Thread by @CjonesDRC

Fair warning, friends: this thread is gonna be full of nerdy history stuff for the next 24+ hours. I’m covering the world’s longest history lesson attempt by UNT prof Andrew Torget.

We’re talking Texas history from the dinosaurs until Greg Abbott and I’m going to be live tweeting the whole thing (fingers crossed)

Torget has been prepping for this thing for a year and he’s raising money for UNT’s Portal to Texas History, a huge database that archives old documents, photos and newspapers

Full disclosure: I took a class w/ Torget when I went to UNT but never took TX history because the class was always full.

Now I get to take it fo free!

I’ll start using the #UNTWorldRecord hashtag now bc I’m really good at the Twitter, y’all. Btw, there’s gonna be a story in @DentonRC on Sunday

Alright, now on w/ the history. Before humans came to TX 12,000 years ago, there were giant animals (wooly mammoths, saber tooth tigers and armadillos the size of Volkswagen bugs)

The students here at #UNTWorldRecord have spot-on descriptors of TX geography
East TX - trees
Panhandle - dry
Houston - wet

We went from dinosaurs to Native Americans in 1500 AD in about 25 minutes. We’ll slow down now #UNTWorldRecord

Fun facts about the Karankawan Indians:
-Name means “dog lovers.” They domesticated coyotes #thanks
-Lived in the present day Houston area
-Hunted alligators by stabbing them in the eye with spears. (Gator grease makes good mosquito repellant, apparently)

TX Native Americans were small-market tribes compared to everywhere else. U.S. and Canada had 12 mil Indians. Mexico alone had 35 mil while South America had 60 mil. While Mayans were building elaborate temples, TX Indians were out here like “LOOK CORN” #UNTWorldRecord

So we’re onto the Spanish explorers in the #UNTWorldRecord and stuff’s about to get real for the Aztecs and Montezuma(?). Ol’ Cortes comes over for gold and all I can think about is that scene in Pocahontas where all the colonizers grab shovels and start singing

So the Aztecs fell and these other Spanish dudes get real cocky about their knowledge of North American geography. A guy named Narvaez sails from Cuba toward Mexico but ended up in Florida. Still thinks he’s in the right spot 🙄

Torget to class: Has anyone ever been to central Florida?
*guy in Nirvana shirt raises his hand*
Torget: What’s it like?
Nirvana guy: Gross

So Narvez and his right-hand man Cabeza de Vaca land in TX in November 1528 in boats made of horse hide. They look rough and the Karankawas feel bad and give them food. Other guys with Spanish names come in and crisscross the area still looking for gold and silver #UNTWorldRecord

Go home Coronado. You’re drunk.

Actually I think this is De Soto, the other pasty Spanish guy

So even though the Spanish didn’t find gold in TX, their presence was a game changer for Indians. They brought horses which helped tribes hunt (yay!) but they also bring diseases that kill them (boo!) #UNTWorldRecord

The Spanish did start mining silver and had this little “hostile Indian problem” when they would try to transport it. I mean yeah, the natives are a little pissed that these dudes are taking their stuff #UNTWorldRecord

They combat this by building missions to convert and assimilate the Indians. Torget calls them “boarding schools” for natives. “They learn how to farm, speak Spanish, wear pants.”

It’s 1685, btw. La Salle plans an expedition and tries to WALK to Canada. Needless to say, it does not go well and he’s murdered by his own men

The Spanish didn’t want the French all up in their space so they started figuring out where to set up missions to stake their claim. The modern-day equivalent of “we don’t want it, but you can’t have it either.” #UNTWorldRecord

First attempt at mission system is a dismal failure. Spain picks the Caddo Indians to “civilize” but they bring all those diseases. The Caddos aren’t having it so they say “you can leave or we can kill you, whichever works for y’all.” #UNTWorldRecord

The Spanish leave but the French come back so they do THE SAME THING with THE SAME TRIBE. They get so far east that they’re in western Louisiana and actually establish the first capital of Texas in a completely different state

The Spanish realized that they needed a halfway point between Mexico and East Texas. Enter San Antonio est. 1718. (Happy 300th birthday!) In the early days, no one was moving to SA for the tacos. You were sent there as either a missionary or a soldier #UNTWorldRecord

Torget: Most people lived in makeshift huts made of sticks that looked like something the second little pig would’ve built if he lived in SA #UNTWorldRecord

Alright so we just took our first 10 minute break for the #UNTWorldRecord and the library folks told us they've already raised more than $3,000 for the Portal to Texas History. If you want to donate, go to one.unt.edu/portal-to-texa…

Here's some things to catch up on before 1800:
-Indians never wanted to convert but used the missions for food, water, protection, trade.
-Apaches and Comanches were fighting for control of Great Plains and would manipulate Spain into getting involved in the fray.

Indians far outnumbered the Spanish (roughy 20,000 to 4,000) and the missions were getting decommissioned, so the Spanish started paying tribute to tribes to survive. One thing is clear at this point: Native Americans are calling the shots in Texas #UNTWorldRecord

Personal side note about the SA missions: I once rode a bike to the San Jose mission and thought I was going to die because I'm super out of shape. I fell off the bike and scraped my knee, then that SA brujeria soil got in my skin and left a pretty cool scar.

Ok back to the history.
Lots of things are happening around Texas in the early 1800s. There's the Louisiana Purchase, which brought in unwanted American neighbors. Then there's also the Mexican War of Independence. The Spanish are freaking out right meow #UNTWorldRecord

Over in Mexico, a guy named Miguel Hidalgo issues the "Grito de Dolores," a list of all the things that were wrong with the Spanish government. It wasn't necessarily a revolt, but soon he had an army of 100,000 angry people in front of him so they started marching.

So why does this matter to TX? It makes it a lot harder for the Spanish to control the population in TX and a bunch of tiny revolts start to break out #UNTWorldRecord

A guy named Gutierrez wants to keep the revolution going and asks the U.S. for help. The states say "nah, fam," so Gutierrez hits up the bars in NOLA to scrounge up an army. "Best place to recruit angry young men," according to Torget.

Gutierrez, his new friend named McGee and a bunch of Americans marched on Texas and camped in San Antonio. They captured the governor, stabbed him and slit his throat, which made Spanish rulers very nervous #UNTWorldRecord

They got a guy named Arredondo, whose nickname is "the butcher" so this will obviously go well. His army and the rebels get into a fight called the Battle of Medina, the bloodiest battle in TX history (100 rebels survived out of 1400 and only 50 Spaniards died)

Arredondo then goes on a rampage. He executed Tejano men in SA and imprisoned women in what he called a La Quinta (no, really). The orphans were just left roaming the streets. By the end, the butcher killed 1000 Tejanos and ran 1000 more out of TX, cutting the population in half

In 1819, six years after the Battle of Medina, the US and Spain signed a treaty establishing boundaries for TX. Spain got TX and the US got Florida. BUT that doesn't really matter because two years later, Mexico won their independence.

