Nah, what you wrote is fine -- I'm not going to blame you for the acts of your ancestors, and about a decade back a couple of friends of mine lost the house they were renting due to "Eminent Domain", because the city government said they *NEEDED* that location, so I can understand your family's feelings about having the land "wrested" from you.
In any case, the dirty little secret about the Texian Republic is this: Many of the founders were slave owners, and one of the reasons why they wanted to be independent of the US was because long before the American Civil War, the US Congress passed a number of laws which severely restricted the spread of slavery into new territories... and even though none of the laws in place when Texas was founded would have prevented them from owning slaves, the Founding Fathers of Texas believed that within a generation or so the US was going to abolish slavery, and so they left the US for Mexico.
But the plan all went wrong: in 1824, Mexico ratified a new Constitution which effectively banned slavery... and by 1829, all the slaves in Mexico had been freed... except for the ones owned by the Anglos in Tejas. To side-step the issue, the Anglos claimed that their slaves were actually "Indentured Servants for Life", but the Mexican government never bought that story... and when the Texians revolted in 1836, their new Constitution not only made slavery legal again, but it said that A TEXIAN SLAVEOWNER COULD NOT FREE THEIR SLAVES WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE TEXIAN CONGRESS, UNLESS THE FREED SLAVES IMMEDIATELY LEFT TEXAS!
I won't claim that the issue of slavery was the only reason why Mexico attacked the Texian Republic... but I think it's fair to say that it was a significant factor.
Wow, that's awesome! I'd read of the slave issue being a factor for some states, like Oregon has a weird history with it (which I'm not sure I can adequately and correctly summarize myself), but I think it's awesomely ironic and great that Mexico banned slavery :D Ha!
Also that side that settled in Fort Worth, as far as I know, were slave owners in Virginia. Now I'm wondering just when they moved over there. Hm. While I don't feel horribly guilty because, as you say, I can't really be blamed for my ancestors' mistakes, it still feels weird, you know? I should learn more about Texas, it looks like!
In any case, the dirty little secret about the Texian Republic is this: Many of the founders were slave owners, and one of the reasons why they wanted to be independent of the US was because long before the American Civil War, the US Congress passed a number of laws which severely restricted the spread of slavery into new territories... and even though none of the laws in place when Texas was founded would have prevented them from owning slaves, the Founding Fathers of Texas believed that within a generation or so the US was going to abolish slavery, and so they left the US for Mexico.
But the plan all went wrong: in 1824, Mexico ratified a new Constitution which effectively banned slavery... and by 1829, all the slaves in Mexico had been freed... except for the ones owned by the Anglos in Tejas. To side-step the issue, the Anglos claimed that their slaves were actually "Indentured Servants for Life", but the Mexican government never bought that story... and when the Texians revolted in 1836, their new Constitution not only made slavery legal again, but it said that A TEXIAN SLAVEOWNER COULD NOT FREE THEIR SLAVES WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE TEXIAN CONGRESS, UNLESS THE FREED SLAVES IMMEDIATELY LEFT TEXAS!
I won't claim that the issue of slavery was the only reason why Mexico attacked the Texian Republic... but I think it's fair to say that it was a significant factor.
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Also that side that settled in Fort Worth, as far as I know, were slave owners in Virginia. Now I'm wondering just when they moved over there. Hm. While I don't feel horribly guilty because, as you say, I can't really be blamed for my ancestors' mistakes, it still feels weird, you know? I should learn more about Texas, it looks like!
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