Imperial Texas examines the development of Texas as a human region, from the simple outline of the Spanish colony to the complex patterns of the modern state. In this study in cultural geography set into a historical framework, D. W. Meinig discusses the "various peoples of Texas, who they are, where they came from, where they settled, and how they are proportioned one to another from place to place." After examining the historical framework, he then presents detailed analyses of the major regions of modem Texas and an over-all characterization of the state and its people. He concludes that, although Texas has never been the empire that it has sometimes been called, "nevertheless... Texas is something more than just one-fourteenth of the American area, one-twentieth of the American people, and one-fiftieth of the American union."
It is a unique and fascinating book, accurate, suggestive, and beautifully written. It does not gloss over the faults and injustices of Texas imperialism—the racism, the gross materialism—but it approaches these factors with a consciousness of human frailties....
D. W. Meinig (1924–2020) was a professor of geography at Syracuse University.
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction by Lorrin Kennamer
- I. Implantatio
- A. Spanish Texas
- B. Mexican Texas
- II. Assertion
- A. Empire
- B. Inflow
- C. Provinces
- D. Cities
- E. Circulation
- III. Expansion
- A. Growth
- B. Frontier
- C. Networks
- D. Invasion
- IV. Elaboration
- A. Oil and Industry
- B. Agriculture and Regions
- C. Population and Culture
- V. Differentiation
- A. East Texas
- B. The Gulf Coast
- C. South Texas
- D. Southwest Texas
- E. The German Hill Country
- F. West Texas
- G. The Panhandle
- H. North Texas
- I. Central Texas
- VI. Characterization
- A. Gradations of Empire
- B. Dispersal of Focus
- C. Varieties of Culture
- Sources
- Index
