Pioneer Life Pioneer - open up an area or prepare a way

1
Pioneer LifePioneer - open up an area or prepare
a way

• Population Growth
• p. 296 - 300

2
The Republic Attracts Immigrants

• Many Americans moved into Texas between 1836 and
  1846.
• The enslaved population increased at an even
  faster rate from 5,000 in 1836 to about 38,000
  in 1846.
• Texas awarded land to settlers, but the settlers
  were not required to live on the land and
  sometimes sold it to speculators.
• Congress passed the Homestead Act which protected
  a familys home, tools, and 50 acres of land from
  seizure for nonpayment of debts.

3
Immigrant Agents Bring Settlers

• Congress granted contract to immigrant agents
  people paid in land or money to relocate settlers
  to an area to bring colonists to TX.
• Three of the most successful agents were
• W.S. Peters and Associates Red River to present
  day Dallas
• Henri Castro Southwest Texas
• German Emigration Company (Adelsverein) North
  of San Antonio

4
Slavery Continues in Texas

• The Mexican government had discouraged slavery,
  but did nothing to stop it.
• The Republic of Texas made no efforts to limit
  slavery so slavery increased.
• Most slaves worked on farms and plantations, but
  some labored in towns as blacksmiths, carpenters,
  bricklayers, or other crafts.
• Slaves were denied the most basic human rights
  and subject to physical and emotional abuse.
• Slaveholders believed that cotton production
  depended upon slave labor.

5
Free African Americans Build Lives

• Several hundred free African Americans lived in
  Texas before the Civil War.
• William Goynes served as an interpreter of Native
  Americans during the revolution and became a
  successful businessman.
• In 1840 the Congress of the Republic of Texas
  passed a law allowing free African Americans to
  petition for the right to remain in Texas.
• Mary Madison, a nurse and free African American,
  submitted a petition. Her request was one of the
  few granted.
• Though most petitions were denied, free people
  stayed anyway.

6
Mexican Texans Face Tensions

• Many new Anglo settlers after the revolution
  assumed that all Tejanos had opposed the war for
  independence.
• Anglo settlers often held racial and religious
  prejudices against Tejanos. Some Anglo settlers
  used force to take the land from Mexican
  settlers.
• Juan Seguin, who had led troops at San Jacinto
  and was mayor of San Antonio, sought refuge in
  Mexico for a few years. He felt as if he was a
  foreigner in my native land.