Nation/texas

Republic of Texas
Motto:  "Remember the Alamo"
Anthem: "Texas, Our Texas"
Capital		Austin
Largest city		Houston
{{{languages_type}}}		English, Spanish
Demonym		Texan/Tejano
Government		Republic
-	President	Greg Abbott (R)
-	Vice-President	Dan Patrick (R)
-	Speaker of the House	Ted Cruz (R)
-	Chief Justice	Wallace B. Jefferson
Legislature		Congress
-	Upper house	Senate
-	Lower house	House of Representatives
Independence from Mexico
-	Independence declared	March 2, 1836
-	Constitution signed	March 17, 1836
-	Recognized by Mexico	June 15, 1845
Area
-	Total	696,241 km2 268,581 sq mi
-	Water (%)	2.5
Population
-	2013 estimate	26,448,193
-	Density	37.9/km2 98.1/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2014 estimate
-	Total	$1.142 trillion
-	Per capita	$46,498
Gini (2014)		0.469 low
HDI (2014)		0.465 low
Currency		Texan Dollar ($) (TEX)
Time zone		(UTC-5)
Drives on the		right
Calling code		2
ISO 3166 code		TEX
Internet TLD		.tex

Etymology

The name Texas, based on the Caddo word tejas meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in East Texas.During the Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas La Provincia de Texas. Antonio Margil de Jesús was known to be the first person to use the name in a letter to the Viceroy of Mexico on July 20, 1716. The name was not popularly used in daily speech but often appeared in legal documents until the end of the 1800s.

History

Pre-Columbian Era

In Pre-Columbian times, the area of current day Texas was already inhabited by the Pueblo peoples (who lived up north near the Rio Grande), the Mississippian River Culture (centered around eastern Texas near the Mississippi River), and some influence of the Tetohuican in southern Texas. The Pueblo people were know for living in large communities in mud houses while the Mississippian tribes were more prominent for their elaborate temples and ceremonies, symbols of their relations with Mesoamerica. Right before European contact however, this civilizations were pretty much obselete and the area was inhabited by the Alabama, Apache, Atakapan, Bidai, Caddo, Coahuiltecan, Comanche, Choctaw, Coushatta, Hasinai, Jumano, Karankawa, Kickapoo, Kiowa, Tonkawa, and Wichita tribes.

European Contact and Colonization

In 1492, a Italian navigator serving Spain named Christopher Columbus landed on the island of San Salvador in the Caribbean. This discovery led to the Spanish domination in this part of the continent. Alonso Alvarez de Pineda created a map of the Gulf Coast including Texas in 1519. Nine years later, 1528, Spanish explorer Cabeza de Vaca and a group of men were shipwrecked on the coast of Texas during an attempt to sail to Florida and they were forced to trek deep into the Texas interior to flee south to Mexico. Only Cabeza and some others survived the walk. Texas remained pretty much out of the view of European colonizers until in 1685, French explorer La Salle accidentally founded the settlement of Fort Saint Louis at Matagorda Bay but the colony only lasted for 4 years due to harsh climate and hostile Native peoples. In 1690, Spain, ever fearful of the French enroaching on their land, began to start Spanish missions in Texas but these were soon disbanded due to hostility. Then, as France began to settle the region of Louisiana, the Spanish returned to Texas and founded more missions in 1716. In 1718, they founded San Antonio as the first Spanish civilian settlement in Texas. Because native hostility kept Texas's population down, in 1749 the Spanish made a treaty with the Lipan Apache. This enangered the other tribes though like the Comanche and in 1785, the Comanche signed a treaty with Spain and later helped defeat the Lipan Apache. With the increasing number of missions growing, most Native peoples had adopted Christianity by the 18th century.In 1803, the United States of America purchased Louisiana from the French and many Americans (as they came to be called) claimed that the purchase includes all of Texas as well. However in 1818, the Spanish and Americans set the boundary between Texas and the United States at the Sabine River. Many American misfits and settlers however tried to raise armies and invade Texas but failed.

Under Mexican Rule

In 1821, the southern half of New Spain declared independence and became the United Mexico States. Texas became part of Mexico and was joined with Coahuila to create the State of Coahuila y Tejas. In order to try to settle Texas, the Mexican government loosened its immigration rules and large swaths of land were given to empressos who were to encourage American and European settlers to settle on their land. The first grant was given to Moses Austin and later passed down to his son, Stephen Austin. Austin's settlers began to congregate along the Brazos River in 1822 and the majority of settlers came from the United States, resulting in a population boom for Texas. In 1825, Texas had a population of approximately 3,500, with most of Mexican descent.By 1834, Texas had grown to approximately 37,800 people, with only 7,800 of Mexican descent. Many settlers however decided to flaunt most of Mexico's rules and after refusing numerous offers from the United States to buy Texas, the Mexican government outlawed migration to Texas in the 1830s and began to enforce custom duties on the settlers of Texas, angering both the native-born Texans and immigrants. During the Anahuac Disturbances of 1832, Texans sided with Mexican federalists who were trying to overthrown the dictatorial president of Mexico. The Texans then met in a Convention of 1832 to request for statehood from Mexico and reiterated their requests in the 1833 Convention.