Mexico won its independence, but they had some issues:
-they were in charge of 6 million ppl from Oregon to Guatemala
-most ppl didn't consider themselves Mexican
-they were surrounded by enemies
-they were flat broke
#UNTWorldRecord

But PSYCH! Mexico was more worried about the security and population of TX. This was the same time as the cotton boom, where the price of the crop doubled. Folks were pouring into the South to grow it and the US became the top producer in about 5 years.

We can't talk about cotton without mentioning slavery. We'll get more into that later, but some quick facts for now:
-Every 3rd person in Alabama was a slave. Half of Louisiana's pop were slaves.
-For every slave, that meant 8-10 more acres plowed and 8-10 more 400-lb bales sold.

In addition to slaves, plantation owners needed horses. Guess where they got them? Turns out the Comanches in the Panhandle had a lucrative trade business going on with the white farmers. The Mexicans are for sure freaking out now #UNTWorldRecord

Also going on at the time? The Panic of 1819, which caused the economy to crash. The US made it harder to buy land and sales plummeted by 80 percent as a result. Texas was starting to look really great for broke Americans like Moses Austin.

Austin rides into SA to pitch his idea for a settlement to Gov. Antonio Martinez. The gov. is resistant at first but the Tejanos support the idea because:
-they needed people
-they wanted to develop the economy
-they weren't getting any help from Mexico City
#UNTWorldRecord

To be clear, no one was super gung-ho about the Americans coming in. Tejanos even tried to recruit the Swiss but like, who would want to leave Switzerland? "This wasn't the best option. It was the least bad option" - Torget

Moses Austin is pumped and heads home to recruit colonists, but his traveling partner bails on him and takes the supplies. Austin makes it back to Missouri, but dies shortly after. Everything is left to his son named *say it with me now* STEPHEN F. AUSTIN.

SFA rides into TX in 1821 with an escort of 14 Tejanos, so these guys had obviously formed an alliance. By the time they got to San Antonio in August, word had come about Mexican's independence.

SFA freaked out b/c his dad had gotten permission for the colony from Spain, not Mexico. But the Tejanos said, "We're cool, bro" and Steve went off to establish the Austin colony with 300 Anglo families #UNTWorldRecord

Another 10 minute break and all the students in the class get snacks and Red Bull. I'm still working on my 32-ounce thermos of coffee and my bag full of snacks (beef jerky, pretzels, oatmeal cream pies and Scooby Doo fruit snacks) #UNTWorldRecord

Back in 1821 Texas:
SFA recruited families by writing letters to his friend Joseph Hawkins (probably no relation to former city council member Joey Hawkins but who knows) that he would run in the NOLA newspapers. I repeat NEWSPAPERS brought white folks to Texas.

SFA advertised the rich soil and nice climate of Texas, basically making it out to be the land of milk and honey. Live look at the settlers below #UNTWorldRecord

There were some perks to living in the Austin colony:
-Automatic 7 MILES of land
-Extra 200 acres for bringing a wife
-Extra 100 acres for each kid
-Extra 50 acres for each enslaved person

My millennial brain can't fathom all that personal property.

You did have to meet some requirements, though:
-Had to be Catholic (or at least say you were)
-Bring recommendation letters
-Needed money for paperwork charges
-Needed year's worth of supplies
#UNTWorldRecord

In 3 to 4 years, SFA's colony had about 3,000 people, which doubled the population of TX. It brought in more trade and infrastructure but the Mexican government hadn't actually approved the colony officially #UNTWorldRecord

Mexico got a new emperor, Augustine I, and Austin was able to get a bill through Congress that approved his colony. But then Augustine got a little tyrannical and jailed his political opponents, which got him deposed. Mexico be like...

Mexico started working on the Constitution of 1824. While they debated a lot of stuff, they were united on one front: they didn't want slavery in their country. They just fought a war for independence and felt weird supporting something that took away a person's independence.

But Austin's colony had a lot of slaves (25% of their population). So Mexico left the issue of slavery up to the states. The only problem? TX didn't have enough people to be considered a state and had to be joined with Coahuila, an area that didn't want slaves #UNTWorldRecord

Meanwhile in East Texas (S/O), a dude named Haden Edwards tries to do what SFA did. He goes to Nacogdoches, tells everyone there's a new sheriff in town and demands that they show land titles or he would run them off and sell it #UNTWorldRecord

Word about his shenanigans gets to the Mexican government and they tell him to knock it off. He says, "Screw you!" and starts his own rebellion with 12 of his friends in Old Stone Fort, calling his new nation Fredonia. #UNTWorldRecord

Edwards was counting on the support of SFA, but the ol' Father of Texas was not having it. “The people in your quarter have run mad or worse!" - SFA

He and other Tejanos go to Nac to squash the rebellion and Edwards tucks his tail between his legs and runs to LA. The rebellion was short-lived but it stoked fears in the Mexican govt. about Americans. On the other hand, Tejanos put more faith in SFA because he stood with them.

While this is happening, the legislature in Saltillo is deciding what to do about slavery in the Coahuila y Texas state. They print it up in 1827 and it reaches SFA and the Angles a month later #UNTWorldRecord

(sorry about the typo of Anglos in the last tweet) Here's what Article 13 said about slavery:
-Current slaves in TX would never be free
-Anglos got a 6-month window to get more slaves that would never be free
-The children of those slaves would be free.
#UNTWorldRecord

The Anglos, especially SFA, were not happy. The new laws, they said, would basically cut off American migration in 6 months because white southerners wouldn't come to TX without slaves #UNTWorldRecord

But they had a plan. They would get the state lege to pass a law that would make American contracts legal in Mexico (which would basically circumvent the new slavery laws). #UNTWorldRecord

Surprisingly, it worked because a friend of SFA named (I can't remember his first name) Navarro got up during a legislative lunch break after a testy tax debate and pitched the idea. The angry lawmakers were like, "yeah that's fine, whatever" and it became law #UNTWorldRecord

But when the federal Mexican government found out, they were not happy. They passed the Law of April 6 in 1830 (clever name, I know) that said:
-No more American immigration
-Mexico would now set up forts to collect taxes
-The importation of slaves would stop
#UNTWorldRecord

Mexico set up two forts in Texas to collect taxes: Anahuac and Velasco. A few fights broke out and some people died, but Texas isn't fully rebelling yet. They have a lot to lose and instead want to become their own state so they could legalize slavery #UNTWorldRecord

The Texans thought they had a pretty good shot of making this happen but they had to go down to Mexico City to talk to the president. But LOL guess who that is? Antonio Lopez de freaking SANTA ANNA #UNTWorldRecord

Santa Anna rejects SFA's proposal. Austin gets all pissy and writes a letter to the leadership in San Antonio saying "Don't listen to Santa Anna. Let's form our own state anyway." The letter gets intercepted by the Mexican govt and SFA is put in jail #UNTWorldRecord

Meanwhile, Santa Anna leads a coup and basically nullifies the Constitution of 1824. Federalism that gave the states power was replaced with centralism. Several states in Mexico rebelled and a civil war broke out #UNTWorldRecord

In 1835, TX was split on the issue. There was a Peace Party made up of older men with families who had been in TX for awhile. Then there was the War Party made up of younger single dudes who had come over recently (like William B. Travis who completely ditched his family for TX)

SFA gets out of prison (sorry crime buffs for mixing up prison and jail. I'm so ashamed) and joins the war party. "War is our only recourse," he said. #UNTWorldRecord

Btw, Torget hasn't been wearing shoes for the last six-ish hours

So we come to the story of the Battle of Gonzalez, which was hardly a battle tbh. The Mexican army had lent a cannon to Gonzalez to scare away Indians if they attacked. On Oct. 2, 1835, Mexico sent 100 soldiers to get the cannon back because ya know, it was theirs.

