Projecting Authority: Maps of a Contested Texas, 1822-1848

Abstract

In the early to mid-nineteenth century, as in many other periods, the porosity of Texas’ borders and the mobility of people across them created a setting for contestation and negotiation of power and identity. Between 1822 and 1848, the constant shifts in control over a large geographic area, the nebulous identities of residents, and the frequent but often defied governmental decrees over issues like slavery and Mexican statehood prevented any one power from getting a strong hold over Texas. Despite this uncertain reality, a key tool of state powers, individuals, and business interests alike to get a handle on Texas were maps. This thesis will utilize the circumstances of production, the content, and the context of these maps to examine how an uncertain and contested Texas conflicted with stable and authoritative mapping norms. I argue that in this setting, maps functioned as tools of Anglo nation-building in a region seen in the United States as up in the air. Moreover, I argue that Anglo-produced maps funneled the instability of nineteenth-century Texas through a distorted lens that positioned Anglo Texans as the saviors of a wilderness not adequately maintained or exploited by its Mexican and Indigenous residents. I demonstrate this argument by using the maps themselves as central sources, as the representational images shown on the maps had significant staying power in the minds of the audiences which consumed them. This project aims to reframe nineteenth century Texas history as a question not only of actual political and territorial control, but of perception and projection.