Texas (U.S. state)
Texas was an independent republic when it voted to join the United States of America as the the 28th state, entering officially on December 29, 1845. The capital is located in Austin. The state motto is "Friendship" and its nickname is the "Lone Star State," a reference to its flag when it was independent. The largest metropolitan areas are Houston, Dallas-Fort-Worth, and San Antonio. [1] The population of 22.9 in 2006 makes Texas second to California; it contains 12 million minorities (8.4 million Hispanics, .882 million blacks, xx million Asians), as well as 11.4 million non-Hispanic whites.[2]
History
Six national flags have flown over Texas, Spain, France (which had a small brief settlement), Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate States of America, and the United States of America.[3]
Spain
1716-1821
France
Mexico
Republic of Texas
March 2, 1836 - December 29, 1845
Texas leaders gathered at Washington-on-the-Brazos to sign The Texas Declaration of Independence on March 2, 1836. Four days later the Alamo fell after a 13 day siege by Mexican troops led by Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna. The massacre of all the defenders gave rise to the rallying call "Remember the Alamo". Santa Anna's Mexican troops were defeated on April 21 at the Battle of San Jacinto near present-day Houston.[4]
Confederate States of America
March 2, 1861-March 15, 1865
United States of America
December 29, 1845-March 2, 1861 and March 15, 1865-present
Demographics
Education
The University of Texas System is one of the largest higher education systems in the nation. The University of Texas at Austin is the largest institution in the UT System. [5]
Government
The current Governor of Texas is Republican Rick Perry. Perry was Lieutenant Governor in 2000 when George W. Bush resigned as Governor to become the 43rd President of the United States of America.
Politics
After the American Civil War and before the Civil Rights movement, Texas was a part of the Solid South that had always voted for the Democratic Party. In the Civil Rights movement of the mid-20th century, Texan Democrats such as Ralph Yarborough and President Lyndon B. Johnson played a significant role in the domestic reform policies in that period. Later, however, along with the rest of Southern United States, Texas veered sharply to right and increasingly voted for the Republican Party. The last Democrat to win a statewide office, Governor Ann Richards, stepped down in 1995 and died in 2006.[6] Today, Texas is a stronghold for Republicans and a national bastion of economic and cultural conservatism.
Further reading
- The Handbook of Texas Online - Published by the Texas State Historical Association thousands of scholarly articles on every aspect of Texas history
References
- Citations