An Empire for Slavery: The Peculiar Institution in Texas, 1821-1865

✍ Scribed by Randolph B. Campbell

• Publisher: Louisiana State University Press
• Year: 1991
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 321
• Edition: 2011 12th printing
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Because Texas emerged from the western frontier relatively late in the formation of the antebellum nation, it is frequently and incorrectly perceived as fundamentally western in its political and social orientation. In fact, most of the settlers of this area were emigrants from the South, and many of these people brought with them their slaves and all aspects of slavery as it had matured in their native states.

✦ Table of Contents

Preface • xi
Introduction • 1
The Colonial Period, 1821-1835: "Texas Must Be a Slave Country" • 10
Slavery in the Texas Revolution, 1835-1836: "A Dull, Organic Ache" • 35
Growth and Expansion, 1836-1861: "The Empire State of the South" • 50
The Economics of Slavery in Texas: "We Want More Slaves, We Need Them" • 67
The Law of Slavery in Texas: "Negroes Are, in This Country, Prima Facie Slaves" • 96
Work and Responsibility: "From Can See to Can't See" • 115
Material Conditions and Physical Treatment: "A Tight Fight" • 134
Family, Religion, and Music: "The Strength to Endure" • 153
Behavioral Patterns and the Desire for Freedom: "The Best We Could" • 177
Texas Slaveholders: "Working Negroes to an Advantage" • 190
A Slaveholding Society: "Those Who Are Not For Us, Must Be Against Us" • 209
The Civil War and "Juneteenth," 1861–1865: "Free, Free My Lord" • 231
Conclusions • 252

Appendix 1. The Federal Writers' Project Slave Narratives as a Historical Source • 261
Appendix 2. Slave Populations of Texas Counties in Selected Years, 1837-1864 • 264
Appendix 3. County Records as a Source of Information on Slavery in Texas • 268
Appendix 4. Texas' Largest Slaveholders in 1860 • 273
Bibliography • 277
Index • 295