Political Science

Slavery in Texas
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Introduction
The institution of slavery has been harbored by almost every society or region on earth (Perbi, 2001). In a bid to flee from enslavement, three slaves, Tivi, Marian, and Richard escaped Louisiana in 1819 and moved to Tejas, one of the then Mexican provinces on the northern part of the United States that was later known as Texas. At that moment, ethnic Mexicans formed the majority of the population that inhabited the area (Beamish, 2017). After that, Texas became the home to an ever-increasing population of slaves until 1865 when Gordon abolished the institution. The migration of enslavers into the region was mostly responsible for the increase in the population of slaves in Texas as they moved with their slaves into the area. Therefore, the rise of slavery in Texas is attributed to the influx of Anglo-American settlers. Even though the slavery institution fostered the development of the agricultural sector in Texas, it hindered the development of commerce and industry.
The Origin of Slavery in Texas
When Texas was still a Spanish province, few slaves lived in the area (Campbell, 2010). According to Campbell, slavery was not a significant institution in the area at that moment. Settlers were encouraged to bring slaves into the region by being given eighty acres of land for each of the slaves that they owned. This implies that economic reasons were largely behind the influx of slaves in Texas. The labor provided by the slaves would be used in growing cotton, which was the most valuable item in the early 19th century Atlantic world.

Therefore, slave owners regarded slavery as a practical necessity in the region, as they offered the most profitable way of growing cotton in the fertile lands of the area. Stephen F. Austin reiterated the vital role that cotton could play in improving their economy by stating that cotton was the only sure way of eradicating poverty from the area. Stephen also observed that growing cotton on the farmlands would be impossible without the input of slave labor.
A significant number of early slaveholders only had a few slaves. However, few enslavers owned many slaves that were capable of building plantations. Jared Groce is one of the first enslavers that owned many slaves (Campbell, 2010). Jared arrived in Texas in 1822 from Alabama. The enslaver owned 90 slaves that allowed him to build a plantation. The census carried out by Austin in 1825 revealed that there were 423 slaves in Texas out of the 1,800 individuals that inhabited the land. However, Mexico opposed the slavery institution in Texas even as enslavers continued to build plantations on the Colorado and Brazos rivers. Mexican leaders opposed slavery on two fronts. Firstly, they did not regard slavery as a prerequisite to their economic development. Moreover, revolutionary idealism also fought against the institution. Consequently, the leaders threatened to either limit or entirely abolish slavery in the region.
The Federal Constitution and Slavery
The 1824 Federal Constitution did not mention the institution as indicated by Campbell. However, the 1827 Constitution barred enslavers from reintroducing slaves into the area (Campbell, 2010). In addition, it stated that all children born to slaves after their arrival in Texas were free at birth. The new slave laws that appeared to limit the influx of slaves in the state sounded terrible to the ears of the enslavers that were benefitting hugely from the cheap labor offered by slaves. However, some leaders supported the use of slaves as a source of cheap labor on the plantations. As a result, they advocated for the passing of a law that would allow the entry of slaves in Texas using a different name. The new law required slaves to sign contracts with their masters before coming to Texas. Under the agreements, the slaves were free. However, they and their children were indentured to their masters for the rest of their lives. Even though President Vicente Guerrero abolished slavery in Mexico in 1829, the President exempted the state of Texas from the law few months following the declaration.
From the actions of the state government of Texas and Coahuila and the national government of Mexico, the threats to destroy or limit slavery in Mexico always provided a loophole for the continuation of the practice in Texas. Some of the slaveholders decided to leave Texas, especially the Old South for fear that the Mexican government would abolish the institution entirely (Campbell, 2010). According to Campbell, the immigration of some of the settlers out of Texas reduced the number of slaves in the state. By 1836, there were only 5,000 slaves in Texas out of the population of 38,470. The population of slaves could have been higher had some of the slaveholders remained in the state. Disputes associated with slavery played a significant background role in the Texas Revolution between 1835 and 186 since slavery occupied the minds of all the people that participated in the revolution.
The fear among Texans was that the Mexicans would free their slaves or cause servile insurrection (Campbell, 2010). When the state eventually gained independence, they strived to remove all the fears among the Texans. Therefore, Texans no longer feared that their dominion over slaves was threatened. According to Section 9 of the Texas Constitution after independence, all slaves were bound to remain in the servitude state. The Constitution also barred the Congress from passing any laws that would prohibit the entry of slaves into the country, just like the case in the United States. The Constitution also revealed that the Congress did not have the power to free slaves besides prohibiting slaveholders from emancipating their slaves without the consent of the Congress. From the provisions of the Constitution, it is clear that the issue of slavery was always at the forefront of the agenda of the Texans even though it was not portrayed as the primary issue that led to the revolution.
The Constitution favored the institution thereby resulting in its rapid expansion throughout the state. In 1845 when Texas joined the United States, there were at least 30,000 slaves in the country. The state witnessed the rapid growth of the institution even after it joined the USA. By 1850, the number of enslaved people had grown by 27.4% to 58,161 out of the 212,592 individuals that lived in the state (Campbell, 2010). The rapid growth of the institution reveals one of the main reasons for the secession of Texas from Mexico and the decision of its leaders to join the United States. In 1860, the population of slaves had risen to 182,566 thus representing approximately 30% of the total population. The graph below shows the population of slaves and slaveholders in Texas between 1837 and 1845. From the graph, it is evident that the population of slaves increased from about 4000 to 21000 between the periods. At the same time, the population of slaveholders rose from approximately 600 to 3600 over the same period.