The river was too high to cross so the Mexicans wait on the other side for the cannon. The Texans are like "HOW DARE YOU ASK FOR YOUR CANNON BACK?" So they rustle up 100 guys and make a flag (the "Come and Take It" one you've seen a billion times) #UNTWorldRecord

The Texans cross the river at a low point, sneak up on the Mexicans and start firing. The Mexicans aren't authorized to attack so they ride away. Two of their men were killed, but the Texans felt like the kings of the castle.

These tweets do not do Torget's telling of the story justice, I promise. There's a reason his TX history class is always full #UNTWorldRecord

We're into the part you've probably all been waiting for....
THE TEXAS REVOLUTION

Wrapping up our 20-minute dinner break. Bless @phwolfeDRC for bringing me dinner and letting her dog, Fang, ride shotgun so I could also get a puppy break.

Alright so back in Texas:
A militia of Texans decides to descend on San Antonio to fight Mexican troops stationed there. They were originally led by SFA, but they fired him. Then they were led by a guy named Burleson, but he got fired.

Then a guy named Ben Miliam got up on a tree stump and said, "Follow me!" and they did. They went street by street in SA, battling in urban warfare. The Mexican troops holed up in a mission (SPOILER: IT WAS THE ALAMO) and surrendered #UNTWorldRecord

Side note: Ben Milam died during this 5-day battle after he got sniped in the head. Side, side note: Alamo means cottonwood tree in Spanish #UNTWorldRecord

Just so we're clear, the Texans still really don't have a plan. They don't really have an army or a government yet. They should've been preparing and fortifying their forces, but they were still celebrating their win in SA.

Santa Anna, on the other hand, is prepping out the wazzoo. He recruits a 2,500-man army virtually overnight and they march from Mexico City to Texas in the middle of winter. People report to the Texans that Santa Anna is coming but they're like "Whaaaa? Nah....." #UNTWorldRecord

On Feb. 22, 1836, Santa Anna sends a small cavalry unit to San Antonio. They see a bunch of lights and hear a lot of people so they're like "Crap, they know we're coming." Turns out, they were just having a party to celebrate George Washington's birthday. #UNTWorldRecord

The next day, two Texan lookouts see Santa Anna's army coming. They run back to town, grab some spare corn and everyone hides out in the Alamo (which did not look like this gif btw)

Santa Anna told the men inside that they could surrender at discretion, which means they could die...or not, they could have their land taken...or not. No one really knew. The Texans said "eff that" and went back inside #UNTWorldRecord

Santa Anna decided to lay siege to the fort, which held about 200 Texans. The Alamo was a huge structure and super hard to defend. The Texans were not at all prepared, but Santa Anna didn't know that and tried to shoot down the walls with cannons #UNTWorldRecord

(Some of the walls were literally held up with sticks)

(Also some of the walls were actually made with sticks)

The Texas strategy? Live long enough for someone else to show up. On Feb. 24, Travis writes his famous "victory or death" letter to quite literally anyone who will come.

Santa Anna starts testing the Alamo defenses, moving the cannons a little bit closer to the mission every night. The Texans have a slight advantage here with their guns because they have rifles that are more accurate and have a longer range than the Mexicans' muskets

On March 1, 32 men from Gonzalez ride toward the Alamo. The Mexicans start shooting and the Texans think they’re being attacked so they start shooting. One of the Gonzalez men actually got shot in the foot. Either way, they get in the fort and boost morale #UNTWorldRecord

The next day, Texans declare independence at Washington-on-the-Brazos. "Santa Anna's boot is on their throats" as one student put it #UNTWorldRecord. Sad note: no one at the Alamo ever learned about that independence

On March 3, the Alamo defenders learn that a fancy pants guy named James Fannin isn’t coming to help.
On March 4, Texans climb over the Alamo walls to literally rebuild them. Food is low, gunpowder is low, morale is low #UNTWorldRecord

March 5 comes and Santa Anna prepares for an attack on all sides of the Alamo. The Mexicans start building ladders to scale the 12-foot walls and the Texans know that something is coming #UNTWorldRecord

You know that story about Travis drawing a line in the sand with his sword and telling people to join him in battle? Well, that *might* not be true. The story comes in the 1870s from a guy who heard it from another guy who said he was there

Here we come to the Battle of the Alamo on March 6. Texans had finally fallen asleep after the cannon fire ceased. The Mexicans are so kind to wake them up with an attack a little after midnight #UNTWorldRecord

Travis gets up and yells “They’re on us boys! Let’s give em hell!” He leans over the top of the wall and starts shooting down at the Mexicans below. He gets hit in the forehead with a musket ball and dies instantly #UNTWorldRecord

It’s just pure chaos at this point. The Mexicans can’t break through the walls so they retreat. Santa Anna orders a second assault. It’s still chaos and the Mexicans retreat again. Santa Anna has a conniption fit and orders a third attack on the north wall with reserve troops.

The third attack finally succeeds and the Mexicans get over the wall. The Texans have to make their last stand around the barracks and the chapel (which is the part of the Alamo you see today)

"People like to romanticize war, but the Alamo is people killing people at the closest range possible. It was violent and it was horrific." - Torget

About 600 people died in about a 90-minute period during the battle, One cat reportedly survived the battle, but decided to run across the courtyard and got shot by a lot of jumpy Mexican soldiers #UNTWorldRecord

Santa Anna commands his soldiers to build a funeral pyre and burns all of the bodies of the Alamo defenders. He was trying to send a message: rebelling against me means certain death. #UNTWorldRecord

While we're on the subject, let's talk about what the Alamo means on the world stage. It's basically a more modern Battle of Thermopylae, where the 300 Spartans defended their land against Persia. It's become shorthand for noble sacrifice.

There were a few survivors of the Alamo like Susanna Dickinson and her daughter Angelina. Santa Anna gave them a blanket and money, then told them to go tell everyone what they saw #UNTWorldRecord

So Gen. Sam Houston learns about the Alamo and tells Fancy Pants Fannin that he and his 400 troops need to leave Goliad. He waits around like an idiot, then finally decides to leave in the middle of the day. Darkness comes and he decides to camp in the middle of an open prairie.

