Texas korai története a Vasárnapi Újság hasábjain
The Early History of Texas as Reflected in Vasárnapi Újság

Summary/Abstract: When Mexico adopted a federal constitution in 1824 and a liberal colonization law in 1825 that opened up Texas to immigration, the Hungarian diet of 1825 marked the beginning of the „Age of Reforms”, a series of liberal measures that finally led to the Revolution and War of Independence of 1848-1849, the abolishment of feudal bonds and privileges, the establishment of a Hungarian government, and an attempt to liberate Hungary from Habsburg rule. In the meantime, after Santa Anna’s centralist turn in 1836, Texas became an independent state, and then was annexed to the United States of America in 1845. The purpose of this paper is to examine what the Hungarians knew about the early history Texas and the events of the Texas Revolution and how they reflected on the changes in the Mexican-American borderland region. The analysis is based on an important primary source of the period, the articles of Vasárnapi Újság. It was published in Kolozsvár between April, 1834 and November, 1848. Just like the Western European „penny magazines” of the era, the publishers of Vasárnapi Újság intended to produce an inexpensive paper and provide people who were unable to obtain formal education or were interested in the latest scientific developments with practical and useful information and miscellaneous news about the world. The first news item about Texas appeared in the February 14, 1836 issue and discussed the origins of the Texas Revolution. The weekly paper analysed the situation in the borderland region and regularly informed the Hungarian public about the history of the Texas Republic and the Mexican–American War of 1846–1848 that broke out after the annexation of Texas. At the end of January, 1848, when Vasárnapi Újság reported on the final phase of the war, the Hungarians were getting ready to fight their own revolution.

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