Most histories of Civil War Texas - some starring the fabled Hood's Brigade, Terry's Texas Rangers, or one or another military figure - depict the Lone Star State as having joined the Confederacy as a matter of course and as having later emerged from the war relatively unscathed. Yet as the contributors to this volume amply demonstrate, the often neglected stories of Texas Unionists and dissenters paint a far more complicated picture. Ranging in time from the late 1850s to the end of Reconstruction, Lone Star Unionism, Dissent, and Resistance restores a missing layer of complexity to the history of Civil War Texas. The authors - all noted scholars of Texas and Civil War history - show that slaves, freedmen and freedwomen, Tejanos, German immigrants, and white women all took part in the struggle, even though some never found themselves on a battlefield. Their stories depict the Civil War as a conflict not only between North and South but also between neighbors, friends, and family members. By framing their stories in the analytical context of the ""long Civil War,"" Lone Star Unionism, Dissent, and Resistance reveals how friends and neighbors became enemies and how the resulting violence, often at the hands of secessionists, crossed racial and ethnic lines. The chapters also show how ex-Confederates and their descendants, as well as former slaves, sought to give historical meaning to their experiences and find their place as citizens of the newly re-formed nation. Concluding with an account of the origins of Juneteenth - the nationally celebrated holiday marking June 19, 1865, when emancipation was announced in Texas - Lone Star Unionism, Dissent, and Resistance challenges the collective historical memory of Civil War Texas and its place in both the Confederacy and the United States. It provides material for a fresh narrative, one including people on the margins of history and dispelling the myth of a monolithically Confederate Texas.

Brings together twelve original essays on Spain's presence in North America to understand the circumstances and application of social control. 'Social control' refers to the use of coercion particularly in response to what dominant groups consider deviant behaviour among subordinates. Spain attempted to maintain control of vast areas through persuasion, coercion, or indoctrination to make subordinates accept colonial government and behave according to Spanish expectations. This volume considers how Spain's monarchs faced competing economic, political, and racial interests. In the New World, others besides the rulers, authorities, and elites sought to effect social control. Ethnic groups and socio-economic classes within colonial communities also exercised control within their own circles. Institutions including the Church, schools, fraternal organisations, and families laboured to teach their members to understand their place in society. An examination of social control mechanisms shows how groups and individuals, including native peoples, formed and understood their options in response to colonial rule. These essays seek to understand how people negotiated their relationships with the Spanish state and institutions, and with each other, while conceiving of the frontier region as an incubator of cultural and economic interactions ranging from acceptance to rejection of European norms, often altering those norms in the process.

Faces of Bexar showcases the finest work of Jesus F. de la Teja, a foremost authority on Spanish colonial Mexico and Texas through the Republic. For de la Teja, the Tejano experience in San Antonio is a case study of a community in transition, one moved by forces within and without. From its beginnings as an imperial outpost to becoming the center of another, newer empire, the history of San Antonio was central to Texas history. This book explores this and more, including San Antonio's origins as a military settlement, the community's economic ties to Saltillo, its role in the fight for Mexican independence, and the motivations of Tejanos for joining Anglo Texans in the struggle for independence. Taken together, Faces of Bexar stands to be a milestone in the growing literature on Tejano history.

Tejanos (Texans of Mexican heritage) were instrumental leaders in the life and development of Texas during the Mexican period, the war of independence, and the Texas Republic. Jesus F. de la Teja and ten other scholars examine the lives, careers, and influence of many long-neglected but historically significant Tejano leaders who were active and influential in the formation, political and military leadership, and economic development of Texas. In Tejano Leadership in Mexican and Revolutionary Texas, lesser-known figures such as Father Refugio de la Garza, Juan Martin Veramendi, Jose Antonio Saucedo, Raphael Manchola, and Carlos de la Garza join their better-known counterparts-Jose Antonio Navarro, Juan Seguin, and Placido Benavides, for example-on the stage of Texas and regional historical consideration. This book also features a foreword by David J. Weber, in which he discusses how Anglocentric views allowed important Tejano figures to fade from public knowledge. Students and scholars of Texas and regional history, those interested in Texana, and readers in Latino/a studies will glean important insights from Tejano Leadership in Mexican and Revolutionary Texas. Jesus F. de la Teja is a past president of the Texas State Historical Association. He is a professor and chair of the Department of History at Texas State University-San Marcos.

