Excerpted from the book: Krásná Amerika: A Study of the Texas Czechs,  1851 - 1939, by Clinton Machann and James W. Mendl, and published by Eakin Press, Austin, Texas, in 1983.

The Peasantry

"The term 'peasantry' can refer to most rural inhabitants of Austria at this time [after the revolutions of 1848 and subsequent reforms by the Empire-SRH], but within this class there were three distinct subclasses. The sedláci (rolnici) of farmers were the most prosperous. They owned anywhere from twenty to one hundred acres and a house. Because they were now free from the political, economic and social controls of those above them, the farmers profited from the reforms even though they had to compensate the lords for their losses. The chalupníci or cottagers, and the nadeníci or day laborers, however, felt left out of the reforms. The cottagers owned a house, and sometimes, a very small plot of land. The laborer owned nothing but his labor. These two subclasses were now better off in the sense that they were emancipated but felt cheated by the reforms because they did not have the economic means to improve their standard of living. Moreover, there was virtually no political or economic improvement for these two groups until the 'Gotterdamerung' of 1918. The cottagers could sell their homes, their lands, and whatever meager possessions they had for enough money to pay for a passage to America, with, in some cases, a sum left over to buy land in the new country. The opportunity seemed all the more attractive when the cottagers, restless for democratic reforms, began to lose strength in the Moravian Diet (Parliament) which had been created after the revolution of 1848, and the Austrian government took no
steps to solve their economic and political problems.

Economic Reasons for Immigration

Conditions were especially favorable, then, for the emigration of this cottager class, and, in fact, cottagers made up the majority of the Czech immigrants in Texas. The economic and political background of these people helps to explain the distinctive features of the society which they developed in Texas.

The holders of small plots of land saw their economic situation grow progressively worse. The larger landowners, most of them nobles, could afford to apply the latest scientific agricultural methods. The small landholders found it more and more difficult to compete in agricultural markets. By 1900, less than one tenth of one percent of the population of Bohemia owned the land.(6) This situation created an even greater problem for the sons of small and even middle-sized land holders. How could the father divide his small holdings among his heirs? It was traditional for the father to provide a farm for each of his sons when he reached the age of twenty. When the land was divided, each strip was partitioned lengthwise, resulting in a
series of ever-narrower, long strips.

The situation was even worse for the day laborers, who found it difficult or impossible to raise sufficient funds to pay for their passage to America. They usually lived in the homes of cottagers and farmers and helped with the work in season. In the winter they helped the host family in weaving cloth, the principle cottage industry of Bohemia and Moravia. By the 1850s however, the further industrialization of bohemia was driving many home weavers out of
business. The could not successfully compete with mechanized production. The story of Frantisek Branecký is typical.

'I was born on December 1, 1821, in Lisná, Moravia. My father was a farmer but when I was twenty-one they drafted me. I served in the first infantry regiment of the Austrian army in 1848 and '49. Luckily I lived through the war with Marshall Radetzky. I was in the army nine years, after which I was on leave. What was I going to do? I was a weaver by trade but couldn't find work. I knew farming, having learned it from a farmer (my parents died when I was 13), but there were six of us kids, so for me, by inheritance there was very
little. I got eighty zlatý for all my share. I was tired of service so the desire to go to America began to stir in me. In 1855 several families were getting ready to go to America so I prepared to go with them.' Brandeský did come to America, finally settling in Praha, Texas, where he became a successful farmer.

Overcrowding as a Reason for Emigration

Along with economic difficulties came increased overcrowded living conditions. An example can be seen in a description of Cermna, Bohemia in 1850. The example is particularly appropriate since Cermna produced the first major group of Czechs to emigrate to Texas. Cottages were very small, sometimes consisting of only one room; the average number of people per house was ten. In house Number 109 the owner lived with four children, four orphaned children (from a relative) and a laborer and his four children, making a total of sixteen people. In Number 143 lived the Jan Marek family,
totaling eleven members; all of them later came to Texas. In Number 141 were the Josef Hejl family, which included nine children. Hejl's son Josef later came to Texas. Together in house Number 149 were Josef Silar, his wife and five children, a pensioner named Josef Silar (probably the grandfather), a widow with four children, a laborer named Jan Chaloupla, his wife and son, another laborer, a retired soldier, and another widow: a total of nineteen people.(8)
Certainly the reason for emigration given by an elderly widow some seventy years after coming to Texas applies to many who came to America: 'Moc lidi, ne zemi' ('Too many people, not enough land.')(9)
 

(6) Chmelar, 342-43.

(7) Amerikán narodní kalendár, 1886, 189. (authors' trans.)

(8) Frantisek Silar, 'The First Nepomuky and Cermna Emigrants in
Texas,' trans. Calvin C. Cervenka. Unpublished manuscript, 2.

(9) Interview with Francis Mendl, August 20, 1971. (Machann and
Mendl 12 -15)"

As I was transcribing the above, I began to wonder if any of the readers would begin to feel uncomfortable with the idea that their ancestors were peasants...manual laborers...instead of nobility. In the society of today, it seems that social status is assigned mostly on how much money one has; however, there are still ideas of what are and are not socially acceptable occupations. I firmly believe that exploring one's Czech past must include a look at our own, current- day value system. As I learn more and more about the Texas Czechs, I realize that, to me, they epitomize "pulling one up by one's boot straps." These folks were not only intrepid enough to leave behind
all they knew but also to go forward to create a new way of life...a new culture in Texas. I have always been proud of my heritage as a farming family and also one which works the iron through blacksmithing. As I read more and more, I become even prouder of the fact that my ancestors were of the peasant class. Everything which they accomplished they did by determination, stamina, and hard work. Everything which they acquired was by their initiative, doggedness and hard work. What could be more noble than that?

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