The history of Texas is as vast as its environment and, upon a closer look, equally as complex.
A criticism of the more widely-circulated history of Texas is that it neglects, or even erases, the contributions and lived experiences of those who don’t fit the dominant narrative. Historians have also struggled to strike a balance between telling the state’s story – steeped in ruggedness, perseverance and triumph – with one that shines a light on periods of conflict and oppression.
But as researchers and scholars continue to look back at the people who made Texas what it is today, a more robust and colorful tapestry of the state’s story emerges.
One of those historians is Benjamin Heber Johnson, a professor of history at Loyola University in Chicago. He grew up in Houston and just released a new book entitled “Texas: An American History.”
He spoke with Texas Standard about the book and the impact of Texas’ historical memory on the nation. Listen to the interview above or read the transcript below.
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
Texas Standard: What are some of the Texas stories you bring to the forefront that many might not know?
Benjamin Heber Johnson: I try to strike a balance between hitting some familiar stories that probably anyone who picks up a Texas history book is familiar with, but showing that maybe there are things about them that they didn’t know. Maybe they’re a little more interesting.
But also, as your question asks, to just include subjects that we don’t usually think of as a part of Texas history.
So to take one example, the modern, professional sports franchise with branded merchandise, relying on statistical analysis that is plugged into halftime entertainment and televised and now streaming … that is really an invention of the Dallas Cowboys. They are kind of the prototype of the modern sports franchise and their incredible financial success inspired a set of copycats. Everyone saw how successful they were and essentially started to do some version of the same thing.
Fascinating. I know you’ve been researching Texas history for a long time and are probably used to finding interesting stories. Was there anything that surprised you in putting this book together?
I think one of my favorite tidbits relates to gun control in the 19th century, where you would think, Texas, you know, we assume it’s basically a conservative place and it’s larger-than-life and rambunctious and violent.
But in the 1860s, ’70s and ’80s and all the way up, really, until the 20th century, there were very aggressive measures to control guns and large knives, brass knuckles and other weapons – allowing municipalities and places of business to insist that those things be given up when people entered the town limits or when they entered a particular business.
What would you say is the way historical memory continues to shape Texas’ identity?
I mean, that, to me, is one of the real joys of studying Texas. And, you know, as I remind my readers at several points in the book, I grew up here and a lot of my interest in Texas history just comes from my own childhood and how strongly the historical memory of Texas was fostered right from “Go Texan” days to school trips to the Alamo to a whole seventh grade class on Texas history. And then, of course, the museums and markers and monuments and historical sites.
So, you know, I think Texas is arguably much more obsessed with its own past and invested into its own distinctive past more than anywhere else in the United States – at least that I’ve lived. And the closing lines of the book just suggest that Texans will be arguing about their history and telling stories about it for as long as there is a Texas.
So historical consciousness and historical memory, I think, are really fundamental to what it is to be Texan, for all different kinds of people who live here.
You’re looking for historical facts and ways to confirm what happened. But you’re right – people have, in their minds, kind of an idea that’s been perpetuated for generations.
So how do you respond to that kind of pushback? We’ve seen this in other stories across the country when more facts are available or the story is more inclusive – it has more information about what happened.
Yeah. I mean, I think that’s one of the big challenges of writing a book like this at this particular point in time, is that these debates over the past get so fraught. And I guess it’s a hard line to walk.
On the one hand, I don’t just want to activate people’s preconceptions and start telling them a story, say, discussing the role of slavery in the Texas Revolution, which is an important factor that is irresponsible to overlook, you know? But my worry, of course, is I just activate people’s already-existing biases and they’re like, “oh God, this is woke history. I don’t want to hear this.”
So the way I hopefully get around that is to tell the story well and to tell it in really concrete terms so that the reader is just being presented with the texture of a particular person’s life or a particular person’s event. And the larger conclusion – it’s really up to them to draw those larger conclusions.
And then I was very self-conscious about trying to balance stories that do not, in fact, reflect well on Texas. So, you know, there’s a lot about racial violence and lynching and it’s just terrible. I mean, I hope it’s terrible to read. It was terrible to write. It was a really terrible thing. It’s a part of our history that needs to be there.
But I try to balance them with other stories that aren’t nearly so dark. So hopefully that’ll make the tough medicine go down a little bit easier.
» GET MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE: Sign up for Texas Standard’s weekly newsletters
There’s a saying other states have co-opted – “as Texas goes, so goes the nation.” Why do you think Texas has such a powerful influence on U.S. history? And also, it seems now, on its future.
Yeah, that’s a great question. And that really is why the title of the book is “Texas: An American History.”
I want us to realize that, to use another expression, what happens in Texas doesn’t stay in Texas, or at least it doesn’t always stay in Texas. So if you look at things like the formation of the Populist Party in the 1890s or the entry of evangelical Christians into politics a few decades later, those are things that Texas thinkers and institutions really pioneer, but they have an enormous influence across the country.
In terms of why Texas is so influential, I think I’d point to a few things. The first, just in really crude terms, is the size of the state, right? There’s only one state that’s more populous and has a larger economy than Texas. That’s California.
If Texas were an independent country, it would be the 10th largest economy in the world. And the size of the population and the size of the market means that cultural productions like video games or television shows or American history textbooks that are marketed in Texas can be marketed across the country.
So the size, I think, is one reason. The vast size of Texas is one reason for its influence.
The other one, I think gets back to this theme of historical memory. Texas is a place that has a larger-than-life reputation. You go anywhere in the world I’ve been and people find out you’re from Texas, they have an immediate reaction. They ask you questions about the Alamo or the frontier in a way that if you’re just kind of run-of-the mill American, you don’t necessarily get asked.
So I think this kind of reputation that we have – not only nationally, but on the world stage – it helps make Texas such an influential place.
