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History of Texas State
In chapter 12 Richardson discusses the challenges, growth of economy and industry as well as politics which had a great impact on the history of Texas. He discusses how this state had been a stronghold of the republicans and with the elections of 1873, there was a change in this whereby the democratic government took over and it made things better. However, only the judiciary remained a stronghold of republicans (Richardson, 245).democrats were viewed as the saviors of the nation as they always had the will to rule in the right manner and this meant therefore that they only had this chance to rule and in the 10 years that followed there was a rule of the democrats who tried to deal with all the challenges which faced the state of Texas and it was a successful term. Even though there arose different challenges like the agrarian unrest they tried their level best to deal with them. Therefore the period of 1874 to 1890 can be termed as a period whereby a lot of changes were realized in Texas.
The reason why politics is a very central part of this period is that politics has always been of a very great impact on the lives of everyone and especially the development of Texas. Therefore its effect has had a great impact on the lives of the people and the reason why Richardson gives it a central part (Richardson, 251). Even though the Republicans had written their constitution in 1869 the democrats saw it fitting to have their constitution which was not radical as the republicans were and therefore in 1875 there was a constitutional convention to deal with this issue. With this convention came the constitution of 1876 which was very general and gave almost all the required instructions and guidelines towards the manner of action for everyone. This was a very great step for the democratic leadership led by Governor Richard coke (Richardson, 247). Law and order during this period as well were very successful as the government made sure that everyone obeyed the law (Richardson, 257). The construction of the railroads was also a very important part of the Texas government and the people as they were seen as the gate to prosperity and success of the government leadership. With all these activities the economy was changing positively and a lot of things were in the right manner.
In chapter 13 Richardson presents us with the effects of the railroad construction, the settlement of most Texans on the western side, and the civil war (Richardson, 269). This chapter also presents the Indians and their conflict with the other groups of Texas and how they were defeated and removed from the settlements they had settled on. The Indians also valued buffalos very much and they got a lot of items and value from them like their skins which were very valuable (Richardson, 274). However, with the civil war and the advance of the Texas frontier buffalos were slaughtered and this made the Indians angry. The buffalos were referred to as the Indian ‘cattle’ (Richardson, 276). With the soldiers and priests coming to Texas there was an introduction of the cattle and therefore there arose a concept of kettle kingdom. This, therefore, provided a lot of basic needs by Texas, and therefore it was an important part of the history of Texans as a lot of cattle was found along with the fields of Texas feeding.
With the cattle, there was a lot of open range distribution of these cattle and therefore with the introduction of the ranges the open range ended. However before its end, it had made tremendous success and it was a big part of the Texas economy at that time (Richardson, 282). During this same period, there was also the importance of horses, sheep, and goats. Several people captured and tamed wild horses known as mustang (Richardson, 286). With all these animal dealings there was an increased interaction as many people came together to either purchase or sell any of their animals. And therefore this concentration of people and their differing natures made them be known as the people of the range. In 1870 there was the advancement of the farmer’s frontier to Bandera and the gulf coast.
In chapter 14, Richardson presents us with the age of the reform which happened in Texas. This was brought by the effects of the events after reconstruction whereby the frugal policies which were also conservative did not attend to them in the best manner possible and therefore there was a change in the manner in which the lives of the Texans were. The first two decades following the civil war saw Texas being good to big businesses. Grande and greenback criticized the democratic government for the many benefits it offered to the farmers. This was seen as a way of mismanagement because the wealth of the big businesses and the farmers was not controlled. There were several reforms during the period of 1880s and James Stephen Hogg was one of the leading people towards this reform. The populist party formed mainly by farmers had a very great impact. They demanded a change in the manner they were treated and they were joined by different people even outside texas.
In chapter 15 Richardson presents us with life as it was in texas at the turn of the 19th century into the 20th century. He discusses the Galveston flood, how life was in the farms and in the towns along with other issues like urbanization and leisure time living (Richardson,319). Education, religion, and healthcare are also very important aspects of this life of the individuals who lived in texas then. Ethnic communities and religions are as well discussed. He finally discusses literature and art and therefore generally in this chapter he talks of the general state and nature of texas and how the challenges and activities the state had gone through had impacted it and the current state as of 1900 when the century was coming to an end and another one coming into place.
Therefore how he discusses the issues is in a very well structured and vivid manner giving a very good understanding of what it meant to be a Texan those times. He discusses the major activities and the major people who challenged and improved texas and he talks of how these people did this. Politics being a very vital part of Texan history he discusses it in a very clear manner informing the reader of the first governer from the time he began writing about this history.
In conclusion therefore this history is a very important one and it opens our eyes to see the current texas through the eyes of history and therefore allowing us to identify what it means for us to protect what is important and most valued because as history changes we become the history. Just as the democrats at the beginning of chapter 12 did a lot of things for a change to be realized in texas it informs us that we should also do similar positive and good things for the current texas in the love of it and the good not only of us but for the future as well.
Work Cited
Richardson, Rupert Norval. “Texas: The Lone Star State (; Englewood Cliffs, NJ.” (1964): 140-141.
