The United States first counted the population of Texas during the 1850 Census. That year, 212,592 people lived in Texas. San Antonio—site of the 1836 Battle of the Alamo—was the second most populous city in the state (behind Galveston) with 3,488 people. In 2024, nearly 31.3 million people lived in Texas including more than 1.5 million people in San Antonio and 53,538 people in Galveston.

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Spain claimed the area known today as the state of Texas in 1519. In 1820, Spain began offering land grants to foreigners, which encouraged Americans to settle in the territory. Mexico continued this settlement policy after it became independent from Spain in 1821. Thousands of Americans moved to Texas. Soon the Texians outnumbered the Tejano population in much of the territory. Political and cultural differences between the two populations caused tension. Political unrest in Mexico led many Texians to support the creation of an independent Texas.

In late 1835, Texian militias defeated the Mexican Army in clashes at Gonzales, Goliad, Béxar, and San Patricio. After a six-week siege of Béxar, they forced the remaining Mexican troops to retreat south of the Rio Grande River. In response, Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Anna vowed to personally lead the Mexican Army back into Texas. Determined to crush the rebellion, he lobbied Mexican legislators to pass the Tornel Decree, declaring that any foreigners fighting against Mexico—including Texians and Tejanos—would be immediately executed. In late December 1835, Santa Anna and more than 6,000 soldiers began their march to Texas.

In early 1836, Lieutenant Colonel James C. Neill commanded approximately 150 Texians and Tejanos and Tejano militia members and volunteers defending the Alamo Mission at Béxar. Texians differed on whether the city should be defended or evacuated. General Sam Houston considered abandoning the mission, fearing it lacked the manpower and supplies to wage a successful defense. However, Colonel Jim Bowie—who arrived at the Alamo in January 1836—argued in a February 2 letter to Texas Governor Henry Smith that he and Neill believed holding Béxar was critical to the survival of Texas. He wrote, "Neill & Myself [sic] have come to the solemn resolution that we would rather die in these ditches than give it up to the enemy." Bowie urged the governor to send troops and supplies. In the weeks that followed, volunteers trickled into Béxar, including frontiersman and former U.S. congressman David Crockett accompanied by a small group of Tennesseans.

Colonel Neill was aware that Santa Anna was advancing northward when he left the Alamo to attend to ill family members in mid-February. He assumed the Mexican Army would not be near Béxar for weeks and left Lieutenant Colonel James B. Travis and Jim Bowie in charge of the city's defenses. On February 17, 1836, the Mexican Army crossed the Rio Grande River into Texas. The Texians were surprised by the Mexican Army's speed when lead elements were observed advancing toward Béxar just six days later. They hurriedly gathered supplies and family members and barricaded themselves inside the Alamo Mission compound. Santa Anna demanded the Alamo surrender on February 23. Travis responded with a shot from one of the Alamo's cannons and  dispatched messengers with urgent pleas for men and supplies. Santa Anna laid siege to the Alamo, bombarding its walls and buildings for 13 days. Béxar was surrounded, but a few dozen men still slipped past the Mexican lines to reinforce the Alamo.

Early on the morning of March 6, approximately 1,800 Mexican soldiers charged toward the Alamo shouting "¡Viva Santa Anna!" ("Long Live Santa Anna!"). Initially, the assault was slowed by the Alamo defenders' cannon and rifle fire, but the Mexican troops repeatedly regrouped and surged forward. When they finally breached the Alamo's walls, the Texians retreated to the compound's Long Barracks and Chapel buildings. Brutal hand-to-hand fighting ensued. Jim Bowie—who had been gravely ill for days—fought and died in his bed. Dozens of men attempted to reach the San Antonio River but were cut down by waiting Mexican cavalry. The fighting was over in less than 90 minutes. A handful of the Alamo's defenders survived. Under the authority of the Tornel Decree, Santa Anna ordered their immediate execution. The official list of Texans and Tejanos killed defending the Alamo totals 189, but ongoing research suggests the number could be higher. Approximately 600 Mexican soldiers were killed or wounded.

Santa Anna hoped news of the Texians brutal defeat at the Alamo would end the rebellion. Instead, Texians grew more determined to fight and hundreds joined General Sam Houston's Texian Army. After capturing intelligence about Santa Anna's army strength, locations, and battle plans, Houston led his army to an area along the San Jacinto River near present-day La Porte and Deer Park, Texas. Santa Anna was unaware of the Texians arrival on April 20. The following afternoon, Houston launched his attack as the Mexican Army rested in camp. Surprised and quickly overwhelmed, the Battle of San Jacinto was over in just 18 minutes. Texian casualties totaled 11 killed and 30 wounded, while approximately 650 Mexican soldiers were killed and more than 500 wounded or captured. General Santa Anna was among those captured. The demoralized Mexican Army began a slow and disorganized retreat to Mexico. While imprisoned, Santa Anna signed the Treaties of Velasco agreeing to withdraw Mexican troops and recognize the independence of Texas, but the Mexican government refused to honor them. Mexico would not formally recognize Texas independence until signing the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo ending the Mexican-American War in 1848—three years after the United States annexed Texas as its 28th state.

