The Conquest of the Karankawas and the Tonkawas, 1821-1859

by Himmel, Kelly F.

• ISBN13: 9780890968673
• ISBN10: 0890968675
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-05-01
• Publisher: Texas A & M Univ Pr

Summary

In 1821, although Spain claimed what is now Texas, American Indian groups occupied it. Less than forty years later, they had been largely displaced, and their subsistence economy, supplemented by raiding and trade, had been replaced by an Anglo-Texan agricultural economy linked to a rapidly expanding and industrializing capitalist system. For the Karankawas and the Tonkawas, the period from 1821 to 1859 was particularly devastating. The Karankawas survived only as scattered individuals after a small remnant on the banks of the Rio Grande was massacred, and the few remaining Tonkawas were pushed across the Red River into Indian Territory. Kelly F. Himmel has written an account of this conquest that gives new understanding of the processes. He explores geopolitical and economic factors, as well as the role of individual and collective human actors and the effects of cultural orientations of the conquered and conquering groups toward each other.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xvii
Texas in 1821: Prelude to Conquest	3	(34)
The Political Economy of Mexican Texas, 1821--35: Initiation of Conquest	37	(25)
The Political Economy of the Republic of Texas, 1836--45: Negotiation of Conquest	62	(31)
The Incorporation of Texas into the United States, 1846--59: Consolidation of Conquest	93	(31)
Conclusions	124	(11)
Appendix 1 Sociology and Conquest	135	(4)
Appendix 2 Methodological Issues	139	(6)
Notes	145	(24)
Bibliography	169	(18)
Index	187