Books, museums, historic sites and classroom materials to keep exploring the life and times of Sam Houston.
This biography explores the life of Sam Houston and his important role in the development of the Southwest. The book examines the actions and ideas of Sam Houston, relating his life to the broader themes and developments of the time in which he lived. It is a good read for anyone who is interested in the life of Sam Houston, the history of the American Southwest, or the history of Texas.
An engaging story of the Lone Star State from the arrival of humans in the panhandle more than 10,000 years ago to the opening of the twenty-first century. Focusing on the state's successive waves of immigrants the book offers an inclusive view of the vast array of Texans who, often in conflict with each other and always in a struggle with the land, created a history and an idea of Texas. Lucid, engaging, and deftly written it offers a fresh understanding of why Texas continues to be seen as a state unlike any other, a place that distills the essence of what it means to be an American.
Texas is frequently and incorrectly perceived as fundamentally western in its political and social orientation. In fact, most of the settlers of the area were emigrants from the South, and many of these people brought with them their slaves and all aspects of slavery as it had matured in their native states. Campbell reveals how significant slavery was in Texas, and that the "peculiar institution" was perhaps the most important factor in determining the economic development and ideological orientation of the state in the years leading up to the Civil War.
This prize-winning book is the first major biography of Austin in more than seventy years. It at last brings into sharp focus Austin's private life, motives, personality, character, and the skills he employed as a central player in the events leading to the Texas Revolution and the establishment of the Lone Star Republic.
Current historians' views of Texas in the nineteenth century and especially the significance of the Alamo in architecture, art, and film across the years comprise a major element of this volume. Other nineteenth century historical events are also examined through their memorializations in the twentieth century: the construction of Civil War monuments by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, public and private Juneteenth celebrations, and the Tejano memorial on the Capitol grounds commemorating the history of Mexicans in Texas. Exclusively twentieth century chapters include collective memories and meaning attached to the Ku Klux Klan, the significance of the civil rights movement in the eyes of different generations of Texans, and the lasting (or fading) Texan memories of Lyndon Baines Johnson.
Haley's fifteen years of research and writing have produced possibly the most complete, most personal, and most readable Sam Houston biography ever written. Drawn from personal papers never before available as well as the papers of others in Houston's circle, this biography will delight anyone intrigued by Sam Houston, Texas History, Civil War history, or America's tradition of rugged individualism.
The author offers a comprehensive and definitive history of this singular, and singularly American, state. Haley peers through the lens of ordinary men and women who have streamed to Texas from its beginnings and created it in their own contradictory and uncontrollable image. He recovers elements passed over by previous and more prudish generations, and presents documents never before publicized. Haley uses great stories throughout to present the passion of people, and he restores to history important figures who have been allowed to drop from the usual recitation. Here in all its epic grandeur is the story of Texas as its own passionate nation. A history that shows that circumstances can radically change, yet culture and character can last for centuries.
Seguin's memoirs, written in 1842 and first published in 1858, are his apologia for the decisions that denigrated his reputation in Texas. Dr. de la Teja has expertly edited the papers, provided an extensive biographical index, and written a new introduction for the second edition that reconsiders Seguin's significance for all Texans. The book offers a wealth of information for serious historians and a readable and informative account for any person interested in early Texas and the influence of Mexican Texans.
"Cashion and de la Teja have assembled some of the best historians who have chosen to work on Texas subjects in this fresh and stimulating volume. Some of the biographical subjects are well known, some not at all. But all come alive in these provocative and well-written essays, bringing insight and understanding to a particular aspect of the state's dynamic history."
-Ron Tyler, Texas State Historical Association
"A skillful and provocative first novel . . . The Raven's Bride is a study of the way daughters relate to their fathers, the way seduction can fail to segue into long-term commitment, and the way ambition may or may not fit into the context of marriage. Crook's novel reads like a parable of those immemorial preoccupations that just happens to have a nineteenth-century setting . . . The final melancholy enticement of The Raven's Bride is that it transcends its historical trappings."
-Texas Monthly
Star of Destiny draws upon previously unpublished family letters between Sam and Margaret Houston which reveal a deep interdependency between the two. These letters are astonishing in their emotional honesty and they reveal aspects of married life in the nineteenth century that are overlooked by most historians. The letters, which have been unavailable to the public, counteract the myth of the lone hero who conquered the frontier without the support or influence of his family.
Until recently most of these letters were in the possession of Houston descendants. They consist of correspondence between Sam Houston and his wife, and their letters to other family members, family physicians, and close personal friends. Editor Madge Roberts, the great-great granddaughter of Sam and Margaret Houston, found that the personal letters often take the historian one step further than the facts, revealing just how much Houston's private life affected his public actions.
Volume II continues the four-volume series of previously unpublished personal letters to and from Sam Houston. This volume begins March 6, 1846, as Houston leaves Texas to take his place in the U.S. Senate, and ends August 11, 1848 after problems with Oregon have begun and the Mexican War has ended. Included in Houston's letters are his comments on national politics and life in Washington D.C., his descriptions of politicians and their wives, his observations of generals serving in the Mexican War, and his feelings toward being a candidate for the U.S. Presidency. Margaret's letters to her husband reveal the details of plantation life in East Texas in the mid-1800s.
This volume begins in the fall of 1848 as Houston returns to Washington for the Second Session of the Thirtieth Congress after the close of the Mexican War. His first focus was on settling the Texas boundary and other problems relating to the welfare of his state. Once these were solved he seriously considered resigning his Senate seat. However, he sensed the oncoming Civil War and seemed to feel that he should do all in his power to prevent it. Houston's letters reflect the political activities as he struggled to maintain a strong Union stand against the radicals who favored secession.
