Juan Nepomuceno Seguín

Thomas Jefferson Wright’s portrait of Juan Nepomuceno Seguín (1806–1890) follows a familiar formula for likenesses of military and political figures and visually fits in alongside the other artworks in the National Portrait Gallery’s “American Origins” exhibition.

Seguín is shown in three-quarter profile, looking intently out at the viewer with just the hint of a smile. The portrait is empty of any symbols that indicate his role in the Texas War of Independence apart from his military dress. In many ways, however, they are not needed. Wright had already painted Sam Houston, the first president of the Republic of Texas, as well as other important political and military figures in Texas.

That Jefferson Wright paints his portrait signifies Seguín’s importance within the history of Texas. Yet Seguín’s place alongside other leaders in the Portrait Gallery signals a shift in historical narrative in which the theme of expansion is complicated by those caught in-between. Seguín’s political efforts after the Texas War of Independence contribute to our understanding of the complicated relationship between Mexican Texans (Tejanos) and the Anglo-American newcomers.

As the only Mexican Texan to serve in the Senate of the Republic of Texas, Seguín saw it as his responsibility to ensure that his fellow Tejanos were included within the new republic. One of the efforts that Seguín fought tirelessly for was the translation of all Laws into Spanish. He stated in an Address in the Senate to the President in February of 1840:

I wish to know, Mr. President, what the cost of translating the laws, enacted [sic] by the former Legislative bodies of Texas is, laws which in virtue of the existing laws upon that subject, ought to have been translated, and printed; also, what laws have been translated, and where do they exist? My constituents have, as yet, not seen a single law translated and printed; neither do we know when we shall receive them: Mr. President, the dearest rights of my constituents as Mexico-Texians; and at the formation of the social compact between the Mexican and the Texians, they had rights guaranteed to them; they also contracted certain legal obligations—of all of which they are ignorant, and in consequence of their ignorance of the language in which the Laws and the Constitution of the land are written. The Mexico-Texians were among the first who sacrificed their all in our glorious Revolution, and the disasters of war weighed heavy upon them, to achieve those blessings which, it appears, are destined to be the last to enjoy, and as a representative from Bexar, I never shall cease to raise my voice in effecting this object.

Seguín’s address is just one instance in which he argued for a bilingual government, and he was acutely aware that access to and understanding of laws was essential for the success of Tejanos in the new republic.

The ambivalence many other Texans had toward bilingual publications corresponded with a larger sentiment of resentment and distrust directed at Tejanos. Many Tejanos were at risk of losing their homes based on accusations that they helped slaves escape to Mexico, and on multiple occasions the government attempted to rescind the right to vote from Tejanos. In this increasingly hostile environment, Seguín saw the importance of recognizing the Spanish-speaking population within government and of advocating for the rights of Mexican Texans.

—Ana Perry, Latino Museum Studies Fellow

Cited:

Juan Seguín, “Juan Seguín’s Address in Senate, February 1840,” in A Revolution Remembered: The Memoirs and Selected Correspondence of Juan N. Seguín, ed. Jesús F. de la Teja (Austin: State House Press, 1991), 174