This thesis explores the history behind the creation of Texan boundaries. The boundaries of Texas were the cause of disputes between the French, the Spanish, Mexico, and later the United States of America. The intensity of these disputes threatened to disrupt the Union itself, and caused a war between the United States and Mexico.

It is the purpose of this thesis to define wherein the social order of the South was disrupted, --- the conditions that brought about such a sweeping transformation of social structures --- and to show the growth of new social attitudes and practices evolving from the chaotic dismemberment of the old. Although primary significance is placed upon changes in the social order, it is necessary to consider certain political and economic trends that were interwoven into the fabric of social life during Reconstruction --- factors influencing, determining, or evolving from, social changes. In the first chapter is sketched briefly the ante-bellum society of the South, and in following chapters is shown the evolution of social culture during the first twelve years following the Civil War.