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 family’s 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.”