Surprise! Santa Anna’s cavalry comes riding up and surrounds the Goliad men. They’re taken prisoner and marched a little way, but then the Mexicans turned around and opened fire, killing almost everyone #ThanksJamesFannin #UNTWorldRecord

After these two disasters, Texans are panicking and getting the heck out of dodge. The Runaway Scrape ensues in East TX, "a fancy way of saying massive skedaddle" according to Torget. It's not just Anglos but Tejanos as well #UNTWorldRecord

This whole time, Sam Houston is getting chased by Santa Anna with a 900-man army, which was much smaller than Houston expected and about the same size as his own army. Houston then turns and marches toward Santa Anna’s army #UNTWorldRecord

He stops at San Jacinto on April 20, 1836 and camps along the Buffalo Bayou under some trees. Santa Anna camps on the other side of a large field and thinks the battle is going to take place the next day. He gets reinforcements but they’ve been traveling all night and need rest.

Morning comes but Houston doesn’t attack. Noon comes but Houston doesn’t attack. Contrary to popular belief, the Mexicans DID NOT take a full-on siesta. They’re keeping an eye on things, but they’re resting and not in battle formation.

Houston lines his troops up around 3 p.m. They volley, or stop and fire on the enemy. Well-trained soldiers would stop and reload. Texans don't do that. They charge and start stabbing wildly. “It turns out not listening to directions was the best military strategy." - Torget

The battle itself only lasted for 18 minutes (Torget: Who had the stopwatch?) but the killing goes on for hours. Santa Anna’s army runs, but they’re still getting massacred by Texans. They only stop hunting fleeing soldiers when the sun goes down and it’s too dark to see

After San Jacinto, Texans capture Santa Anna and use him as a bargaining chip to make the Mexican army to retreat. They also force him to sign the Treaties of Velasco (note the plural here) #UNTWorldRecord

The public treaty says that TX is independent and the Rio Grande is border of TX, not the Nueces. It's not really a legit treaty because Santa Anna has a literal gun to his head and Mexico probably won’t ratify it because he signed under duress #UNTWorldRecord

TX realized this and composed a private treaty where Santa Anna promises that if the Texans let him go, he’ll go back to Mexico and convince the govt to ratify the public treaty. Once he returns to Mexico, he reneges on his promise (shocking, I know) and vows to reconquer TX.

So we finally come to the end of the Texas Revolution. Props to anyone who is still w/ me on here and extra props to all these students who are still out here asking good questions #UNTWorldRecord

So at the moment of independence, here are the TX demographics:
-30,000 Anglos
-5,000 enslaved African Americans
-3,400 Tejanos
-15,000 to 20,000 Native Americans
#UNTWorldRecord

Now we're on to the Republic of Texas aka the reason why the Texas flag can be flown as high as the American flag #UNTWorldRecord

"Everywhere I’ve lived, and I’ve lived a lot of places, there’s a moment in history that people who live there strongly identify with. That moment in TX is the Republic of TX. What I find incredible is that people don’t really know what happened." - Torget #UNTWorldRecord

In Sept. 1836, Texans voted on whether they should join the U.S. 3,200 people thought they should. 91 thought they shouldn't. That's a 97 percent approval rate. (Looks like Texans were just as apathetic to voting back then too) #UNTWorldRecord

Why did Texans want to join the US, you ask?
-It offered stability and protection from Mexico
-Most still considered themselves Americans
-Land values would go up dramatically
-TX was in shambles after the revolution
#UNTWorldRecord

But the US wasn't really into it. Northerners didn't want to upset the Congressional balance when it came to slave-related issues. A lot of Southerners wanted TX for that very reason, but others didn't want the cotton competition #UNTWorldRecord

So why in the heck did Texas form a republic? "They had no choice," Torget says. "It wasn’t Plan A, it wasn’t Plan B. It was Plan Z." #UNTWorldRecord

So TX created a constitution and settled any slavery debate with Section 9 – TX can never, ever, ever, ever outlaw slavery. EVER. The Republic of TX was a window into what life would have been like if the Confederacy won the Civil War. #UNTWorldRecord

Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin faced off for the presidency. Houston received 5,000 votes. SFA got 500. To quote @JulianGillMusic, the last time I saw someone get beat that bad, I was in a bar.

Of course, Texas had some problems when it put its big boy pants on and declared itself a republic:
-Recognized by almost no other country
-Dead broke and $1.2 million in debt
-Mexico was threatening to reconquer it
"Texas was a hot mess," - Torget #UNTWorldRecord

(I'd like to take this opportunity to formally apologize for any typos or misspellings in any of my tweets. Thank you for your attention. Ok, I'll go back to the history now.)

So Houston had one overarching goal as president: STABILIZE
He put together some policies to make that happen. Some *kind of* worked. Most didn't #UNTWorldRecord

First plan was to make peace with the Indians. Most tribes did actually sign peace treaties so yay Houston! However, it made him pretty unpopular with Texans #UNTWorldRecord

Second plan was to get diplomatic recognition. They had to feel seen, y'all. They tried teaming up with Great Britain but the Brits were not fans of the "slaveholders' republic" that was Texas #UNTWorldRecord

Third plan was to get money. They printed their own bills, which had better use as toilet paper at the time. When that didn't work, they taxed the crap out of people. "If you imagine the Republic of Texas as a libertarian paradise, do not get into the DeLorean" – Torget

Obviously, Sammy's presidency did not go as planned. He was out after two years. A guy named Mirabeau Lamar runs on the campaign slogan "I am not Sam Houston" and wins #UNTWorldRecord

Lamar has another goal in mind: make Texas a cotton empire stretching from the Sabine to the Pacific. It's Manifest Destiny done Texas-style. #UNTWorldRecord

First plan is to kill every Indian in sight. He does succeed in running out tribes in East Texas but it costs money and lives. #UNTWorldRecord

Second plan is diplomacy. Even though he hated Houston, Lamar did agree that Texas needed to be recognized by other countries. He sent people to London a second time, but they were turned away again. TX did get recognition from Holland *waves the tiniest of flags* #UNTWorldRecord

Then crisis hits. The cotton market collapses and the Panic of 1837 ensues. The Republic starts printing money again but it’s worthless. Even TX stops accepting its own money. #UNTWorldRecord

Lamar realized that people were mining silver in New Mexico and transporting it along the Santa Fe Trail. He wants to send an expedition to Santa Fe to collect money since *technically* Santa Fe is within the TX border. Congress says no but Lamar sends em anyway #UNTWorldRecord

In 1841, 341 Texans make up the Santa Fe Expedition. Lamar was so confident his plan would work that he sent a letter ahead of time to the gov of NM telling him they're coming #UNTWorldRecord

The NM gov sends a letter down to the president of Mexico asking what to do. Guess who gets the letter? LOL YOU’RE RIGHT IT’S SANTA ANNA.

