolved political and religious systems. Forming a loose federation in order to preserve peace and to provide for mutual protection, they came to be known as the Caddo confederacies. By 1528, when the first Europeans entered the interior of Texas, the area was sparsely settled, but the culture and habitation of the Indians exerted measurable influence on the later history of the region.
By the 1730s the Spanish had sent more than 30 expeditions into Texas. San Antonio, which by 1718 housed a military post and a mission, had become the administrative centre. Missions, with military support, were established in Nacogdoches in East Texas, Goliad in the south, and near El Paso in the far west. The French also explored Texas. The explorations of Robert Cavelier, Lord de La Salle, and his colony at Matagorda Bay were the bases of French claims to East Texas.
Anglo-American colonization gained impetus when the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803 and claimed title to lands as far west as the Rio Grande. By 1819, however, the United States had accepted the Sabine River as the western boundary of the Louisiana Territory. Moses Austin secured permission from the Spanish government to colonize 300 families on a grant of 200,000 acres. When Mexico became an independent country in 1821, his son, Stephen F. Austin, received Mexican approval of the grant. He led his first band of settlers to the area along the lower Brazos and Colorado rivers. By 1832 Austin's several colonies had about 8,000 inhabitants. Other colonies brought the territory's Anglo-American population to about 20,000.
Unrest throughout Mexico, including Texas, resulted in a coup by Antonio López de Santa Anna, who assumed the presidency in 1833. Texans, hopeful for relief from restrictive governmental measures, supported Santa Anna. Austin expected a friendly hearing about these grievances but instead was imprisoned in Mexico City for encouraging insurrection. He was freed in 1835 and returned home to find that skirmishes had already developed between the colonists and Mexican troops and that Santa Anna was preparing to send reinforcements. Texans formed a provisional government in 1835, and in 1836 issued a declaration of independence at Washington-on-the-Brazos. David G. Burnet was chosen ad interim president of the new Republic of Texas, Sam Houston was appointed its military commander, and Austin became commissioner to the United States with the mission of securing strategic aid and enlisting volunteers.
![The Alamo, San Antonio [Credit: Courtesy of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce]](http://images.bookrags.com/images/eb/5434.gif) The Alamo, San Antonio [Credit: Courtesy of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce]
The famous siege of the Alamo in San Antonio lasted from February 23 to March 6, 1836. The strategic objective of the stand was to delay Mexican forces and thereby permit military organization of the Texas settlers. As the battle climaxed with a massive attack over the walls, the defenders (about 183) were all killed. Among the dead were the famous frontiersmen Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett. On April 21 Sam Houston led a surprise attack on the Mexican troops at the San Jacinto River, where he succeeded in capturing Santa Anna and in securing victory for the Texans.
The Texan revolution was not simply a fight between the Anglo-American settlers and Mexican troops; it was a revolution of the people who were living in Texas against what many of them regarded as tyrannical rule from a distant source. Many of the leaders in the revolution and many of the armed settlers who took part were Mexicans.
The Republic of Texas was officially established with Sam Houston as president and Stephen Austin as secretary of state. Cities were named in their honour: Houston was the capital until 1839, when Austin was approved as the permanent capital.
The republic had a difficult 10-year life. Financing proved critical, and efforts to secure loans from foreign countries were unsuccessful. Protection against raids from Mexico and occasional attacks by Indians required a mobile armed force. During the republic a squad of armed men, the famous Texas Rangers, was maintained to ride long distances quickly to repel or punish raiding forces.
As early as 1836, Texans had voted for annexation by the United States, but the proposition was rejected by the Jackson and Van Buren administrations. Great Britain favoured continued independence for Texas in order to block further westward expansion of the United States, but this attitude only helped to swing Americans toward annexation. Annexation was approved by the Texas and the U.S. congresses in 1845, and the transfer of authority from the republic to the state of Texas took place in 1846. One unique feature of the annexation agreements was a provision permitting Texas to retain title to its public lands.
The U.S. annexation of Texas and dispute over the area between the Rio Grande and the Nueces River brought about the Mexican War. Troops led by Winfield Scott and Zachary Taylor invaded Mexico, and Scott captured Mexico City on Sept. 14, 1847. In the Treaty of Guadalupe Hildago, signed on Feb. 2, 1848, Mexico gave up its claim to Texas and also ceded an area now in the states of New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, California, and western Colorado. Texas claimed most of this additional area but later relinquished it in the Compromise of 1850.
Texas seceded from the Union on Jan. 28, 1861. The American Civil War brought disruption to the state. Governor Sam Houston strongly opposed secession, and, after refusing to take the oath of allegiance to the Confederacy, he was removed from office. During the war Texans had to defend themselves from Indian attacks, from Mexican encroachments, and from Federal gunboats and invading soldiers. Federal forces ultimately gained control of the lower Gulf Coast but were unable to move far inland.
During the last three decades of the 19th century there were rapid developments in the population and economy of Texas. The state was readmitted to the Union under a new constitution in 1869. By 1875 the Comanche had been forced onto a reservation in present-day Oklahoma. Under waves of immigration, towns were established, farming spread throughout the central areas of the state, and the cattle industry began to thrive on the plains of West Texas. Railroad building and increased shipping fashioned new links with the rest of the world. Manufacturing, encouraged by the Civil War years, continued to grow. By 1900 the population had grown to more than 3,000,000.
The Lucas gusher that blew in at Spindletop (Beaumont) in 1901 opened a new economic era for the state. Oil companies were formed, oilmen began to search for and find new deposits in the state, and refining and marketing activities provided new jobs and incomes for Texas. Like the rest of the nation, Texas suffered throughout the Great Depression of the 1930s but later benefited from the tremendous industrial expansion that took place during World War II.
Economic and population growth continued in the postwar era. Oil refining, chemicals, and petrochemicals continued to dominate, but electronics, aerospace components, and other high-technology items became increasingly important in the last quarter of the 20th century. The population of Texas increased fourfold between 1900 and 1980, and by 1980 one-third of all Texans were either black or Hispanic.
Since the mid-20th century, Texans have played an increasingly important role in national politics. Sam Rayburn, of Bonham, served as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives for 17 years, a tenure longer than that of any other person. Lyndon B. Johnson, who earlier had served as a Texas congressman, was majority leader of the U.S. Senate in the late 1950s, vice president of the United States from 1961 to 1963, and president from 1963 to 1969. In 1988 George Bush of Houston, who served as vice president of the United States from 1981 to 1989, was elected president.
DeWitt C. Reddick
Ralph A. Wooster
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Texas from Encyclopedia Brittanica. ©2009 Encyclopedia Brittanica. All rights reserved.
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