Tx history-ch-9.1

Chapter 9: Life in Early Texas

Section 1: Texas Fever

Gone to Texas

•During the 1820s-30s the population of Texas surged

•Some settlers from Europe and other parts of Mexico

Gone to Texas

•Most early settlers in Texas were

farmers from the United States.

Gone to Texas

•Pull factors:

–Cheap land

–Easy payments

Gone to Texas

•Push factors:

–Debts from the Panic of 1819 and resulting depression

– Inability of U.S. officials to collect debts or get fugitives in Texas

Gone to Texas

•Word spreads that Texas is a place filled with outlaws and undesirable people

Gone to Texas

G.T.T.•Gone to Texas—a phrase that often meant that someone disappeared

The People of Texas

• By 1834 a Mexican official estimated that Texas population was 21,000:

• 15,000 from the U.S.—most were English, Irish, or Scottish ancestry

• Squatters: people who do not legally own the land on which they live

The People of Texas

• 1834: Tejano population was about 4,000

• Most lived around Nacogdoches or San Antonio

• Most Tejanos welcome Americans—saw them as a boost to economy and protection against Indians

The People of Texas

•Europeans: primarily of British, German, French, or Italian background

•African Americans–2000 slave–150 free

Getting to Texas and Choosing Land

• 1835: an estimated 1,000 settlers entering Texas each month

• Coming to Texas:– Wagon trains– Horseback– Walked– Water

Getting to Texas and Choosing Land

• Flatboats—means of transportation for many settlers

Getting to Texas and Choosing Land

• Usually settled around rivers and streams

• Fertile soil and mild climate attracted many U.S. settlers to the Gulf Coast Plain and Piney Woods

• Avoided Apache & Comanche lands

G.T.T.

Why U.S. Setters Came: How They Traveled: