slavery

Bexar County Slave patrols had the power to enter property and search without a warrant, arrest and punish slaves with lashes. They were empowered to arrest whites they believed associated with, assisted or incited slaves. The members of the slave patrols were entitled to full shares of rewards paid by slaveholders for the return of their slaves.

Born a slave in St. Hedwig, Texas, Felix Haywood's 1937 interview sheds light on the westernmost reach of the peculiar institution.

 Born In Slavery: Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project 1936-1938 From the Library of Congress CAUTION TO PARENTS AND TEACHERS: The information in this 1937 narrative has been reprinted...

On February 1, 1861, a state convention voted to secede, making Texas the seventh state to...

In Bexar County, slave owners and the ordinances used to support their interests created a precarious...

During the 1850s, plantation owners brought their slaves to East Bexar County. To protect their ownership of these slaves and themselves from slave revolt...