Chapter 9, Section 5



9.5 - Daily Life in the Republic

THE PRESIDENTS of the REPUBLIC of TEXAS

|NAME Term of ISSUES ACTIONS . |

|Office . |

| | |Unrest in Army |Gained US recognition as an Independent Republic |

| | |High debt & little money available |Dispersed the Army to prevent soldiers from causing trouble |

|Sam | |Need to form new government |Tried to develop peaceful relations with Native Americans, although Texas |

|Houston |1836 - 1838 |Refusal of United States to annex Texas|Congress did not cooperate with his actions |

| | |Tense relations with Mexico |Cut government spending, raised taxes, & secured loans from the U.S. |

|VP | | | |

|Mirabeau | | | |

|Lamar | | | |

| | | |Offered to pay $5 Million to Mexico to secure peace; when that failed he |

| | | |launched an Army expedition against Santa Fe, which happen to belong to |

| | | |Mexico |

| | | |Won recognition of Texas by Great Britain, France, Netherlands, and |

|Mirabeau | | |Belgium |

|Lamar |1836 - 1841 |Soaring debt and falling value of paper |Gave each county land to set up schools; set aside land for a University |

| | |money |Built a new Army and added ships to the Navy |

|VP | |Continued problems with Mexico |Launched aggressive moves against Native American, which cost the |

|David G Burnet | | |government a great deal of money |

| | | |Spent large sums on his projects, contributing to debt |

| | |Native American raids threatened frontier |Cut government spending by cutting some government workers and making Army|

|Sam | |Money had little value |smaller |

|Houston |1841 - 1844 |Government unable to pay bills |Made peace with many Native American groups |

| | |Continued conflict with Mexico |Sent an Army to make sure the Mexican Army had left Texas after a raid |

|VP | | | |

|Edward Burleson | | | |

| | | |Worked for annexation to solve economic problems |

|Anson | |Government finances |Tried to negotiate with Mexico; won an offer from Mexico for recognition |

|Jones |1844 - 1846 |Relations with Native Americans |of Independence |

| | |Relations with Mexico |Formed good relations with Britain and negotiated with Mexico to persuade |

|VP | |Annexation by U.S.A. |United States to be willing to annex Texas |

|Kenneth Anderson | | | |

Main Idea:

Most people in the Republic of Texas lived in the countryside and earned a living by Farming (#1) or Ranching (#2).

Setting the Scene:

Settlers relied on each other a great deal. A settler named Frances Cooke Lipscomb described how people helped each other in Texas during the 1840s.

( It was sometimes necessary for my husband to be away from home, and during his absences I found neighbors always ready to do anything they could for me. I wish I could emphasize this feature of our early Texas life. The spirit of helpfulness and friendly fellowship that always prevailed. It was one of the best of the good things of the new country. We were all strangers thrown together, willing to lend or borrow as the case may be. (

Vocabulary:

veteran – a person who once served in the military

subsistence farming – provides just enough income to support a farming family

cash crop – a crop sold for pure profit

revival – church meetings, to reawaken strong religious beliefs

New Texans

► Settlement of Land – Constitution of 1836

← between 1836 and 1845, people moved to Texas for its abundance of cheap land

← Texas leaders gave land to veterans and families of Texans killed in the revolution; no land was offered to African Americans or Native Americans

← gave 4000 acres to each white family that lived in Texas before March 2, 1836

← Texas required new settlers to live on the land for three years before they were given full ownership, (to claim full title/deed); the government did this to discourage land speculators

► Colonists

← to speed up settlement, the government 1840, Re-Introduced the Empresario System

← William S Peters ( Peters Colony in Carrollton ) brought 800 families to North Texas along the Red River

← Henri Castro 1842, West of San Antonio, 2000 people , a group of colonists mostly from Alsace, France, to Castroville ( still a town today)

← Adelsverein – a society of German Noblemen brought about 7000 Germans to the Hill Country and South Texas ( New Braunfels & Fredericksburg )

Life on the Farms and Ranches

Farmers’ #1 occupation Ranchers #2 occupation

Daily Food – Coffee, Fried Mystery Meat, and some kinda’ CORN

| | |

|► Farmers |► Ranchers |

|the majority of farms in the Republic were small family farms |cattle ate for free on public grazing land |

|most farmers practiced subsistence farming. They grew just enough crops to |cattle meat supplies often outpaced demand |

|support the farm |ranchers were challenged by thieves, drought, and disease |

|some planted cash crops, crops that are sold for profit |sheep ranching grew as U.S. textile mills began requesting wool |

Life in Towns and Forts

► Towns

← most towns grew when farms and ranches appeared in an area

← towns grew around Business

( Example - Dallas 1841, a ‘Trading Post’ for Farmers & Indians

( the ‘Original’ Farmers Market )

← towns offered goods and services not available on the farm.

← many townsfolk were immigrants

← most Texas towns stayed small

← town folk worked in the government and/or controlled the trade

← 1840’s Galveston was the largest town with 5000 population

|RURAL ACTIVITIES |TOWN ACTIVITIES |

|Country Folks |City Folks |

|Growing Crops |Furniture Making |

|Raising Livestock |Tailoring |

|Gathering Firewood |Hat Making |

|Hunting |Playing Music |

► Life in the Armed Forces

← all fit men between 17 and 50 were eligible to serve

← mostly volunteers, very few paid soldiers

← types of troops included infantry, artillery, cavalry, and rangers

← daily life in the armed forces was routine, and consisted of drills and assigned tasks

← meals included salted beef, beans, and hardtack (stiff wafers of bread)

Education and Worship

|EDUCATION |RELIGION |

|the government did not have enough money to build schools. |Texans were free to follow any religion |

|some towns hired a teacher |most were Protestants |

|many children spent large amounts of time working on the family farms |some went to revivals |

|many did not attend school |revivals also served as social events |

► School

← Texans complained to the Mexicans about the lack of schools, but they only built one after the revolution, in Houston

← Rutersville College 1840 – a college built by churches

← Wesleyan College 1844 ( reopened in 1890 as Texas Wesleyan Women’s College)

← Baylor University in Waco - Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas and affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, Baylor is the oldest institution of higher learning in continuous operation in the state and the largest Baptist university in the world

► Religion

← No State Control – Freedom of Religion in Texas

← fastest growing religions Baptist & Methodists ( 1840s)

← revivals were both a Religious and social event in the community

← traveling preacher went from town to town

|Schools | |

|the first Texas public school opened in Houston in 1839 and closed in 1840 |Religion |

|children were needed on the farm, so mothers often taught their children at home |the Republic of Texas had no established church |

|religious groups built the first places of higher learning in Texas |the fastest growing religious groups in the Republic were |

|Rutersville College opened in 1840 |Protestants |

|Baylor University is the oldest continually operating university in Texas |they held revivals to attract new members |

| |churches also published newspapers and built schools |

1. The practice of growing just enough crops to support a farm is called…

A. speculation farming B. revival farming

C. cash crop farming D. subsistence farming

2. Why did Texas law require people to live on the property for three years before

obtaining full ownership ?

A. to find out if the people would like living in Texas

B. to discourage land speculation

C. to encourage only strong settlers to move to Texas

D. to determine the land’s potential for growing crops

3. What was the main reason people moved to the Republic of Texas ?

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4. Why did some Texans go into the ranching business ?

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5. What goods and services were available in Texas towns ?

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6. What was the name of the first college established in Texas ?

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