Originally Posted By ecdc I had the pleasure of visiting Texas last week for a history conference. It really was wonderful. The conference was right on the San Antonio riverwalk, and the post-conference tour saw the LBJ ranch and the library in Austin. But one thing still baffles me. Why do Texans have such fierce pride for the ten year period when it was an independent republic? From 1836 to 1846, Texas was its own country, but the annexation in 1846 (approved of by Sam Houston) spurred the Mexican-American War and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war and made Texas a state. At the Texas State Museum in Austin, there is half a wing dedicated to the Alamo, the war for Texas independence, and the republic. There was exactly one small panel on the Mexican-American War and Texas statehood. This mirrors my experience throughout my time there talking about Texas history. Why the collective memory and identity rooted in the republic and not U.S. statehood?
Originally Posted By utahjosh My guess is because that's something that makes them unique. Also, where does your loyalty lie? To your state, or to your country? Hopefully it's both...
Originally Posted By ecdc Well it's not like it's an accusation, I just find it interesting. Utah mirrors it to a degree—Utahns celebrate July 24 with much more enthusiasm than they do January 4, the day they became a state. But Texas has a reputation for being different. They sell bumper stickers like, "I'm from Texas, what country are you from?" Imagine if Californians spoke like that—I strongly suspect more than a few people would think of them as somehow disloyal to the nation. Yet Texas manages to do it and be seen as unique.
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub They call it the Lone Star State. I know my young grandchildren are born and raised Texans in Kindergarten and first grade. Every day every morn the school begins with The Pledge of Allegiance to the US and ends with the official Texas State Pledge : Honor the Texas Flag I pledge Allegiance to thee, Texas,one State under God, one and indivisible. Anyway googling this brought up: <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.ProCon.org">http://www.ProCon.org</a> It is a non profit organization that discusses the pros and cons of most of the issues we question in our everyday lives.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance My brother in law and his wife just honeymooned at san Antonio on the River Walk. Her family lives there so they went there to honeymoon.
Originally Posted By Tikiduck It goes back to the whole Alamo thing. Texas figures they are the ones who actually fought for their state. Rather than quietly stealing it from Native Americans through corrupt legislation and genocide, they stole it from Santa Anna through illegal occupation and open warfare.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip My understanding (and it's a confusing history so I could be wrong) was that Texas was granted independent Statehood by Mexico with the stipulation that no additional Americans could move there. Mexico wanted the state to serve as a kind of buffer between Mexico and the U.S. Texas pretty much ignored those and additional stipulations. Mexico then attacked Texas to enforce them. They had to defend themselves with no support from the United States. After defeating Santa Anna Texas became an independent Republic before joining the United States. I can kind of see why they feel a very strong allegiance to the State of Texas.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>Every day every morn the school begins with The Pledge of Allegiance to the US and ends with the official Texas State Pledge<< !!!
Originally Posted By Mr X https://www.tsl.texas.gov/ref/abouttx/flagpledge.html "The pledge was again amended by House Bill 1034 during the 80th Legislature with the addition of "one state under God." The revised wording became effective on June 15, 2007." I was wondering when "under God" was added.
Originally Posted By Mr X https://www.tsl.texas.gov/ref/abouttx/flagpledge.html "The pledge was again amended by House Bill 1034 during the 80th Legislature with the addition of "one state under God." The revised wording became effective on June 15, 2007." I was wondering when "under God" was added.
Originally Posted By tiggertoo Interesting question. I think part of it was that Texans in some way already felt a part of the United States. Most of the political leadership and settlers were American, and the most cultural Tejans (Mexican residents) were disaffected by their rulers in Mexico City. Most everyone their wanted to become a state. It was the slavery question that delayed annexation---a series of political wrangling over whether it'll be a slave of free state with neither party wanting to bend. I suppose in their minds, the real battle for statehood came in the War for Texas Independence. There is also a great deal of mystique with the Alamo and the 'noble' battles for independence against the invading armies of Santa Anna---featuring American frontier icons. It's pride inducing. On the other hand, the political battles over statehood and haggling over slavery doesn't have such an honorable ring to it. And if we know anything about Texas, pride---even to hubris---is a rather overt characteristic. But I'm sure there are other societal elements as well. Memorialization is a complex study that delves very deep into the psyche and is often very different from the historical events from which the collective memories are derived.
Originally Posted By tiggertoo Dang it! there, not their. I so hate my typos. There are many more I am sure, but saw this right off.
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>Honor the Texas Flag I pledge Allegiance to thee, Texas,one State under God, one and indivisible.<<< Honestly sometimes you can get the impression that the USA (or in this case Texas) are a theocracy, where government and religion aren't seperated at all.
Originally Posted By Mr X Doesn't one state calling themselves "indivisible" sorta defeat the purpose of calling the nation itself "indivisible" in a different yet similar pledge?
Originally Posted By fkurucz >>Honestly sometimes you can get the impression that the USA (or in this case Texas) are a theocracy, where government and religion aren't seperated at all.<< It's weird, as unlike in many European nations, there isn't an official "state church". And given the very divided state of Christendom in the USA, if there were to be a state church, the many denominations and movements would fight tooth and nail to make sure that their church would be proclaimed the state church. If Texas were to have to select a state church there would probably end up being a civil war between Baptists, Church of Christ and the Catholic Church.
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>It's weird, as unlike in many European nations, there isn't an official "state church". And given the very divided state of Christendom in the USA, if there were to be a state church, the many denominations and movements would fight tooth and nail to make sure that their church would be proclaimed the state church.<<< Most countries in Europe don't have a state church. The countries with a state church are monarchies, like UK, Denmark or Sweden. Here's a list from wikipedia. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_religion">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S...religion</a> I guess I should have worded it differently. I lived for half a year in Ohio and I was surprised how important religion, especially Christianity, was in everyday life. Or how people voted in favour of a presidental candidate because of his religious believes. No one would do that over here.
Originally Posted By fkurucz By the same token, a lot of people here don't really care about a candidate's religious background. Witness how some tried to portray Obama as a closet Muslim. Enough people didn't care to elect him twice. In any case, in the USA there isn't a state church of any kind. That said, some people would love to have one, but then that brings up the question: Which one? Is the USA more religious than Europe? It is. But it's hardly a theocracy. If it was, we wouldn't see the wave of legalization of same sex marriage across the states.
