USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -By the time of annexation a decade later, there were 30, 000; by 1860, the census found 182, 566 slaves–over 30% of the total population of the state. Most slaves came to Texas with their owners, and the vast majority lived on large cotton plantations in East Texas.

Detailed explanation-2: -Truly giant slaveholders such as Robert and D. G. Mills, who owned more than 300 slaves in 1860 (the largest holding in Texas), had plantations in this area, and the population resembled that of the Old South’s famed Black Belt.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Texas county with the highest slave population in 1860 was Wharton with 80.9 percent slave population, followed by Brazoria with 74.9 percent. To learn more about the Houston area and its population, according to census data from 1850, go through the photos in the gallery above.

Detailed explanation-4: -Most enslaved people in Texas were brought by white families from the southern United States. Some enslaved people came through the domestic slave trade, which was centered in New Orleans. A smaller number of enslaved people were brought via the international slave trade, though this had been illegal since 1806.

Detailed explanation-5: -Only 30 percent of Texas families owned slaves in 1850, and only 2 percent of those held 20 or more slaves. However, Texans had not only fully grasped slaver-owning concepts, but were downright giddy about the future prospects of slaves cultivating the state’s fertile soil, especially its cotton crop.