You can learn more about the Battle of the Alamo using Census Bureau data and records such as:

• David Crockett was one of the most famous defenders killed at the Alamo on March 6, 1836. Prior to fighting General Antonio López de Santa Anna, Crockett represented Tennessee's 9th District (including Fayette, Hardeman, Madison, and Haywood counties) from 1827 to 1831 and the 12th District (including Memphis and Jonesborough) from 1833 to 1835 in the U.S. House of Representatives. While serving in Congress, the 1830 Census counted 681,904 people living in Tennessee. The state's population topped 1 million by 1850 and 2 million by 1900. In 2020, 6,910,840 people called the "Volunteer State" home. In 2024, the Census Bureau estimated that Tennessee had a population of 7,227,750. Nashville and Memphis were the state's most populous cities with 704,963 and 610,919 residents, respectively.
• Colonel James Bowie commanded the volunteer defenders of the Alamo when the Mexican Army lay siege to the San Antonio mission. Born in Logan County, Kentucky, he spent most of his life in Louisiana. He and the large knife he carried rose to prominence after newspapers reported on the "Sandbar Fight" in which Bowie killed the Rapides Parish sheriff near Vidalia, Louisiana. After Bowie used the knife in subsequent brawls, knife makers began selling "Bowie Knives" throughout the United States and Europe. Today, the Census Bureau collects data about the nation's knife manufacturers as part of the Cutlery and Handtool Manufacturing sector (NAICS 33221). The Census Bureau's County Business Patterns series found that there were 980 establishments in the sector employing 31,762 people during the pay period that included March 12, 2023.
• Spanish explorers began mapping Texas in 1519 and many city and town names reflect the state's Spanish heritage. For example, San Antonio ("Saint Anthony" in English) was the seventh largest city in the United States in 2024 with a population of 1,526,656. Corpus Christi (Latin for "Body of Christ")—named by Spanish explorer Alonso Alvarez de Pineda in 1519 had a population of 317,317 that same year. Other Texas cities with Spanish names include Laredo—initially called Villa de San Agustín de Laredo ("Town of Saint Augustine of Loredo") in 1755—had a population of 261,260 in 2024; El Paso ("The Pass" through the Franklin Mountains) had a population of 681,723; and 34,678 people called Del Rio ("From the River") home that same year.
• Just as the geography of Texas reflects its heritage as a Spanish colony and Mexican territory, so too does its population. In 2024, the Census Bureau's American Community Survey found that 12,602,305 people (40.3 percent) of Texas' 31,290,831 inhabitants identified as Hispanic or Latino. Furthermore, of the more than 29.3 million people who reported the language spoken at home, nearly 8.3 million spoke Spanish. Common family surnames in Texas mirrored national data collected during the 2010 Census, showed that Garcia (6th), Rodriguez (9th), and Martinez (10th) were among the most common surnames in the United States.
• The Spanish built Mission San Antonio de Valero in 1718 and moved it to its present location in 1724 to convert the area's American Indian tribes to Catholicism. In 2020, 278,948 Texans identified as American Indian and Alaska Native alone, ranking Texas behind California (631,016), Oklahoma (332,791), and Arizona (319,512). Of those American Indians who reported tribal affiliation in Texas, 65,025 identified as Aztec, 33,646 Maya, 6,303 Navajo, and 3,494 Cherokee.
• The Spanish moved Mission San Antonio de Valero to its current location in 1724 where the iconic "Alamo" building was used as a chapel. Buildings within the Alamo complex are built of limestone and adobe brick—a type of sun-baked brick made of earth, water, and a binder (straw of animal dung). Introduced by the Spanish, adobe remains a popular building material in the American Southwest. In 2023, the Census Bureau's County Business Patterns series reported that the United States was home to 461 Clay Building Material and Refractories Manufacturing (NAICS 327120) establishments, including adobe brick manufacturers. These establishments employed 23,500 people during the pay period that included March 12, 2023.

On March 1, 1790, President George Washington signed the Census Act of 1790 into law.

The new nation's first census was taken as of the first Monday in August (August 2), 1790.

Approximately 650 U.S. marshals and their assistants used hand-printed schedules to collect  the name of the head of each family and the number of people in each household by age, sex, and race. The census covered the original 13 states (Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Virginia), plus the district of Kentucky (then part of Virginia), the district of Maine (then part of Massachusetts), and the Southwest Territory (present-day Tennessee), but not the Northwest Territory or Vermont. Vermont was enumerated separately after becoming a state in 1791.

Upon completing the census, marshals sent the data they collected on the 3,929,214 people then living in the United States to Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson.

These data showed that the state of Virginia had the largest total population with 747,610, including 292,627 enslaved people (more than 39 percent of its total population). The state of Pennsylvania followed with 434,373 inhabitants, including 3,737 enslaved people.

Just five cities in the United States had populations exceeding 10,000 people: New York City, NY (33,131); Philadelphia, PA (28,522); Boston, MA (18,320), Charleston, SC (16,359); and Baltimore, MD (13,503).

The Fannin Memorial Monument at the Fannin Battleground State Historic Site in Fannin, Texas, marks the location of the March 27, 1836, Goliad Massacre.