When the Texans get to Santa Fe, they’re captured and marched down to Mexico, which was deeply embarrassing to Texas #UNTWorldRecord

Lamar's term ends and suddenly, Houston isn't looking so bad. He returns and tries to reinstate his policies. "What was a hot mess is now a burning inferno" - Torget #UNTWorldRecord

Meanwhile, Mexican armies invade Texas twice in 1842, basically just to poke a small and not-at-all scary bear. The Texan army goes on a revenge expedition and sacks Laredo, which is actually on their side of the river....

So the Texans cross the Rio Grande to Mier but run into a large Mexican army. They run out of ammunition and surrender. The Mexicans march them to Saltillo #UNTWorldRecord

The commander there asks Texas' bff Santa Anna what to do with the captives and he says to kill every 10th one. The Mexican filled a jar full of beans. If you picked a white bean, you were safe. If you picked black, you were dead. 17 black beans meant 17 men were shot

It's 1840 and TX is still pretty screwed. But Houston has one advantage: Great Britain decides to recognize TX BECAUSE they’re so weak. If GB offers to save TX, then maybe they can convince them to give up slavery. If they do that, then they might be able to get slave-free cotton

Britain starts dangling money and Houston decides to befriend British diplomat Charles Elliott. He makes it seem like TX would be willing to give up slavery, but really he's just trying to scare the U.S. into thinking Britain could invade #UNTWorldRecord

John Tyler, the US president at the time, is pretty receptive to Houston's annexation wishes. Congress votes on annexation in June 1844. 35 no votes, 16 yes votes. It was a 2/3 majority in the wrong direction for TX #UNTWorldRecord

But then the US election of 1844 comes and annexation is a hot campaign topic. Whig Henry Clay (who btw looks terrifying) doesn't want to worry about TX. Democrat James K. Polk is in favor of annexing TX and Oregon. Spoiler alert: Polk wins and annexation is back on the table.

Tyler is still desperate to accomplish something significant during his term so instead of a treaty to annex, his administration puts together a joint resolution (which may or may not be legal.) House voted 120 in favor, 98 against while Senate voted 27 in favor, 25 against.

Passing by a razor-thin margin, the US offers annexation terms to TX:
-TX would enter as a state, not a territory
-TX would keep its public debt
-TX would retain its public land
-TX would turn over public buildings and forts to US
#UNTWorldRecord

One more term sets the stage for future events:
-The US would resolve border disputes b/t Mexico and TX and recognize the Rio Grande as the southern border
(Fun fact emphasized by Torget: NOWHERE in these terms does it say TX can secede from the US)
#UNTWorldRecord

Texas was officially annexed in December 1845 and they are stoked. It's basically young Cardi B telling Mexico "The United States says you have to stay behind the Rio Grande."

(I'm too lazy to actually make the meme #sorrynotsorry)

Polk wants that strip of land between the Rio Grande and the Nueces because he’s trying to get his Manifest Destiny on to California. He sends Zachary Taylor to the Nueces with the US Army to let Mexico know he’s serious. #UNTWorldRecord

He also sends a guy named John Slidell down to Mexico with an offer to buy the land between Texas and California for $25 million. Mexico is in a civil war at the moment and the presidency changed hands four times.
“Were two of those Santa Anna?” - random student

(Turns out Santa Anna was in exile in various places, one of them being Staten Island)
Also, someone in this room just said "Happy Saturday."

Polk sends the army down to the Rio Grande, where they trained weapons across the river to Matamoras, basically daring Mexico to attack. They do attack and Taylor sends word to Polk in Washington. Polk asks Congress for a resolution of war #UNTWorldRecord

"Mexico has passed the boundary of the United States, has invaded out territory and shed American blood on American soil." - Polk to Congress
#UNTWorldRecord

Congress declares war and Taylor invades Mexico. Remember that Mexico is in a civil war so it's hard for them to put up a good defense against the US when they’re fighting among themselves #UNTWorldRecord

Guys....I can’t freaking believe it. Santa Anna is BACK to unite Mexico. He writes a letter to Polk to get him back into Mexico because he's in exile. He says "I'll become president and just hand the land over to you." #UNTWorldRecord

For some strange reason, Polk believes him and the US Navy actually escorts Santa Anna into Mexico. He says, “Thanks for the ride, Polky, but jk about what I said earlier. I’m fighting with Mexico.” #UNTWorldRecord

Santa Anna's army is then squarely defeated by the U.S. Army, once at Buena Vista and again at Cerro Gordo. The Americans follows the route of Cortes when he marched on the Aztecs and raises its flag in the Zocalo in Mexico City in September 1847 #UNTWorldRecord

The US and Mexico sign the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo to end the war and said:
-US got control of all land from Texas to California
-US gives Mexico $15 million
-Any Mexican national living within border could relocate south or stay where they were and become US citizens

The 1850s in Texas meant a cotton and population boom. The number of people in the state went from 200K in 1850 to 600K in 1860. In that same time, TX becomes leading cotton producer going from 58K bales to 430K bales. #UNTWorldRecord

In 1850, California also saw a population boom because of the gold rush so they applied for statehood and wanted to come in as a free state, which would've thrown off the balance of slave and free states in the US. #UNTWorldRecord

At this point, the south had invested $3 billion into slavery but their support of the system wasn't purely economical. If slavery falls, they thought, so does Western civilization #UNTWorldRecord

Torget - We look back and want to believe that Southerners thought, deep down in their hearts, that slavery was bad. They didn’t think that. How do we know that? Because they said it. #UNTWorldRecord

The 1858 Texas Almanac basically says the African is an inferior being, a slave in a mild climate attains his highest civilization and the crops he grows can’t be grown by white or free labor #UNTWorldRecord

Up north, most people opposed the expansion of slavery but weren't abolitionists. The American Dream for Northerners meant working for a wage. If you work hard enough and save enough, you can buy your own farm. If slavery expands, it drops the value of labor and depresses wages.

To try to calm tensions, Henry Clay came up with the Compromise of 1850, which redrew the Texas map and did several things. #UNTWorldRecord

-First, California comes in as a free state while Utah and New Mexico territories can be either free or slave states
-Second, Northerners are now required to actually pursue and capture runaway slaves
-Third, the slave trade in D.C. is outlawed, but owning slaves is still legal

Then in 1854, Congress passes the Kansas-Nebraska Act which really screws up the Missouri Compromise of 1820. Whoever gets to those territories first gets to decide if they’ll be free or slave states #UNTWorldRecord

People pour in and civil war breaks out in Kansas which came to be known as Bloody Kansas.
John Brown, an abolitionist who was really into violence, attacked pro-slavery Southerners with swords and hacked them to death
#UNTWorldRecord

At the same time, the Republican party was founded and stood for one main idea: slavery can’t expand west. That's significant because it takes away possibility for compromise on slavery. #UNTWorldRecord

In 1857, the Dred Scott SCOTUS decision came down. Scott was owned by a US Army surgeon who lived in several Northern states where slavery was illegal. He and his wife sued for freedom after the man’s death because they had been living in free states #UNTWorldRecord

Chief Justice Roger Taney basically tried to solve slavery with two points:
-African Americans aren’t citizens and have no rights white men are bound to respect.
-Federal govt has no power to prohibit the expansion of slavery.
#UNTWorldRecord

White southerners were jumping for joy when the Scott decision came down but northerners were less than pleased, driving more of them to the Republican party #UNTWorldRecord

With everyone all good and riled up, Ol' John Brown decides to pour gasoline on everything. #UNTWorldRecord

He decides he wants to start a slave revolt in Virginia and tries to take over a federal arsenal. The problem is that no one told the slaves. They didn't show up but the Marines did. Brown is arrested, tried and hanged. Needless to say, this did nothing to ease divisions.

