Prince uncovers 19th-century plot to make Texas German

The Scotsman ^ | Fri 5 Sep 2003 | ALLAN HALL IN BERLIN

[GOP Jedi]

Dang, this sounds just like the plot of a Flashman novel. I could see Sir Harry drinking the Brit agent under the table and pinching his message just because he doesn't like the blighter, and Queen and Country be damn'd ... he definitely doesn't like the Prussians.

[ellery]

wow

[Held_to_Ransom]

Interesting story, though I think that the effort was generally viewed as a British plot at the time. In any case, that was where the blame was laid that got Congress to go after getting Texas.

The story does fit perfectly though, and there was a large number of Germans in Texas who went on to produce the highest grade of cotton on the American market before the Civil War. Their cotton got a penny more a pound on the market (when a penny had real meaning) and they produeced it solely without the use of slaves.

This caused a lot of grief in Texas before and during the Civil War, and the Germans areas were practically in open revolt against the government of Texas from secession on. There is a famous fairwell speech given a Texan in Congress right before the war that was interrupted by visitors screaming at him from the gallery when he blames the fighting in Texas before Fort Sumter on the slaves and not on the Germans who were responsible it. Germans also played a major role in Missouri in keeping it from turning traitor.

[nutmeg]

ping!

Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.

[Gamecock]

Texas, Texas uber alles...

[eddie willers]

he was met by a US spy who drank him under the table and intercepted the information that was then sent to the White House."

Three Margaritas at Austin's El Rancho should do it.

[Lunatic Fringe]

Im glad it failed... Bratwurst and Dos Equis do not mix.

[1rudeboy]

I should've posted a link to the following thread earlier. Also, I was traveling in Germany when John Wayne died. It made the headline of every paper. Huge headlines, in fact.

German Who Brought Cowboys To the Rhineland Wins Fans in U.S.

[pepsionice]

This lays out an interesting scenario. What if....the mass part of what we consider Texas today...had turned into a German Republic in the 1840s? With strong German immigration...it would have been fairly populated by the 1860s. This German Republic would have had a significant impact on the civil war...possibly delaying this entire war by 10 years or so because of American worries about the German Republic. Its also likely that the US government would have eventually taken on the Germans and started a Texas war....to ensure that the region stayed American. Lots of scenarios here.

[LibertyAndJusticeForAll]

This is better than the Zimmerman Telegram!

Now if they'd stayed they might have found oil a little later.

[lonestar]

Lone Star and Schnitzal ????

yep!

[Consort]

Ich Habe Sporen Jenen Jingle Jangle Jingle Erhalten.

[Timesink]

What a RENAISSANCE MAN!!!

Damn, you beat me to it!

[tubebender]

Ah...the mystery is solved. I always wondered why my Dads parents settled in South West Texas (Quero?) in the 1890s. My mothers German parents were already there.

[norton]

Kerrville is about my favorite place of all.

[okie01]

"I would imagine that they'd probably bring it through US ports. I don't really know."

True. At the time, the easiest route to the Texas interior was thru the port of New Orleans, thence up the Mississippi and Red Rivers to Natchitoches, Louisiana.

The Old San Antonio Road, the emigration route from the U.S. used by Moses Austin and his followers, began at Natchitoches and continued thru Nacogdoches, Texas down to San Antonio.

Thus, it was easier to reach East and Central Texas via New Orleans than via the lesser port of Galveston.

[okie01]

"we Texans are now well aware that locations founded and settled by German immigrants are some of the finest and most colorful communities in Texas. (Schulenberg, Kerrville, New Braunfels, Lueders, Fredericksburg, etc. come to mind.)"

Let's not be forgetting Shiner (and its Spoetzl Brewery)...

[SolidSupplySide]

The prince added that Britain considered sending military equipment overland from California.

I doubt this would have been practical.

The Americans would not have allowed Britain to send the military equipment through California. That would have violated the Monroe Doctrine.

Secondly, even if the Americans allowed Britain to send arms overland, the Mexicans would have intercepted them before they got to Texas. Mexico had no interest in seeing a rearmed Texas. Mexico still considered Texas a Mexican province. Mexico would have been opposed to this anglo-saxon scheme.

[July 4th]

Yeah, that's a big whoops.

[okie01]

"(Quero?)"

Cuero.

Which is pronounced "Quero"...