San Antonio native, military veteran, merchant, and mayor pro tem Jose Antonio Menchaca (1800-1879) was one of only a few Tejano leaders to leave behind an extensive manuscript of recollections. Portions of the document were published in 1907, followed by a "corrected" edition in 1937, but the complete work could not be published without painstaking reconstruction. At last available in its entirety, Menchaca's book of reminiscences captures the social life, people, and events that shaped the history of Texas's tumultuous transformation during his lifetime. Highlighting not only Menchaca's acclaimed military service but also his vigorous defense of Tejanos' rights, dignity, and heritage, Recollections of a Tejano Life charts a remarkable legacy while incorporating scholarly commentary to separate fact from fiction. Revealing how Tejanos perceived themselves and the revolutionary events that defined them, this wonderfully edited volume presents Menchaca's remembrances of such diverse figures as Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett, Sam Houston, General Adrian Woll, Comanche chief "Casamiro," and Texas Ranger Jack Hays. Menchaca and his fellow Tejanos were actively engaged in local struggles as Mexico won her independence from Spain; later many joined the fight to establish the Republic of Texas, only to see it annexed to the United States nine years after the Battle of San Jacinto. This first-person account corrects important misconceptions and brings previously unspoken truths vividly to life.

Borderlands: they stretch across national boundaries, and they create a unique space that extends beyond the international boundary. They extend north and south of what we think of as the actual 'border,' encompassing even the urban areas of San Antonio, Texas, and Monterrey, Nueva LeOn, Mexico, affirming shared identities and a sense of belonging far away from the geographical boundary.In Bridging Cultures: Reflections on the Heritage Identity of the Texas-Mexico Borderlands, editors Harriett Romo and William Dupont focus specifically on the lower reaches of the Rio Grande/RIo Bravo as it exits the mountains and meanders across a coastal plain. Bringing together perspectives of architects, historians, anthropologists, sociologists, educators, political scientists, geographers, and creative writers who span and encompass the border, its four sections explore the historical and cultural background of the region; the built environment of the transnational border region and how border towns came to look as they do; shared systems of ideas, beliefs, values, knowledge, norms of behavior, and customs-the way of life we think of as Borderlands culture; and how border security, trade and militarization, and media depictions impact the inhabitants of the Borderlands. Romo and Dupont present the complexity of the Texas-Mexico Borderlands culture and historical heritage, exploring the tangible and intangible aspects of border culture, the meaning and legacy of the Borderlands, its influence on relationships and connections, and how to manage change in a region evolving dramatically over the past five centuries and into the future.

Tejanos (Texans of Mexican heritage) were instrumental leaders in the life and development of Texas during the Mexican period, the war of independence, and the Texas Republic.
Jesus F. de la Teja and ten other scholars examine the lives, careers, and influence of many long-neglected but historically significant Tejano leaders who were active and influential in the formation, political and military leadership, and economic development of Texas.
In "Tejano Leadership in Mexican and Revolutionary Texas," lesser-known figures such as Father Refugio de la Garza, Juan Martin Veramendi, Jose Antonio Saucedo, Raphael Manchola, and Carlos de la Garza join their better-known counterparts--Jose Antonio Navarro, Juan Seguin, and Placido Benavides, for example--on the stage of Texas and regional historical consideration.
This book also features a foreword by David J. Weber, in which he discusses how Anglocentric views allowed important Tejano figures to fade from public knowledge. Students and scholars of Texas and regional history, those interested in Texana, and readers in Latino/a studies will glean important insights from "Tejano Leadership in Mexican and Revolutionary Texas."