Elisha M. Pease: Letter to Texas Legislature on the “Cart War”

By the 1850s, Texas had transitioned from a Mexican territory, to an independent republic, to a territory of the United States, and finally to U.S. statehood in 1845. As a result of the policies of Mexico prior to Texas's independence and further hostility during the U.S. War with Mexico (1846–48), the relationship between whites and Mexicans living and working in Texas was often wrought with violence and tension. During the 1850s, many American workers targeted Mexican cart workers in disputes over the rates that Mexican carts charged to transport goods from the coast to San Antonio. Small incidents of violence began occurring in 1855, and by 1857, attacks were increasing in violence and frequency. Five such attacks in 1857 led to the deaths of several Mexicans, including Antonio Delgado, a renowned politician in the region.