Mexican National Period Origins (by LRE)

​Mexican National Period origins

By Ricky Waller

In the late 1600s and early 1700s France and Spain competed for land in the New World. After  France established a trading post near the mouth of the Mississippi, more French colonists and  supplies arrived. Eventually, both France and Spain established multiple missions along the  Texas and Louisiana border. When France and Spain went to war again in 1719, the French  drove the Spanish out of East Texas. To re-establish Spanish claims in Texas, the Governor of  Coahuila and Texas led 500 men, 2,800 horses, 4,800 cattle, and 6,400 sheep and goats to East  Texas. They established 10 missions and 4 presidios, or forts, to guard the missions. Their main  purpose was to negotiate peace with the French. This was the beginning of Spanish ranching in  East Texas. The French never again attempted to take over East Texas. 

Open Ended

Explain the effect that the French driving out the Spanish from East Texas had on Texas History.

​The Spanish Colonial Administration established missions in Texas to spread the Catholic faith. The first permanent mission in Texas was Corpus Christi de la Isleta. The mission was founded in 1680 near present-day El Paso. The purpose of the missions was to convert American Indians to the Catholic religion. Ten years later, Father Damian Massanet established two missions in East Texas among the Caddo. One of the most famous missions in Texas History was founded in 1718. Mission San Antonio de Valero, is best known as the Alamo. Continuing through the mid to late 1700s, Spain established a total of thirty-five missions throughout Texas. Spain eventually abandoned the mission system due to hostile Indians, the distance from the royal government and the expense of running them. Several missions remain as churches today. Others have become museums and historical markers.

Marquis de Rubi Report

From 1744-1748, France fought against Great Britain in the English colonies in America. This war was called the French and Indian War. As a result of this war, France ceded, or gave, all of their North American territory to Spain to prevent the English from claiming it. The increase in the land Spain claimed made it difficult to defend and develop it. The Spanish king needed information about Spain’s new American lands. In 1766, he sent Marquis de Rubi to inspect all of the missions in Texas and report his findings. Rubi made three key recommendations:

Reorder

Reorder the following

• Not all the presidios were needed because there was no longer a French threat.

• move East Texas settlers to San Antonio and strengthen its defenses. ∙

• establish friendlier relations with the Comanches, Kiowas, and Wichitas.

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​Americans with a desire to settle in the west initially worked with Spain to settle in the Louisiana Territory. France gained back the land in 1800 and eventually sold the territory to the United States in 1803, extending the United States to the Texas border. As more Americans dreamed of settling west and gaining independence from Spain, men, who the Spanish called Filibusters, (Spanish for pirate) began to come across the border into Texas to settle illegally and or steal wild mustangs in order to make a profit. In the mid-1790s, Philip Nolan, a filibuster from Ireland, arrived in Texas. He came from Louisiana to capture Mustang horses and then sell them to pay off debts. Spain denied him entrance into Tejas, or what is now present-day Texas. However, he went anyway and settled with heavily armed men. When Nolan resisted arrest, he was killed. He is known for being one of the first American adventurers who wanted to free Texas from Spain. Many more began to come and stir up trouble for the Spanish government.

​The Role of Filibusters in Mexican Independence

Multiple Choice

Define filibuster as it relates to Texas history

• Spanish word for pirate

• to give up control

• An unauthorized military expedition into a foreign country. Sentence: Several filibuster expeditions tried to take control of Texas territory.

• to waste time to prevent a vote

​James Long, a military adventurer or filibuster, was upset with the United States over the Adams Onis Treaty. The Treaty did not include Texas in the territory negotiated with Spain. Long had already raised $500,000 and a military to settle in Texas. He decided to lead 120 men to Nacogdoches to establish a government. Long put himself in charge and declared Texas independent of Spain. More settlers came to Nacogdoches, but due to limited resources, they began to spread out from the original settlement. The Spanish governor sent 500 men to arrest Long. They quickly drove the Americans out of Nacogdoches. Long escaped to New Orleans. In 1820, he returned to Galveston Island with his wife. Spanish troops later captured him in South Texas trying to seize forts. He was killed by a guard after spending six months in prison in Mexico.

​Long Expedition

​In 1800, Spain returned the Louisiana Territory to France. In 1803, Napoleon sold it to the United States for $15 million dollars. To settle the boundary dispute between Spain and the United States after the sale, the two countries agreed to a neutral strip of ground along the borders of Texas and Louisiana. Neither country was to settle in the Neutral Ground, although many from both sides did. The border between Texas and Louisiana was finalized in the Adams-Onis Treaty in 1821.

​Neutral Ground Agreement

Multiple Choice

Where was the neutral ground between Spain and the United States

• California

• New Orleans

• Parts of Wyoming

• Present day oklahoma and Arkansas

​Grito de Dolores

​Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla began a ten-year long fight for Mexican Independence from Spain by issuing the Grito de Dolores. The 1810 “Cry of Dolores” was a declaration of war. Hidalgo’s declaration included a call to Indians and mestizos, persons of mixed Indian and Spanish ancestry, to fight with him for independence from Spain. Hidalgo and his followers left Dolores and went on to free several cities. After fleeing to Texas, Hidalgo was captured, found guilty of treason and killed. Jose Maria Morelos took up the cause, but he was captured in 1815 and also killed. The Spanish, thinking the rebellion was over, pardoned everyone else involved. However, the rebellion continued in small groups.

​Mexico was in turmoil with skirmishes between royalists loyal to Spain and rebels who wanted an independent Mexican nation. One of the rebels, Bernardo Gutierrez de Lara, traveled to Washington, D.C., to get support from the United States in the fight against the Spanish royalists. President James Madison agreed to allow Gutierrez to form a volunteer army if he could find anyone interested in joining. He found volunteers in Louisiana, including Lt. Augustus W. Magee, who later became co-leader of the expedition. The 1812-1813 expedition was successful because it captured Nacogdoches and Goliad from the Spanish.

​Gutierrez-Magee Expedition

​Battle of Medina

​Spanish forces, led by Joaquin de Arredondo, fought the bloodiest battle on Texas soil. They fought against the rebel forces of the Gutierrez-Magee Expedition in August of 1813. The Spanish defeated the rebels near the Medina River, south of San Antonio. Most of the rebel troops were killed, including colonists in San Antonio who helped the rebels. This battle ended the Gutierrez-Magee Expedition. