Red Utopian Texas

Texas throughout its history has hosted several Utopian and Socialist Communes, the focus of this idea being, La Reunion which in OTL eventually joinned to form Dallas, Texas. La Reunion as well as several other Socialist Communes were established primarily in the wake of the failed 1848 Revolutions in Europe which saw a surge of immigration to the Americas of these Revolutionaries, Utopians, Anarchists and so forth from Dallas to Austin, Texas and immigrant communities in Central and North Texas. Many of these Utopians came ins everal different degrees but I am looking for La Reunion's founder Victor Considerant's views (Proportional Representation, Direct Democracy, Private Property Allowed for example) to come out on top.

The problem with La Reunion for example is inpart due to that its population were urbanites not farmers and that the land they settled was very poor for farming. To make any of these communes work therefore the Utopian Socialist Ideology would have to offer more to the Peasents and Agriculturalists (alot like the Russian 'Land and Liberty' revolutionaries) to get them either from Europe or America to either pick better land to settle on or survive better to what they had. Given the amount of land going up for sale in Texas this would be an attraction and I am sure they could fit in 'all the free land you want'. Once able to sustain themselves their Urbanite Craft Skills such as Weaving Clockmaking, etc should come in handy when trading with local American settlers that may not be as skilled to draw in trade and to spread the Socialist Ideology.

Eventually this would lead up to the American Civil War which would see East Texas focused around Houson seceding from West Texas to join the Confederacy after the spread of the Utopian Socialist Ideology improves the support of Anti-Slavery and Pro-Unionism.
 
What if you made the Adelsverein more successful in establishing settlements in Central Texas allowing the German community there to grow large enough to give the region an even more German heritage. Part of the reason they didn't settle the lands they initially anticipated was the presence of the Comanche. If they establish more settlements to the north, forming a ring around the edge of Comancheria all the way up to North Texas. Or, perhaps more likely, they just establish settlements in better farmland somewhat east of Dallas (Northeast Texas, basically).

Even without a more successful Adelsverein, if the Germans coordinated their efforts into forming a more united settlement, they could have simply moved north toward modern Dallas.

Of course, a greater German presence around New Braunfels and Fredericksburg alone could have encouraged more German and generally European settlement in Texas, with most of the second-wave immigrants settling in East Texas for the better farmland and relative distance from Native Americans. The established German community either in Central Texas or Central and North Texas was already known for being excellent farmers IOTL, and would, sensibly, have only been better with more settlers to fill out the farmland. So they could be present to pass on that knowledge to the urban settlers.

Keep in mind, there is significant precedent IOTL for German settlement in North Texas. See Muenster, which has the most significant concentration of German heritage and culture outside the Hill Country in Texas. Pilot Point was also settled by Germans. The biggest difference is that most of the North Texas Germans were from other places in the US or previously settled German-Texans, so while they will not be the revolutionary utopians you're looking for, they'll help to establish the region as friendly to German settlers and Europeans in general.
 
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Indeed and might at least be feasibly more Pro Unionist and make troubles for the Confederate government. I need to find population numbers somewhere.
 
Curiously, there's one thing that Texas does REALLY well, and that's keeping a very detailed and very accessible history of the state. The online Handbook of Texas is a really spectacular resource. I'm not sure it will have really detailed population figures, but it's a good resource nonetheless that I feel you should look at.

Here's something interesting: German Attitude Toward the Civil War
 
Well an independent Texas would be in a complete depression for the majority of its early history. It wouldn't be a stretch to have a Socialist option arise either. But I think the tone of the Socialism would be largely anti-slavery and anti-Slave, with the white working man being the central theme. Where as I think Communism would suit the slaves excellently for when they revolt.
 
Well an independent Texas would be in a complete depression for the majority of its early history. It wouldn't be a stretch to have a Socialist option arise either. But I think the tone of the Socialism would be largely anti-slavery and anti-Slave, with the white working man being the central theme. Where as I think Communism would suit the slaves excellently for when they revolt.
Socialism would naturally be anti-slavery, as it has been from the beginning. Marx, in his critiques of America, acknowledged that the American worker could not advance as long as slavery persisted. Wages could be perpetually held down since after all, the alternative was work for free in the form of slavery. Striking workers could be replaced by slaves easily enough that for most of pre-Civil War Southern history, strikes were nearly impossible. As soon as this was no longer the case, workers went on strike all over the place. Louisiana and East Texas loggers were particularly labor-aware and even included blacks in their efforts (though in separate unions).
Long story short: Socialists were fervently anti-slavery as with most social and labor progressives of the time. Anyone in the lower classes educated enough to understand the principles of labor theory would be anti-slavery as well.

Texas was never a state with a large slave population, and they were almost exclusively in East Texas, so it's not a stretch for a more progressive East Texas to be truly progressive on the issue of slavery. Though the result would more likely be dramatic and violent clashes and de facto slave-free areas than an early de jure abolition of slavery state-wide.
 
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