Figure 1: Slaves and Slaveholder Population between 1837 and 1845 (Torget, 2008)
The Cost and Sources of Slaves
As noted earlier, the significant majority of the slaves accompanied their masters to the state from other states in the United States. However, the domestic slave trade was also responsible for a sizeable number of the enslaved individuals in Texas. In the Deep South lay New Orleans, the center of slave trade. Houston and Galveston were the other areas that contained many slave dealers. The illegal African trade was responsible for a limited number of the slaves that continued entering Texas. The continued expansion of slave trade inflated the average price of a slave from $400 to $800 between 1850 and 1860 with male slaves in their prime age costing about $1,200. Blacksmiths and other skilled slaves cost more than $2,000. At the same time, the price of a fertile one-acre piece of land used to grow cotton in the state was $6 (Campbell, 2010). Even though the institution expanded rapidly throughout the state, it flourished along the riverbanks that provided inexpensive transportation and fertile soils.
Slavery in Texas: an Economic and Social Institution
Therefore, slavery was an economic institution in Texas since slaveholders used the cheap labor provided by the slaves to produce cotton and sell them at a profit. Besides cotton, slaveholders also used slaves in the production of sugar. Slaves also cultivated food crops that sustained the families of their masters and themselves. However, it is unclear and challenging to understand the impact of slavery on economic development even though there is no argument towards its contribution to the development of the agricultural sector. The institution was responsible for the 600% rise in cotton production in the 1850s (Campbell, 2010). It would also be proper to argue that slavery retarded industrialization and commercialization. Enslavers were unwilling to participate in industry and commerce because of their satisfaction with slaves working on their plantations. The slaveholders were reluctant to engage in commerce and industry even when they knew that the engagement would generate more profits. Therefore, slavery played a massive role in impeding industrialization and commercialization in Texas.
Rather than being an economic institution, slavery also turned out to be a social institution in Texas just like other regions (Acharya et al., 2016). Slaveholders that owned more than twenty slaves were regarded among the wealthiest classes thus representing the social ideal for other Texans. Slavery also embodied the fundamental racial perspectives in the state. The whites considered blacks as an inferior race. As a result, they strived to ensure that the blacks remained an inferior race. The Texas law on slavery granted them some rights despite prohibiting all efforts towards the emancipation of slaves. The ‘personal property’ legal status is one of the rights. The law allowed the purchasing, selling, mortgaging, and hiring out of slaves. The law lacked a provision that allowed slaves to gain freedom. They also lacked property rights as well as legal rights of family and marriage. Slaveholders had the right to discipline their slaves if the punishment did not amount to death or loss of the limb. It was not until June 19, 1865, that slavery formerly ended in Texas following Gordon Granger’s declaration of the emancipation of all slaves in the state.
Conclusion
Slavery became a significant institution in Texas following the arrival of Anglo-Americans in the state. These slaveholders moved to the region with the objective of using free slave labor to build cotton and sugar plantations on the rich agricultural lands. Before the secession of the state from Mexico, the Mexican government strived to limit or abolish the institution amidst the colossal rebellion and resistance from the affluent leaders in Texas that were slaveholders. Slavery contributed to the growth of the agricultural sector even though it also hindered the development of commerce and industry, as the enslavers were comfortable with the slaves working on their farms. The slavery institution in Texas was finally prohibited in 1865 following Gordon’s declaration that all slaves were to be emancipated.
References
Acharya, A., Blackwell, M., & Sen, M. (2016). The political legacy of American slavery. The Journal of Politics, 78(3), 621-641.
Beamish, I. (2017). Capitalism and Second Slavery in Texas. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321988434_Capitalism_and_Second_Slavery_in_TexasCampell, R.B. (2010). Handbook of Texas Online: Slavery. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved from: https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/yps01Perbi, A. (2001). Slavery and the slave trade in pre-colonial Africa. Paper delivered on 5th April.
Torget, A.J. (2008). Texas Slavery Project. Retrieved from: http://www.texasslaveryproject.org/database/graphs/graphs/percentage_slaves_slaveholders.html