The 1860 election is upon us and the Democrats have split. Stephen Douglass was nominated as the party candidate, but the Deep South said "Not my candidate" and nominated John Breckenridge #UNTWorldRecord

With the Democrats in factions, the Republicans have a legitimate shot at the White House. They just have to find someone who can win basically every northern state, someone super vanilla
Enter this guy:

The election gets muddy in the summer of 1860 and John Bell enters as a proxy candidate to sap votes from Lincoln. Meanwhile in Texas, fires break out in Dallas and Denton because of faulty matches. The people who live there didn't see it that way. #UNTWorldRecord

They think abolitionists are trying to burn the town down a la John Brown. A witch hunt ensues (but like a real one, though) and people are actually hanged because of the panic #UNTWorldRecord

Lincoln wins the election and then states start seceding. South Carolina is first and creates a domino effect. The president at the time, James Buchannan, sat by and basically twiddled his thumbs #UNTWorldRecord

TX was one of the states to secede. Why did they secede, you ask?
LITERALLY EVERYONE IN THIS AUDITORIUM, INCLUDING THE MAN WHO WRITES HISTORY BOOKS, SAID SLAVERY.
It's in the newspapers at the time. It's in the Texas secession papers. It's in Alexander Steven's Cornerstone Speech

Sorry for the outburst but it's late and I don't have the patience for any Lost Cause bs. I also misspelled Stephens. My bad.

Sam Houston, the governor of TX at the time, opposed secession but not because he hated slavery. He just knew it would cause a super bloody war.

He was whittling a piece of wood in the capitol basement when they voted on secession. He was deposed because he wouldn't support it.

Ol' Abe gets inaugurated in March 1861 and says he won't recognize the Confederacy as a separate nation. The Confederacy says, "I don't care what you say" and takes over federal arsenals #UNTWorldRecord

One of those arsenals was Fort Sumter. It was on an island in a bay and the Confederates were starving those people out. Lincoln sent a supply ship and the Confederates fired on it. Fighting broke out and Fort Sumter fell, thus kicking off the Civil War #UNTWorldRecord

At the beginning of the war, lots of folks (25,000 Texans included) signed up to serve because they thought it was a giant game of chicken. Once the first big battle happens, the other side with back down, they thought #UNTWorldReport

Oops, wrong hashtag...

We just hit the 18-hour mark and I feel much better now that I've brushed my teeth. They just announced that one student fell asleep and got DQ'd *womp womp* On the bright side, the libraries have gotten more than $10,000 in donations for the Portal to TX History

Back to the Civil War:
Young white men joined the cause to defend their homes or because they were looking for adventure. Slavery might have been the cause of secession and by extension the war, but protecting slavery wasn't a big motivator for most Confederate soldiers.

Not a lot of action happened in Texas. Union ships take over Galveston and some Texans led campaigns to New Mexico, but there's not much going on in the Lone Star State, which makes Texas a great support for the Confederacy.
#UNTWorldRecord

-Becomes the breadbasket for the army, providing food and clothing to troops
-Helped break a Union blockade of the South by funneling cotton down to the Mexican coast to sell to England
-Housed 50K added slaves during the war as owners tried to hide them from the Union

Oh! I almost forget about the Great Hanging in Gainesville. Forty men were hanged in 1862 for being "Union sympathizers." It was the biggest mass hanging in the Civil War and it’s right up the road #UNTWorldRecord

The war drags on and a lot more blood is shed. Finally in April 1865, Robert E. Lee surrenders. Emancipation comes to TX on June 19, 1865 when Gordon Grainger lands in Galveston and announces that all the slaves are free #UNTWorldRecord

Up until this point, slavery had been the bedrock of social life and the Southern economy. Now with slavery gone, everything was up for grabs. Some white Texans fled the US for Mexico or Brazil where slavery was still legal #UNTWorldRecord

There were some major questions with Reconstruction:
-What do you do with the former Confederates? They committed treason
-How do you bring back the states? They didn’t want to be part of the Union
-What do you do with the 4 million former slaves?
#UNTWorldRecord

We all know Lincoln gets assassinated (RIP) so all these questions have to be answered by the new president Andrew Johnson, who was wholly unprepared for the task #UNTWorldRecord

"This is a country for white men and by God, as long as I’m president, it shall be a government for white men" - Just in case you're wondering where Johnson's head is at.
#UNTWorldRecord

So the first seven months of Reconstruction were all in Johnson's court
-Everyone in the Confederacy gets a pardon
-Confederate states are let back in if they make a state constitution that ratifies the 13th amendment
-The states get to decide what happens to the slaves

The Freedman's Bureau started coming into the South and helping former slave negotiate labor contracts. One of their biggest accomplishments, though, was reuniting families that had been sold away from each other #UNTWorldRecord

The TX Constitution of 1866, written by former Confederates, said this:
-Declared secession ordinance void but not illegal
-Recognized 13th Amendment but didn’t ratify it
-Denied black citizenship (can’t vote, hold office, attend public schools, serve on juries, etc.)

The US Congress gets back in session and essentially fires Johnson from Reconstruction duties. They put the South under military rule and pass the 14th Amendment.

We're in this weird new world where former Confederates aren't allowed to vote, but former slaves are #UNTWorldRecord

The Republican party also gains some new members in the South: former slaves, carpetbaggers (northerners who moved south after the war) and scalawags (white southerners who defected to the other party) #UNTWorldRecord

The Texas Constitution of 1869, written by those Republicans, did these things:
-Gave full citizenship rights to African Americans
-Centralized power in Austin and particularly the governor, taking it away from the local authorities
#UNTWorldRecord

Out of power, former Confederates decided to put on bedsheets and form the Ku Klux Klan in the 1870s (Side note: If you haven't seen BlackKKlansman yet, you should)

Eventually, former Confederates take the "iron-clad oath" promising not to rebel against the US and regain voting rights. They elect Richard Coke and bring in a lot of Democratic representatives #UNTWorldRecord

Those folks write the Constitution of 1876, the same state constitution we have today. It strips power away from the state government and puts it back at the local level. At the time, it was easier to subjugate African Americans at that level.
#UNTWorldRecord

The end of Reconstruction overlaps with Indian Wars and the cattle drives. Texas experiences another population boom and the US Army starts building forts in the state, especially in the plains. The plains also happen to be the last refuge for Texas Indians #UNTWorldRecord

Not only were the white people encroaching on Indian territory, they were also destroying the bison/buffalo population. They would skin the animal because bison leather was fashionable at the time, then leave the meat to rot #UNTWorldRecord

(Think all those scenes in Dances with Wolves)

In June 1874, Comanche chief Quannah Parker gathers up some tribes for an attack on buffalo hunters at Adobe Walls. They attacked before dawn so they could catch hunters while they were asleep. But the hunters were awake setting up their tent that had blown over in the wind.

