Immigration and citizenship – German emigrants in Texas in the first half of the 19th century

Abstract

Texas was part of Mexico from 1821, became an independent republic in 1836 and in 1845 was annexed to the United States. This region became popular among the Germans settlers because a lot of works were written about it that concentrated on the advantages of the territory. Another pull factor was that the Mexican government and the Republic of Texas passed several liberal colonization laws to attract colonists. In my paper, I would like to present some aspects of German immigration to Texas focusing on one of the organizations (the so-called Adelsverein) that was created to help immigration to the North American continent. I will also try to answer the question how the Germans became citizens of their new homeland.