Texians were Anglo-American residents of Mexican Texas and, later, the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Mex ...

. Today, the term is used to identify early settlers of Texas, especially those who supported the Texas Revolution. Mexican settlers of that era are referred to as Tejanos, and residents of modern Texas are known as

Texans A Texan is a person associated with Texas, US. Texan may also refer to: Aircraft * T-6 Texan, World War II era training plane * T-6 Texan II, airplane used by the United States Air Force for basic pilot training * Fly Synthesis Texan, an Ita ...

History

Colonial settlement

Many different immigrant groups came to Texas over the centuries. Spanish colonists in the 17th century linked Texas to the rest of New Spain. French and English traders and settlers arrived in the 18th century, and more numerous German, Dutch,

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

, Irish,

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

, Scots-Irish, and Welsh immigrated in the years leading up to Texas independence in 1836. Before Texas became a sovereign nation in 1836, Texian referred to any resident, of any color or language. In 18341836, the Texian Army was organized for the Texas Revolution of independence from Mexico, a nation which had won its independence from Spain in 1821. The Texian Army was a diverse group of people from many different nations and states. The Texian Army was composed of

Tejano Tejanos (, ; singular: ''Tejano/a''; Spanish for "Texan", originally borrowed from the Caddo ''tayshas'') are the residents of the state of Texas who are culturally descended from the Mexican population of Tejas and Coahuila that lived in the ...

volunteers, volunteers from the Southern United States; and people from England, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Portugal, and what is now the Czech Republic. Used in this sense, terms like "Texian Army", "Texian forces", or "Texian troops" would refer to any of the inhabitants of Texas, in that era, who participated in the Texas Revolution.

Republic of Texas

Texian was a popular

demonym A demonym (; ) or gentilic () is a word that identifies a group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (hamlet, village, town, city, region, province, ...

, used by Texas colonists, for all the people of the

(1836-1846), before it became a U.S. state. This term was used by early colonists and public officials, including many Texas residents, and President Mirabeau Lamar frequently used it to foster Texas nationalism. Over time, the English-speaking Americans in Texas began to champion the usage of ''"Texan"'' instead of "Texian". Overwhelming numbers in the United States used the term Texan. Due to the 19th-century influx of Americans into the Republic and later U.S. state of Texas, Texan became the standard term after 1850. The '' Texas Almanac'' of 1857 bemoaned the shift in usage, saying

"Texian...has more euphony, and is better adapted to the conscience of poets who shall hereafter celebrate our deeds in sonorous strains than the harsh, abrupt, ungainly, appellation, Texan—impossible to rhyme with anything but the merest doggerel."

The ''Almanac'' continued to use the earlier term until 1868. Many who had lived through the times of Revolution and Republic continued to call themselves Texians into the 20th century.

Armed forces

* Texian Militia * Texian Navy

References

External links