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Czech Texans are residents of the state of Texas who are of Czech ancestry. Although Czechs were present in Texas prior to 1848, a changing political climate in Central Europe fueled immigration. After a brief interruption during the Civil War, Czechs rapidly moved to Texas, forming the basis of the Czech Texan heritage. Concentrated in Central Texas, specifically Fayette County and the surrounding area, the Czech Texan identity has been preserved through the Painted Churches of Texas, traditional Czech events, and bakeries specializing in Czech pastries.

As of the 2000 U.S. Census, there are 187,729 Czech-Americans living in Texas, the largest number of any state.

Political and Ethnic Identity

In the 1840s, the Austrian Empire, which included Czech lands, was still run by a feudal system, despite the wave of democratic ideals sweeping across western Europe. This led to the Revolutions of 1848, which did little to improve the economic status of peasants who still found it difficult to gain wealth. The revolutions, together with factors such as religious persecution and mandatory military service, fueled a wave of emigration from Austria beginning in 1852. Immigrants to America were unfamiliar with the concept of American democracy due to their lack of experience with democratic ideals. The concepts of states' rights and slavery were equally foreign to the immigrants.

In January of 1861, as tensions between northern and southern states over slavery and states' rights reached a breaking point, a convention was called in Austin, TX to draft a secession document, which was then approved by a vote of the citizens in February. The recency of the Czech immigration meant that most Czechs living in Texas were not naturalized citizens, and were therefore unable to vote in the decision for secession. Texas became a member of the Confederacy in March of 1861, and in April of 1861, the first battle of the Civil War took place at Fort Sumter, SC. In July of 1861, a Union blockade of the Southern coast reached Texas and stopped all immigration, Czech or otherwise. By the time of the blockade, the Czech population in Texas had grown from 74 in 1852 to over 700.

Military Service

In 1861, as the war was beginning, more than 600 men in Fayette County and 160 men in Austin County volunteered for either active duty or military reserve service. Of those enrolled, only nine in Fayette County and zero in Austin County were definitively Czech. This changed in 1862, when conscription laws for military service were established and enforced. Under the Confederate Constitution, military service was a legal method of obtaining Confederate citizenship for those who were not formerly American citizens, but aliens, unlike citizens, were not required to serve in the regular military. The exemptions for aliens were determined by the Confederate War Department to apply only to aliens who were not permanent settlers and had not renounced their native allegiance. This did not apply to the majority of Czechs because they were permanent settlers. As a result, Czechs were conscripted to serve in the Confederate Army. To avoid conscription, some chose to leave Texas and join the Union Army; others went into hiding. For many Czechs, an alternative to conscription was to carry cotton to Mexican markets as a revenue source for the Confederacy. Another alternative that arose in Fayette County was to form a stay-at-home company of troops; most were unofficial and served only to allow members to avoid official conscription.

Family Life

Czech women were familiar with hard work, so while their husbands were serving in the military or in hiding, they managed to keep their farms running despite their lack of physical strength. In addition to the regular farm responsibilities, families also had to produce homemade commodities to substitute for increasingly expensive goods such as coffee and sugar.

Individual Stories

Rev. Josef Arnost Bergman

Czech immigration to Texas began as early as the 1820's, but most immigrants made the journey as individuals. Large-scale and family immigration began with the immigration of Rev. Josef Arnost Bergman, described as the "father" of Czech immigration to Texas by some sources, and his family in 1850. Once settled in Texas, Bergman wrote letters to families in Europe encouraging them to immigrate.

Anthony M. Dignowity

Anthony M. Dignowity was a Czech immigrant who traveled to Texas in 1835 and worked in many professions before becoming a physician in San Antonio. He opposed the Texas Revolution, viewing it as a means to increase the power of slave states in the United States, and thus did not settle in Texas until after it was admitted to the US. During the Civil War, his anti-slavery views led to him becoming a target for lynching parties, causing him to flee Texas and travel to Washington, D.C., where he stayed for the rest of the war working for the Department of the Interior. While in D.C., Dignowity proposed a plan to Congress detailing the capture and reinstatement of Texas based on the support of immigrant groups, such as the Czechs and Germans, who opposed slavery, but Congress did not act upon it. Meanwhile, Dignowity's son, Anthony Francis Dignowity, was conscripted into the Confederate Army and given the task of painting the personal carriage of General Hamilton Bee, which he completed before escaping and enlisting in the Union Army.