Independence and Wars

The tension in Mexico still continued between federalists and centralists so in 1835, the Texans formed the Committee of Correspondence and Safety. In the Battle of Gonzalez, Texan rebels and Mexican troops clashed and the Texans won, driving the Mexicans out of Texas. The Texans then elected delegates to the Consultation which served as the temporary government of Texas. It collapsed however from political infighting and the Texans were left without a government. At this time, Mexican President Santa Ana personally led an expedition into Texas to stomp out the rebels. General Jose de Urrea of the Mexicans marched through eastern Texas and defeated Texas resistance, leading to the Goliad Massacre of the Texans. Meanwhile, Santa Ana's troops besieged some Texans in the Alamo Mission and after 13 days, on March 6, 1836, in the Battle of Alamo, the Mexicans stormed the mission and slaughtered the Texans. The newly elected members of the Texan Convention of 1836 signed the Texan Declaration of Independence on March 2, forming the Republic of Texas. They then disbanded and join the citizens in fleeing from the Mexican onslaught. However, Texan forces under Sam Houston on April 21, 1836 attacked Santa Ana's men by surprise during their siesta in the Battle of San Jacinto and captured Santa Ana, forcing him to sign the Treaty of Velasco which acknowledged Texas's independence but the Mexican Congress refused to ratify it. After its independence, political wars raged in Texas between the two major factions. There was the Nationalist faction lead by Mirabeau B. Lamar who pushed for the elimination of Native American, the annexation of the Mexican territory of Alta California, and Texas's independence. Meanwhile, Sam Houston led the opposite force and refused to allow that to happen, resulting in the Texas Archive War. In 1840, the Mexican states of Coahuila, Tamaulipas, and Nuevo Leon seceded from Mexico and became the The rio grande 1. President Lamar gave moderate support to the new rebellion but began to distance himself when the Republic of the Rio Grande claimed the Nueces River was the southern boundary of Texas. The next year, when Sam Houston was elected, he sent delegates down to Monterrey to negotiate with the Riobravoense (Rio Grande citizens). They agreed to accept the Rio Grande as their norther border if Texas aided them in their revolution. Wanting to distance Mexico from Texas, President Houston agreed and the Texan Senate ratified the treaty. The Texans then sent over huge numbers of Texan regulars and rangers to aid the Riobravoense and after a year of fighting, the Mexican armies were forced to surrender in the Rio Grande. Texas then was in a moment of peace and spent most of their time trying to repay their war debts. The United States tried numerous times in 1844-1845 under President Polk to annex Texas but the majority of Texans refused to join the United States. In 1851-1855, the Rio Grande war was fought between the Republic of California and Texas. California had claimed that the official boundary of Texas was the Nueces River and that California owned the land between that and the Rio Grande but Texas that the Rio Grande was its whole border. A bloody war ensued in which both nations just stopped fighting in 1855 and the Stonewall Compromise was created, giving the Texans all of the Rio Grande up to El Paso and the land beyond was to belong to California. This session of peace in Texas encouraged the migration of hundreds of plantation farmers from the American South and began to lift Texan's war devastated cotton industry. In 1860, when the Confederate States of America declared independence from the United States of America, President Edward Clark of Texas declared support of the newly formed nation. Texan troops were sent to fight in America and in 1862, the United States agreed to let the Confederacy become independent. After the war ended, hundreds of Southern families that had been devestated in the American Civil War moved down to Texas where farming and ranching became big commodities. The invention of the cowboy in Texas became a universal theme for North America and by the late 19th Century, thousands flocked Texas for a view of the American West. However, Texas was also having its shares of depressions and economic troubles. The expansion of railroads throughout Texas through quickly eliminated the need for cowboys.

The 20th Century and Beyond

In 1900, the Galveston Hurricane hit Texas killing about 6,000 to 12,000 people, becoming the worst natural disaster in Texas's history. In January 10, 1901, the first oil well was created in Texas and a different style of "gold" or more precisely, "oil" rush happened in Texas. With the rise of huge oil monopolies in Texas, an increase in businesses was also seen as well. Even though slavery remained legal in Texas, the rise of machinery and mass production resulted in the abolition of slavery in Texas by Congress. However, many people of African descent and Hispanic descent were heavily discriminated against and often denied justice. Texas began to open factories and turned into an industrial powerhouse in North America. In the early 20th Century, Texas was hit both by the Great Depression and the Dustbowl, resulting in extreme devastation for Texas. Texas remained neutral during both World War I and the Mexican Revolution. The economic trials of Texas caused many people, especially minorities, to flee Texas and head up towards the United States were things were faring no better. During World War II, Texas sent troops to both the European and Pacific theaters in support of their allies. The industrial power of Texas was fully harnessed at this time and Texas saw the lowest unemployment rates ever as they manufactured weaponry for both their allies and themselves. Texas began to foray out into international politics after World War II and joined the newly created North America Treaty Organization or NATO, made to unite North America against communist threats. From 1950-1953, Texas armed forces operated in coalition with NATO in Korea against the hostile North Korea government. Later on, Texas helped establish defenses against the Soviet Union, participated in the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion with the intent to overthrow Communist Cuba. Texas also sent troops to Vietnam as well but was forced to withdraw when United States and NATO forces did. Texas also played a pivitol role in the development of the NASA space program. Texas has also sent some troops to UN peacekeeping missions. Large civil rights protests in the 1970s-1980s throughout North America resulted in Congress passing legislation outlawing racial discrimination against blacks but this did not eliminate the racial attitudes of that area. Texas became involved in the Global War on Terror after their ally, the United States, was attacked by Al Qaeda terrorists.