Follow the Money

About this event

The military history of Texas is widely written and understood. However, the cultural backdrop is left much more to the imagination. This is certainly true of the financial situation of that time. My collection fundamentally spans 50 years, from 1821 through 1871. From the closing days of Spanish rule through Reconstruction after the Civil War. Look at the changes we have witnessed in the last 50 years, from 1975 to 2025… the Viet Nam War & the fall of Saigon, beginning of computer driven technology, space exploration, Presidents Gerald Ford to Donald Trump. Changes in Texas from 1821-1871 were just as dramatic… Spain loses over 300 years of influence, Mexico rules Texas, Texas fights and wins a revolutions against the largest standing army in the Americas, Texas survives as a Republic, then is annexed by the United States, the Texas Rangers are fighting alongside U.S. troops in the Mexican-American War that ultimately extends the U.S. border to the Pacific, Texas chooses to secede from the Union and join the Confederate States of America, and then rejoins the Union after the war and deals with Reconstruction. All in all, an extremely fast changing period of time. Not a great deal different than in the last 50 years that we have witnesses.

On two different occasions, Texas printed prodigious quantities of paper currency; during the Republic and Civil War eras. Lack of hard currency or specie forced the printing of script, in the form of… Republic currency, State notes, Private script (merchant banks), County script, Consolidated Funds, Bonds, Stock Certificates, Land Grants, and of course the good old I.O.U. There were hundreds if not a thousand or more different financial documents circulating during this period. Both times, the results were predictably the same… financial distress. Texas was kept alive during the financially difficult days of the Republic of Texas era, by public faith and credit. Both of which were severely strained. This is a story of governments at work and human nature. Much of what happened in Texas historically was the result of economic realities – lessons from yesterday for today. I want to illustrate through original documents a portion of that timeline. We are going to very quickly look at the Spanish era thru the Republic era. So, as they say… let’s follow the money.