The element of surprise was lost and the white men had high-powered rifles. The skirmish ended after a four-day standoff but kicked off the Red River War, which was just the US Army flushing Comanches out of Texas #UNTWorldRecord

The war ended when Quannah Parker surrendered in June 1875. The Comanches were sent to live in Oklahoma (bleh) but that surrender marks the end of Comanche power in Texas (Remember they were the most powerful group in 1821 when the Spanish were pretending to be in charge)

With the end of Indian power in the plains, the space was open for cattle trails. People needed jobs after the war and being a "glorified cow walker" seemed like a good idea. Someone had to escort the cattle from Texas to the railroads in the Great Plains region #UNTWorldRecord

Popular culture romanticized the cowboy as the last emblem of real "independence." In reality, cattle runs were slow and often boring. It was a low-paying job typically reserved for laborers. The real money went to the people the trails were named after. (Willie warned y'all)

The cattle runs did make the longhorn an icon because they were especially suited for the trails. Just look at this majestic creature

Fun fact: The XIT Ranch is the largest in Texas with 3 million acres. The name comes from the fact that the ranch stretches across 10 counties. The Roman numeral for 10 is X, so "Ten In Texas"

Guess who sold that land to investors? The Texas government.
Guess what that money paid for? A bunch of pink granite that makes up the current capitol building in Austin.

Barbed wire (the bane of my childhood) was invented in 1873 to fence in cattle and protect resources like land with watering holes. People loved the stuff, but it led to the fencing in of the open range #UNTWorldRecord

By 1890, around 8,000 miles of railroad track were laid in Texas. The cattle runs were a temporary solution to a problem. Once trains got here, cowboys weren't really needed anymore #UNTWorldRecord

So John Wayne is no more but cotton is still king in Texas. By 1890, white and black Texas farmers produced about 662 million pounds of cotton each year #UNTWorldRecord

But cotton comes with some problems this time:
-The price declined rapidly, going from 15.5 cents per pound to 8 cents. It led to overproduction
-Tenant farming and sharecropping grew because farmers were poor. By 1890, 42 percent of TX farmers were tenant farmers/sharecroppers

Grange comes along as a self-help group for farmers. They start getting political and have a three point plan to fix things:
-Keep cost of government low (lower taxes on farmers)
-Regulate the railroad
-Create co-ops that would raise profits by cutting out the middle man

The Grange folks have to convince the Redeemer legislators (those people who wrote the last constitution.) Their philosophy on government? No thank you. The less government power, the better.
#UNTWorldRecord

The government didn't help the farmers. No surprise there. The farmers decide to form a new organization called Farmer's Alliance, which is pretty much Grange 2.0 #UNTWorldRecord

The had a four-point plan this time but it said the same thing: active government control. The FA was a nightmare for Redeemer politicians because not only were they asking them to do more, they were a biracial coalition and the legislature was still full of old Confederates.

James Hogg gets the FA to vote for him for gov b/c he says he'll form a railroad commission. When he gets elected, he forms the group but it doesn't really do anything. The farmers feel betrayed #UNTWorldRecord

They take their stuff to Nebraksa and form the Populist Party. #UNTWorldRecord

They run James Weaver against Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison for the presidency in 1892. When Weaver got up to speak, people would throw stuff at him #UNTWorldRecord

Weaver didn't win, but he got 10 percent of the vote. He got 25 percent of the vote in Texas which meant they could be legitimate players in Texas politics. #UNTWorldRecord

When the Depression of 1893 hit, the Populist movement gained steam. It lead to the 1894 Congressional elections where 113 seats changed hands. That's huuuuge #UNTWorldRecord

Torget just introduced William Jennings Bryan and someone just let out a massive groan. No word yet on if the two are related.

William McKinley was running for president as the Republican candidate. Bryan was running as the Democrat but embracing Populist ideas. Despite James Hogg doing them dirty back in the day, the Populists hitch their wagon to Bryan and endorse him #UNTWorldRecord

McKinley edges out Bryan in the 1896 election. The Democrats will rebound from the loss but the Populist Party collapses on itself and disappears. The farmers are still poor while Jim Crow is tightening its grip in Texas. #UNTWorldRecord

Trains were the first public spaces to be formally segregated with separate cars for separate races. But trains weren't what TX politicians were worried about.

They didn't want black people voting so they instituted poll taxes, literacy tests and private voting booths (which knocked out people who couldn't read the ballot) #UNTWorldRecord

But Jim Crow wasn't just segregation. It was the threat of violence to anyone who stepped out of line or was even perceived to step out of line. Let's talk about Henry Smith in Paris in 1893. #UNTWorldRecord

A 9-year-old girl had been beaten, raped and murdered in town and some people suspected Henry Smith because he had a reputation as a troublemaker around town. Henry heard some white men were coming for him so he ran. That amounted to an admission of guilt for those white men.

He was sent to the gallows without a trial but before he was hanged, he was tortured. The men burned off his skin with a hot poker then rammed it down his throat

More people attended the hanging than lived in Paris at the time. A Dallas Morning News reporter called it "the most horrible death ever inflicted on a human being."
Jim Crow was much more than just water fountains.

That terrible story brings us into the 20th century.
Technology really starts to boom with planes and cars and some medicine that seem super sketchy by today's standards #UNTWorldRecord

Entertainment was also taking a turn. In 1896, a guy named George Crush decided to smash two trains together going at full speed. 40K ppl came to see. When the trains hit, they exploded and shrapnel went everywhere, killing three people. Their families got lifetime rail passes 😐

Jack Johnson was also killing it in the boxing ring, beating everyone that challenged him. White folks tried to find a "great white hope" to defeat the black boxer and brought Jim Jefferies out of retirement #UNTWorldRecord

The men fought in 1910 in Reno. It was billed as a fight against the races. Johnson obliterates Jefferies, who said "I couldn't beat him at my best." #UNTWorldRecord

Johnson is from Galveston, the wealthiest city in TX at the time. That changed in Sept. 1900 when a category 5 hurricane pummeled the island. Everything went underwater. Buildings crumbled and trapped people underneath. #UNTWorldRecord

The storm was the biggest natural disaster in American history, killing between 6,000 to 8,000 people and destroying more than 3,000 buildings. After the storm, workers in Galveston raised the city 8 feet and build a huge sea wall. #UNTWorldRecord

Torget - Galveston being rebuilt after the storm was like tearing down the old Texas and rebuilding it.
We're about to strike black gold, y'all #UNTWorldRecord

JD Rockefeller, the head of Standard Oil in Pennsylvania, said there was no oil west of the Mississippi. Wildcatters set out to prove him wrong #UNTWorldRecord

They come to Texas and start drilling at Spindletop in Jefferson County. On Jan 10, 1901, they hit something.
There’s a rumble in the ground. The pressure sends oil flying through the air
About 100,000 barrels of oil came out of the derrick each day for NINE days.

