The First American Settlers in Texas -Who were the first people from the United States to settle in Texas? -What cultural practices and ideas did they bring with them?

The American Revolution After the Americans successfully broke away from Great Britain, many Anglo-Americans believed that they had basic rights that should be protected by the government, and that they had freedoms which the government could not take away or interfere with. This was made clear from the beginning of the revolution when it was stated in the Declaration of Independence that all men had the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 1. What was the main purpose of breaking away from Great Britain? In other words, what was the main reason Americans wanted to create their own government?

An Expanding United States After the revolution, Americans continued to move west and they pushed the boundary of the country toward the Pacific Ocean. As Americans moved west, they used encouragement and bribes to get the Native American populations already living on the land to leave. If that didn’t work then force was used. American Indians were often ruthlessly attacked and displaced (forced out). This was part of a pattern among many Anglo-Americans to act on the belief that God had given them the right to the land, and everyone else must get out. 2. What methods did Anglo-Americans use to clear out Native Americans? 3. Why did many Anglo-Americans not respect Native American claims to the land?

Southerners Move to Texas The huge majority of white and black Americans who moved to Texas came from the American South. Anglo-Americans brought their whole culture with them. For the most part, they expected to be able to live as they had in the United States. That meant they wanted to practice the same religion (they were Christian Protestants like Methodists and Baptists and not Catholic), politics (representative democracy), and economics (private property and slaves as property). 4. What kinds of expectations did Americans have when they moved to Texas? 5. What are three areas of culture that American southerners brought with them?

Slaveowners Rule the South African Americans were forced on the journey west as slave property. Although data on slave ownership differs according to geographic location (e.g. some land was better for plantation crops than other land) roughly 25% of white Americans owned slaves. And the vast majority of slaves lived on the plantations of about 10% of all white families. In other words, the majority of white families never did and never would own slaves. Blacks built mush of the wealth of the South, but it was stolen away by the slaveowners—that small number of white families who profited much by this institution. The men of these families used that wealth to build political power, and almost all of the governmental and political leaders of the time were from slaveholding families. 6. How many white families owned slaves? 7. What role did Southern slaveowners have in the political realm?

The American Way of Life: Government and Economics Anglo-Americans expected to have a democracy with a small and weak government. They did not want the government to interfere with their ways of making money. Some examples are that Anglos wanted the government not to interfere with slavery and trade and commerce, and they wanted low or no taxes. 8. What kind of government did Americans expect to have? 9. What did they not want the government to interfere with?

The American Way of Life: Rights, Local Control, and Government Americans believed strongly in having a local government that was responsive and accountable to the people. In other words, they thought that when government was important, it should listen to and react to the local people who were impacted by the governments actions. Americans also expected the government to protect their basic rights like religion, free speech, the right to own guns, and rights in the criminal justice system (the right to know the charges against you, the right to a speedy trial by jury). Anglo Americans also did not like large militaries running around trying to control people. 10. What kind of government did Americans want at the local level? 11. What are examples of freedoms and rights that Americans expected to have?