The story of Texas and the people who lived in it far precedes the popularized narratives of the 1836 battles of the Alamo and San Jacinto.
Historian Sam W. Haynes has focused on 19th century Texas in order to present a new interpretation of the founding of Texas.
Haynes’ 2022 book Unsettled Land: From Revolution to Republic, the Struggle for Texas focuses on the origins and aftermath of the Texas Revolution, and how Native Americans, Mexicans, and Americans battled for survival.
The book later led to the interactive digital map, Texas in Turmoil: Mapping Interethnic Violence, 1821-79, which explores over 3,000 points of interracial conflict and violence from Mexican independence to the end of the Indian Wars.
Haynes emphasizes that modern day Texas was a convergence of Mexican, Anglo, and indigenous cultures.
“It’s important to remember that Texas is one of the most ethnically diverse regions on the North American continent in the early decades of the 19th century,” said Haynes. “The book and the website are part of the same goal to understand this extraordinarily diverse place.”
Haynes said conversations around the Alamo and the Texas Revolution have largely been Anglo-centric.
He said both the book and map present a new perspective on why conflict often broke out in the state and beyond.
“We’re not changing the narrative because of the diversity of Texas now -- we’re changing the narrative because of the diversity of Texas then,” he said. “It was always diverse and there was always interethnic and interracial conflict.”
Click here to explore the map.