The discovery of oil in TX made individuals rich but also helped fill the state coffers. In 1896, TX produced 1,000 barrels per year. By 1902 (one year after Spindletop) that number rose to 21 million barrels #UNTWorldRecord

Boom towns start popping up and people flood them looking for oil. "They're basically sticking straws in the ground every five feet." - Torget #UNTWorldRecord

This rapid urbanization brings problems (because of course it does):
-cities are diseased and unclean
-families live in tenement housing
-people work in dangerous conditions for low wages
#UNTWorldRecord

We made it 24 hours! If Torget is tired, you can't tell. He's still rolling through the lecture and shooting for 30 hours.

I will note that it's unclear whether there's already a record set for the longest history lesson. The longest lesson in general was in India and went for 78 hours and 3 minutes. The largest history lesson was attending by 14,257 third-graders in California.

Alright, back to Torget and his lesson:
The Progressives started to gain steam once the dismal conditions in cities were pulled into focus. They believed in science and technology, regulating conditions and helping woman and children #UNTWorldRecord

But they also believing in banning alcohol and eugenics, or selective human breeding. Not all sunshine and rainbows. #UNTWorldRecord

When progressivism comes to Texas, they're trying to ban booze. The state took a vote in 1911 on Prohibition: 237,393 votes for keeping it legal and 231,096 to outlaw it. #UNTWorldRecord

Pa Ferguson runs for gov. in 1914 and wins. Annie Webb Blanton, a UNT English prof, is the first woman to elected to statewide office. Women had just gotten right to vote in primaries, so they boosted her to the Superintendent of Schools. Both are considered part of progressivism

But Pa's a little (actually a lot corrupt and in 1917, he's impeached and removed from office. He's also conviction on corruption chargers. It was the University of Texas alumni network that brought him down.

At this time, there's another revolution in Mexico that 1) increased tensions between Texas and Mexico and 2) brought more Mexicans to Texas
There's also this little thing going on in Europe called World War I #UNTWorldRecord

About a million Texans signed up for the draft, but only 200,000 (about a quarter of them black) served. More than 5,000 soldiers died, but mostly from a flu pandemic. #UNTWorldRecord

By the 1920 census, the majority of Americans lived in urban areas, a significant shift in how we think about our nation and our state. #UNTWorldRecord

Cities brought a lot of things to a lot of people. They had electricity so people could buy new technology (vacuum cleaners woo!) and they empowered and politicized young people, especially women. #UNTWorldRecord

This is a nightmare situation for rural people in the south who thought the moral fabric of society was unraveling. Enter the revamped klansman, "equal opportunity haters" who only accepted Protestant whites from the U.S. #UNTWorldRecord

Birth of a Nation came out and it was a smash hit. It portrays a "deranged version of Reconstruction," Torget says, where the KKK are the defenders of the white woman from the ravenous black man. President Woodrow Wilson actually showed the film on the WH lawn.

Birth of a Nation turned out to be a tremendous recruiting tool for the Klan. They started in Houston and later moved their headquarters to Dallas. In contrast to earlier klans, the 1920s klan held huge parades and weren't afraid to show their faces. #UNTWorldRecord

The Klan had political aspirations too. They backed a US Senate candidate Earle B. Mayfield, commonly known as the klanidate. "Who can possibly stand up to Earle?"
"Is it Santa Anna?"

Turns out it was ol' Pa Ferguson, the former gov of TX
So in 1922, Texas had two choices for their senator: a klansman or a corrupt politician.
Who do you think they chose?

SURPRISE (but not really) it's the klansman.
Good job, Texas 🙄
#UNTWorldRecord

The klan is empowered now and starts attacking middle class white folks for things like adultery. In 1924, they backed klandidate Felix Robertson for governor.
"Who will stand up to Felix?"
Pa couldn't because he was banned from state office, so here comes his wife Ma.

Texas actually DOES NOT elect a klansman this time and makes Ma the first female governor in any state (Ma and Pa still pretty corrupt though).
After the election, the klan crashes and burns in Texas #UNTWorldRecord

We're in the 1920s now and it's not very Gatsby-like in TX. Cotton farmers are struggling, but oil in booming. By 1928, TX produces 20% of all the world's oil. A year later, the value of oil surpasses the value of cotton which mean DIVERSIFICATION #UNTWorldRecord

Theeeeen October 1929 hits and the stock market crashes. 40 billion dollars goes *poof* and banks collapse. Most Texans are apathetic - "I'm already poor. I don't even know what stocks are." #UNTWorldRecord

Eventually, the depression hits TX and people stop buying cotton and oil.
#UNTWorldRecord

"As if the depression wasn't bad enough, Mother Nature comes and kicks us in the teeth with the Dust Bowl." - Torget. Overgrazing on large ranches loosened soil and creating huge dust storms #UNTWorldRecord

People are in abject poverty now. In 1929, the national unemployment rate was 3.2 percent. By 1933, it was 25 percent. #UNTWorldRecord

"There's an emotional aspect about this that's hard to get. You feel helpless." - Torget #UNTWorldRecord

It's 1932 and President Herbert Hoover is trying to get reelected against Franklin D. Roosevelt. FDR wins and carries Texas easily with his Texan running mate John Nance Garner. He needs Garner to convince southern states to pass his New Deal legislation #UNTWorldRecord

Garner and the Texan Sam Rayburn help FDR pass the New Deal because they wanted jobs and money to come to Texas. "The New Deal program was never meant to replace capitalism. It was meant to resurrect capitalism." -Torget #UNTWorldRecord

But not everybody was on the up and up with the New Deal. African Americans weren't eligible for programs and a lot of Mexicans were deported at the time because they were seen as competition. #UNTWorldRecord

On the whole, most Texans favored the New Deal. There was a program that helped rural homes get electricity (only two percent had it in 1935) and a young Texas congressman used that to light up homes in his Hill Country hometown. You might know him. His name is Lyndon B. Johnson

It's 11:33 p.m. and Andrew Torget is done for the day, y'all. He lectured for a full 26 hours and 33 minutes and definitely probably set a world record #UNTWorldRecord

Thanks to everyone who followed along. I had a blast, but now I'm gonna go sleep