On December 21, 1826, a small group of American settlers in Nacogdoches, then part of Mexican Texas, issued a bold declaration of independence from Mexico. Their action marked the opening act of the Fredonian Rebellion, an ill-fated but historically significant uprising that foreshadowed the…
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On October 22, 1836, Sam Houston was inaugurated as the first President of the Republic of Texas, a pivotal moment in the young nation’s fight for independence. This event came after a series of historic battles and political struggles that had culminated in the…
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In the predawn hours of October 2, 1835, a column of Mexican dragoons rode toward the small frontier settlement of Gonzales. Their mission, routine in the eyes of Mexican authorities, would prove incendiary: they had come to reclaim a small cannon loaned to the…
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On September 9, 1850, President Millard Fillmore staved off a potential civil war and stopped the spread of slavery in the United States by signing the Compromise of 1850. The compromise consisted of several legislative measures that were designed to balance the interests of…
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On the night of August 13, 1906, the small border town of Brownsville, Texas, became the stage for one of the most notorious miscarriages of justice in U.S. military history. The 25th Infantry Regiment—an all-Black unit with a distinguished service record—had been stationed at…
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Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in the United States. The first Juneteenth was celebrated on June 19, 1865, marking a pivotal moment in American history and symbolizing the end of slavery in the…
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By late spring 1865, the Confederacy was collapsing in pieces. Richmond had fallen, Lee had surrendered at Appomattox, and President Jefferson Davis was a fugitive. Yet the vast expanse of the Trans-Mississippi—stretching from Texas to Arkansas and parts of Louisiana—remained a Confederate holdout, largely…
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Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, better known as Bonnie and Clyde, are among the most infamous figures in American criminal history. Their violent escapades during the Great Depression era captivated the nation and etched their names into the annals of American folklore as legendary bank robbers.…
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The Thornton Affair, also known as the Thornton Skirmish, served as one of the most consequential fights in American history. On April 25, 1846, Americans and Mexicans found themselves in a standoff near the Rio Grande, just north of present-day Brownsville, Texas. The incident…
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On March 1, 1845, President John Tyler signed a congressional joint resolution approving the annexation of the Republic of Texas into the United States—an event that profoundly shaped the nation’s territorial growth and foreign policy. The decision marked the culmination of nearly a decade…
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