Volume IV continues with letters from 1852 showing Houston's concern over the approaching Civil War and his hopeless struggle to prevent it. His letters during the Civil War prior to his death reveal his feelings on military strategy and his pride and mixed emotions as his eldest son joins the Confederate Army. In addition, Volume IV includes letters from earlier periods uncovered after the publication of the previous volumes. These letters from his sisters, brother and cousins are particularly interesting because they show concern over Houston's resignation as Governor of Tennessee and (later) the gravity of his San Jacinto wound. They also reveal the feelings of local Tennessee friends on the events in Texas.
This is the first biography of Andrew Jackson in decades. Brands reshapes our understanding of this fascinating man and of the age of democracy that he ushered in. On a majestic, sweeping scale Brands recreates Jackson's rise, capturing his outsized life and deep impact on American history. Brands also explores Jackson's controversial actions, from his unapologetic expansionism to the disgraceful Trail of Tears. This is a portrait in full of the president who defined American democracy.
In Sleuthing the Alamo, historian James E. Crisp draws back the curtain on years of mythmaking to reveal some surprising truths about the Texas Revolution, truths that are often obscured by both racism and political correctness. Beginning with personal observations from the Texas of his youth, Crisp illustrates how he discovered documents that have been distorted, censored, and ignored, and examines some of the powerful forces at work in silencing the voices from the past that we most need to hear today.
In this highly readable history Dr. Stephen Hardin draws on many original Texan and Mexican sources and on-site inspection of almost every battlefield to offer the most complete military history of the Revolution. From the war's opening "Come And Take It" incident at Gonzales to the capture of Santa Anna at San Jacinto, Hardin clearly describes the strategy and tactics of each side. His research yields new knowledge of the actions of famous Texan and Mexican leaders, as well as fascinating descriptions of battle and camp life from the ordinary soldier's point of view.
"This book is a remarkably complete account of what happened to the main force of the Mexican Army between April 21 and the second week of May, 1836. Within these few days an orderly Mexican withdrawal to a defensive position within Texas turned into an unmitigated disaster which sealed the fate of the Mexican campaign of 1836. ...And the icing on the cake is the archaeology...it is hard to exaggerate the satisfaction to be derived from a work of this diligence and precision." -James Crisp
All in all, this book is a breathtaking accomplishment in historical and archaeological investigation.
"Texas Historian Dr. Stephen Hardin’s latest book is his best one. The horrific event known as the “Runaway Scrape” began on March 13, and until now there has never been a comprehensive treatment of it. The social history is all here —family stories, individual experiences, kindness, trauma, romance, heartache, treachery, death, perseverance. Quite simply, it is superb. A huge contribution to Texas that fills in so many blanks. Exodus flows very well and addresses things not found anywhere else. Some books are so dry you can’t get through them. And some have so much flowery rhetoric and soaring prose that a bloodhound couldn’t find the trail. This book hits that sweet center place."
The Sam Houston Memorial Museum
The official web site of the Sam Houston Memorial Museum and Republic of Texas Presidential Library
The Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center
The official web site of the Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center
Historic Rockbridge County, Lexington, and Buena Vista Virginia
Travel information for visiting this beautiful part of the Shenandoah Valley where Sam Houston was born.
The official web site of the Sam Houston Schoolhouse in Maryville, TN
Horseshoe Bend National Military Park
The official web site of Horseshoe Bend National Military Park
Washington-On-The-Brazos State Historic Site
A Texas Historical Commission site about Washington-On-The-Brazos, the site where the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed
The official web site of the Alamo
Goliad State Park & Historic Site
A web site of Texas Parks and Wildlife about Goliad State Park
The San Jacinto Museum of History
The official web site of the San Jacinto Museum of History
Primary Source set for Sam Houston
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The Home of Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson's Life and Times
Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia
A lecture by Dr. H.W. Brands from The University of Texas at Austin
National Museum of the American Indian
The official web site of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C.
The official web site of the Cherokee Nation
The Five Civilized Tribes Museum in Muskogee, Oklahoma
Trail of Tears National Historic Park
A U.S. National Historic Park dedicated to the Trail of Tears
An examination of the spread of slavery into the borderlands between the U.S. and Mexico from 1820-1850. Contains a database of slave and slaveholder populations, interactive maps, digitized original documents, etc.
Formerly "Voices From the Days of Slavery." Four million American slaves were freed at the conclusion of the Civil War. Only twenty-six recordings of the voices of former slaves have been found. This collection at the Library of Congress captures the stories of former slaves in their own words and voices.
Educational resources for Tennessee History
Tennessee State Library and Archives
The official web site of the Tennessee Library and Archives
American Association for State and Local History
The official web site of the AASLH
The official web site of the Tennessee Historical Society
The official web site of the Tennessee State Museum
East Tennessee Historical Society
The official web site of the East Tennessee Historical Society
Texas State Historical Association Online
Huge, comprehensive site of information about Texas and its history
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas Treasures Online Exhibit of Historical Documents and Artifacts
The official web site of the Texas Historical Commission
Atlas, Cemeteries, Historical Markers, Heritage Travel, Museums, etc.
Tennessee Historical Commission
The official web site of the Tennessee Historical Commission
Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library
The Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, now housed at the Bexar County Archives in San Antonio
Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum
The official site of the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin, TX
The official site of George Ranch Historical Park in Richmond, TX
Nashville and Tennessee History
Nashville Public Library – Special Collections
Tennessee Department of Education
The official web site of the Tennessee Department of Education
