Texas: A Contest of Civilization , by George P. Garrison . [American Commonwealths Series.] (New York and Boston: Houghton, Mifflin &Co. 1903. Pp., 311.)
The above is the title of a most interesting book from the pen of Dr. George P. Garrison, Professor of History in the University of Texas, which is just issued.
A glance at the list of authors of the volumes already published and of those in preparation shows that the editor of the series has used rare judgment in selecting and has been fortunate in securing the services of distinguished men. It was with pride that some time ago I heard that Dr. Garrison had been invited to enter this goodly company. Since his work has been completed and his book put before the public, I feel that congratulations should be extended and the “goodly company” be felicitated in finding Dr. Garrison among themselves.
Were it not for the first sentence of the preface, the book might be mistaken for a history of Texas. The author, however, declares that this is not so, and I feel constrained to yield this much to his superior information, and say it is not a history of Texas, but is a history of the growth of Texas.
Then two things which tend most to prevent general reading of history are: First, the interminable detail with which the average historian proses along, and second, the persistency with which he thrusts personalities forward. What does the ordinary reader care, whether John Smith or Peter Jones commanded in a certain battle or whether he had 1700 or 1900 men? What he and his army and the man on the other side and his army were fighting about—is the real question. What forces, political, social, religious, or financial, brought on the issue, which opposed it, how the conflict was waged, and how determined, and what was the effect on the life and habits and development of the contending parties. Surely a certain meed of praise is due to those who have striven for the right and a certain amount of censure to those who have upheld the wrong, but these personal matters are merely incidental. The great question is, What of the State, in all its diversified life and varied interests? How and why did it originate? What forces have directed its destiny and what is the outcome, in its present status and institutions?
If this be a correct theory of history writing, all lovers of Texas should be grateful to Dr. Garrison for the way in which he has illustrated it in the book under consideration. Beginning with the earliest records he has patiently searched out and tried all possible sources of information, and having faithfully performed this wearying labor, he comes to us with the wrought out results, the finished product of his mind. His the toil and the pain, ours the benefit and the pleasure.
Probably the most noticeable thing about the book, after the absence of detail, is its breadth of view. Matters which the mere local historian would deem little more than neighborhood quarrels, from the author's broader information are shown to result from revolutions in Europe, or diplomacy, or treachery of men high in official position in the United States. So throughout the work, nothing is dealt with as purely local, but everything it looked upon as a part of the world's march of progress. The book ought to do good in forcing Texans away from provincialism.
While the work is free from tedious personal detail, it yet gives some most interesting insight into individual character. Take for ilustration the portrayal of the self-suppression of Stephen F. Austin in his endeavor to obtain the approval of the federal government of Mexico of the proposed State constitution of Texas, prepared by the convention of 1833. Similar character touches appear throughout the book.
Special emphasis is given to the presence, insistence, growth, and success of the sentiment in favor of public education in Texas, and of the system of schools established in response to it.
Perhaps too little is said of religious matters except in connection with the early Spanish Mexican missions, and in vindication of Austin from charges of insincerity in regard to the terms of his contracts regarding Catholicism. So far as the Republic and State are concerned, it is only by inference that we have any idea as to the prevailing religion or its influence upon the growth and destiny of the people.
The book treats quite clearly the effects of European politics, if contentions between different nations, each seeking its own interest, can be called by that name, upon the settlement and development of the country and its governmental institutions up to the time of annexation. It gives tersely, but accurately, the general situation of the country when Austin sought and obtained permission to plant his colony, and the responsibilities undertaken by him in carrying out the scheme. “The final decree conferring the grant gave Austin authority under direct responsibility to the Governor of Texas and the general commandant of the Eastern Internal Provinces to organize the colony into a body of militia commanded by himself; to administer justice and to preserve good order and tranquillity.” How crude and unorganized were the social and political conditions under which such a grant could emanate from a government or be carried out among a people. We hear much of “one man power,” but seldom do we find a more ultra example of centralization of authority than here. Austin was the sole depository of all military authority and at the same time were united in him full legislative, judicial, and executive jurisdictions, subject only to his responsibility to the distant government. The reviewer most heartily concurs in the opinion expressed by the deputation of Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, and Texas, that Austin needed no help from them as “his powers under the decree of the general government were ample.” The people with whom Austin had to deal as colonists were accustomed to self-government, and Austin knew their genius and temper; so, while he kept general supervision and reserved authority in himself for use in emergencies, he exercised most of this “ample power” by coöperating with and supplementing the efforts at local self-government which the colonists were ever putting forth in their several communities.
The book gives quite clearly the numerous and widely variant causes which led to the Texas Revolution and deals in a very interesting way with that unique period in our history. The incidents of the Consultation of 1835, which desired to secede from Coahuila, but remain in the Mexican Republic, are quite graphically portrayed. And the story of that remarkable example of a “house divided against itself,” the provisional government, and the war of words among its members is clearly told. The convention of 1836, and its permanent work come in for a due share of praise, but the author does not think much of the scheme of the government ad interim, a plan whose single element of strength was found in the provision that its powers should be determined by a majority vote of its own members. The stirring military events of the Revolution are given in a most rational way, special emphasis being laid on the fall of the Alamo and the heroism of Travis and its other defenders. The days and doings of the Republic find careful consideration. The delicacy of the foreign relations and the effect of the pro-slavery and anti-slavery sentiment upon the question of annexation are interestingly presented. The ever recurring question of Texan boundaries is dealt with, and also the causes of the Mexican war. Then come the days of the statehood, with their unexampled progress, checked only, first by the State's ineffectual efforts to get out of the Union, and second by the equally disastrous methods of getting it back, after it had failed to get out.
The book concludes with a chapter, on “The Texas of Today.” This is full of interesting and important information, and the facts enumerated speak volumes for the Texas of tomorrow.
Taken altogether, the book is readable, interesting, and instructive.
John C. Townes .
How to cite:
Townes, John C., "Texas: A Contest of Civilization", Volume 007, Number 1, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online, Page 77 - 80. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v007/n1/review_26.html
[Accessed Tue Nov 24 0:01:55 CST 2009]
