The History of Texas

The most comprehensive, best-illustrated survey of the Lone Star State—the new, updated edition of the classic text

The History of Texas offers a sweeping exploration of the Lone Star State, covering its history from the pre-Columbian period, to the era of Spanish control, to nineteenth century watershed events, through the 1900s and into the new millennium. This engaging, student-friendly textbook looks at how people of diverse politics, identity, class, ethnicity, and race shaped the state’s past and continue to influence its present. Recent knowledge on the political, social, and cultural history of Texas provides insights on the celebrated figures, unsung heroes, and ordinary people of the state’s past. 

The sixth edition of this classic text has been revised and updated to reflect the latest scholarship in all fields of Texas history, among them New Indian History and cultural and gender studies. The text offers fresh perspectives on Texas history, including discussions of the Progressive Era, the Great Depression, the Second World War and post-war modernization, and the state’s transition during the 1960s and into the 1980s. Revised chapters provide wide-ranging coverage of Texas in the late 20^th and early 21^st centuries, including recent statewide and national elections and political debates. This textbook:

• Connects events in post-World War II Texas to the larger U.S. historical narrative
• Offers substantial coverage of events occurring from 1900 to 2018
• Uses a chronological approach to divide chapters into easily identifiable eras
• Includes engaging illustrations, maps, and tables, an appendix, and inclusive lists of recommended readings
• Features online resources for students and instructors, including a test bank, maps, presentation slides, and more 

Effectively organized to better meet the needs of instructors, The History of Texas is the ideal resource for undergraduate and graduate courses in Texas history at colleges and universities across both the state and the nation.

Robert A. Calvert was an American historian and professor at Texas A&M University, best known for his scholarship and textbook on the history of Texas.

Arnoldo De León is Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus, Angelo State University. He is a Fellow of the Texas State Historical Association, and author of several works on Texas and Mexican American history.

Gregg Cantrell is the Erma and Ralph Lowe Chair in Texas History at Texas Christian University. He is author and editor of numerous works on Texas history, and Fellow and former President of the Texas State Historical Association.

List of Maps

Preface and Acknowledgments

Timeline

Chapter 1 Contact of Civilizations, 1521–1721

Chapter 2 Spaniards in a Far Northern Frontera, 1721–1821

Chapter 3 Mexican Texas, 1821–1836

Chapter 4 Launching a Nation, 1836–1848

Chapter 5 Statehood, Secession, and Civil War, 1848–1865

Chapter 6 The Era of Reconstruction, 1865–1876

Chapter 7 A Frontier Society in Transition, 1876–1886

Chapter 8 Texas in the Age of Agrarian Discontent, 1886–1900

Chapter 9 Texas in the Progressive Era, 1900–1929

Chapter 10 Texas and the Great Depression, 1929–1941

Chapter 11 War, Prosperity, and Modernization, 1941–1960

Chapter 12 Texas in Transition, 1960–1986

Chapter 13 A New Texas? 1986–2001

Chapter 14 Into the New Millennium, 2001–2018

Appendix

Index