Country of the Cursed and the Driven: Slavery and the Texas Borderlands

In eighteenth and nineteenth-century Texas, local alliances, controversies, face-to-face relationships, and kin ties structured personal dynamics and cross-communal concerns. Country of the Cursed and the Driven explores Hispanic, Comanche, and Anglo-American slaving regimes, illuminating how slaving violence shaped life in the borderlands. It challenges the common assumption that slavery was insignificant to Texas' history prior to Anglo-American colonization, arguing that slavery imported by Stephen F. Austin found a comfortable home in the slavery-stained borderlands.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 476 pages
Publication date: 01 September 2023
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Texas, a fiercely contested land where states wielded little to no real power, was shaped by local alliances, controversies, face-to-face relationships, and kin ties. These dynamics influenced personal relationships and cross-communal concerns alike.
Country of the Cursed and the Driven, a sweeping analysis of Hispanic, Comanche, and Anglo-American slaving regimes, delves into the world of the borderlands, illuminating how slaving violence shaped the lives of individuals and communities. Scholars have increasingly recognized that slavery was more diverse and widespread in North America than previously thought, encompassing Native, European, and African descended people across the continent. Paul Barba details the rise of Texass slaving regimes, highlighting the pervasive influences of colonialism and anti-Blackness.
By weaving together and reframing traditionally disparate historical narratives, Country of the Cursed and the Driven challenges the notion that slavery was insignificant to the history of Texas prior to Anglo-American colonization. Instead, it argues that the slavery imported by Stephen F. Austin and his colonial followers in the 1820s found a comfortable home in the slavery-stained borderlands, where Spanish colonists and their Comanche neighbors had already unleashed waves of slaving devastation.
This book offers a fresh perspective on the complex history of Texas, shedding light on the enduring legacies of slavery and its impact on the region. It is a valuable addition to the literature on the American West and Southwestern History.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781496237040