Texas Revolution

pages 275-280

• in 1823, ^^Stephen Austin^^ was granted land with the promise that he would bring 300 American Families to the area   * new settlers pledged to be Roman Catholic   * Stephen Austin did this to finish the job of his father, ^^Moses Austin.^^ Anglos soon outnumbered the tejanos 10 to 1
• Many Texan-Americans disliked the Mexican soldier presence
• G.T.T. = “gone to Texas”, slang to mean they went to Texas to avoid being persecuted in America
• ^^Sam Houston^^****: former governor of Tennessee, named “Big Drunk” by Arkansas Indians
• Mexico had emancipated slaves in 1830 and prohibited importing slaves into Texas, but Texans ignored these laws
• ^^Stephen Austin^^ went to negotiate with the Mexican Government, but the Mexican dictator $<strong>Santa Anna</strong>$ put him in prison for 8 months
• in 1835, Santa Anna got rid of local’s rights and started to raise an army to suppress Texans
• in 1836, Texans declared independence and made their Lone Star flag
• Sam Houston is named commander in chief
• $<strong>Santa Anna</strong>$ led $6,000 men$ and trapped almost ^^200 Texans^^ at the Alamo in San Antonio   * after a 30 day seige, he killed them   * ^^Colonel W. B. Travis^^, the commander, said “I shall never surrender nor repeat. Victory or Death.”
• $400 men$ killed the American Volunteers at Goliad
• ^^Jim Bowie^^ (made the “Arkansas Toothpick” knife) and ^^Davy Crockett^^ were well-known in life but legendary in death
• ^^General Sam Houston^^ and his 900 men retreated east to lure Santa Anna and his 1,300 to San Jacinto
• on April 21, 1836, ^^Houston^^ took advantage of the “siesta” (midday nap) and $captured Santa Anna$ and forced him to sign two treaties   * $Santa Anna$ agreed to withdraw Mexican troops and recognize the Rio Grande as the extreme southwestern boundary of Texas   * these treaties were not legally binding since he was under duress
• many tejanos fought for Texan independence   * 7 tejanos died at the Alamo   * many signed the Texas Declaration of Indepedence, like ^^Jose Antonio Navarro^^ and ^^Francisco Ruiz^^   * ^^Lorenzo de Zavala^^ was the Texas Republic’s vice president
• Texas wanted union with the United States
• The northern United States thought union with Texas was a conspiracy to bring new slaves, making union with Texas a slippery issue in the upcoming elections
• Martin Van Buren was renominated into presidency in 1840 by the democrats
• the whigs got behind one candidate, William Henry Harrison, nicknamed “Old Tippecanoe”   * Harrison was known for his success in the Battles of Tippecanoe and Thames

pages 287-300

• Andrew Jackson was the first president from beyond the Appalachian Mountains
• most pioneer families were underfed, ill-clad, had poor houses and were victims to disease, depression and premature death
• women suffered extreme loneliness
• “No-holds-barred” wrestling was popular entertainment (dog fighting for humans)
• pioneers often exhausted the land in tobacco regions
• “Kentucky Bluegrass” (European bluegrass) was good pasture for livestock
• by the 1820s, fur trapping was based on a “rendezvous” system   * fur trading killed the local beaver and buffalo populations, and nearly killed the sea-otter   * called “Ecological Imperialism”
• George Catlin was one of the first to advocate the preservation of nature as a national policy. He proposed the idea of a national park.   * Yellowstone Park was the first national park since 1872

• by 1860, there were 33 American states   * the USA was the 4th most populated country of the time, only behind Russia, France, and Austria.
• In 1790, only Philadelphia and New York had populations of 20,000+   * By 1860, there were 43 cities with over 20,000+
• Europe seemed to be running out of room since the population of the Old World more than doubled in the 19th century

• America was called the “land of freedom and opportunity”
• transoceanic steamships meant that immigrants could come to America in 10-12 days
• about 2 million Irish people died in the potato famine, nearly 1/4 of the country’s population   * Irish immigrants came to America in the “Black Forties”
• Irish were hated by native workers due to an employment scarcity, signs reading “No Irish Need Apply” (NINA) were common around factories
• The Ancient Order of Hibernians was a group of Irish founded to fight greedy landlords and later a miners’ union
• Germans tended to like Carl Schurz, a politician who hated slavery
• Germans were well educated and supported public schooling and kindergarten was their idea
• Influx of the Germans and Irish allowed Catholics to become a powerful religious group, had the goal of a separate Catholic education system
• Order of the Star Spangled Banner turned into the Know Nothing Party, nativists who wanted to deport immigrants
• Philadelphia was nicknamed The City of Brotherly Love
• Protestants and Catholics often fought
• The Amish took their name from their founder and leader, Jacob Amman
• Samuel Slater = “Father of the Factory System”. He won favor from Moses Brown (a quaker capitalist from Rhode Island). He made the first American machine for spinning cotton thread
• Eli Whitney = went to Yale, journeyed to Georgia working as a tutor and studying law, in 10 days he built a machine that separated seed from cotton fiber. Then built the cotton gin.

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