The Lone Star forever

Galveston: world capital. Truly. Well, once. For a while.

I have to keep remembering that Texas, and much more, was once part of Mexico, which was part of Spain. Here is what I’ve learned. I hope I have it right. It’s long, and there aren’t any pictures, so feel free to skip the whole business.

After he got tired of looting and pillaging, Cortes set up a colonial government. Eventually, New Spain became its own little empire, still loyal to Spain, but ruled by an oligarchy of high-living Spaniards and their descendants. In its further-flung provinces, like Tejas, the rulers pacified the peasants by combining the most powerful forces at their disposal: the church and the military. Put a fort down, add a mission, and stir. Slowly, the local population succumbed to one or the other.

That went on for 300 years, but both church and state weakened. Partly inspired by the U.S. war for independence, a series of uprisings led to Mexican independence in 1821. By then, Tejas had been a problem for some time. It was too far from Mexico City, and its tiny population was widely scattered, so it was hard to govern. It needed more population, and a biddable local government. So the “empresario” system was born.

 

With crown approval, empresarios, notably Stephen F. Austin, created companies that brought in colonists from the U.S., though why anyone would migrate to a place where it’s over 100 degrees all summer and fall is beyond me.  They came from the poorest and nearest parts of the South, so they were already used to brutal weather, I guess. And maybe I’d migrate too, if I got 4000 acres of free land and all I had to do was pledge loyalty to the Mexican government and get myself baptized (and I were a whole lot younger).

The new Tejans lost their loyalty to the Mexican government fast. They didn’t think much of the many Mexicans who had already lived in Tejas for generations, either. Or the Indians who had been there even longer, for that matter. They decided that they needed to call their own shots. It helped that the empresarios had become as powerful as the local Mexican government.

Hence the rebellion, and the Alamo (1836), where Santa Anna’s troops slaughtered the Tejans, including Davy Crockett. Enter Sam Houston, who’s worth not just blog entries but entire books all by himself. There followed a short war, and at the Battle of San Jacinto, the Tejans caught the Mexicans napping (literally) and had themselves a decisive victory.

They declared the Republic of Texas, with Galveston as its capital for a while. An odd choice, perhaps, considering its location, but then, everything in Texas is miles and miles from everything else. The Republic lasted for nine years, and was recognized by both Great Britain and France. Son Steve insists that the Lone Star spirit is still alive and well: he says Texans still believe they are in their own country, so they can do whatever they want.  That would include some very bad driving.

The whole episode seems completely ridiculous when you consider that on the eve of revolution, there were probably not more than about 50,000 people in an area bigger than all of New England plus New York and New Jersey. And most of Pennsylvania. What made the new government think it could run their enormous new country any better than their predecessors is anybody’s guess. That’s the pioneer spirit, I guess. Or something.