Republic of Texas: Slavery, War, and Juneteenth

$1836$ - $1845$ : Texas exists as an independent republic, not yet part of the United States; previously part of Mexico.
300 American families arrive with enslaved Africans; colonization tied to slavery and labor needs.
Mexican government invites Anglo settlers to develop and defend frontier; anti-slavery rhetoric but accepts settlers with enslaved people for growth.
Texas is its own sovereign nation with its own constitution after independence; later annexed by the United States in 1845.

General Provisions (Sec. 6): Only free white persons who immigrate and reside for 6 months, swear allegiance, and intend to reside permanently are entitled to citizenship; implies white-only citizenship.
Section 9: All persons of color who were slaves for life prior to immigration shall remain in servitude; slaves are the bona fide property of their owners; Congress cannot prohibit bringing slaves into the republic or emancipate them; emancipation by slaveholders is not allowed without consent and relocation of slaves beyond the republic.
Conclusion: Texas operates as a slaveholding state with restricted access for people of color and no internal pathway to emancipation through Congress.

Anglo American settlement into Texas contributed to slavery’s expansion rather than abolition.
British abolition (in the British Empire) in $1833$ influenced Anglo attitudes; slavery persisted in US and Texas until the Civil War era.
By the time Texas is annexed, tensions over slavery are embedded in law and policy.

Lincoln's election ( $1860$ ) without any slaveholding state support signals sectional tensions; some states secede, forming the Confederate States in $1861$ .
Texas joins the Confederacy; war aims include maintaining and expanding slavery as an economic system.
Lincoln’s wartime position evolves toward emancipation as a military strategy rather than purely moral grounds.
Emancipation Proclamation (mid-war) allows enslaved people to join the Union Army; shifts war aims toward undermining the Confederacy’s labor force.

Confederate effort struggles; Union advances lead to defeat in $1865$ .
Juneteenth context: enslaved people in Texas learn of emancipation on xx-xx- $1865$ ; news spreads gradually due to slow communication.

$June 19, 1865$ : Juneteenth marks the effective freedom of enslaved people in Texas.
In $2021$ , Juneteenth becomes a federal holiday (signed into law by President Joe Biden).

Legislative, Executive, Judicial: the three branches of government; Legislative = Congress (two houses: House and Senate).
Three-Fifths Compromise: enslaved individuals counted as 3/5 of a person for representation in Congress, affecting House seats.
Slave trade timeline: US Constitution sets the end of the international slave trade in $1808$ .
Slavery in the Declaration of Independence: 1776 text asserts all men are created equal with inalienable rights, but enslaved people were not included in those rights at the time.
Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War shift: emancipation as a wartime measure that redefined the Union’s war aims.
13th Amendment (not detailed in transcript) ultimately ends slavery in the US; awareness of this context helps connect to the end of slavery in the United States.

Texas began as a slaveholding colony within a Mexican frontier context, then as an independent republic with white-only citizenship and slavery protections for enslaved people.
Lincoln’s presidency and the Civil War resulted in emancipation, shifting political orders and leading to Texas joining the United States again after the war.
Juneteenth commemorates the practical end of slavery in Texas, later recognized as a federal holiday in $2021$ .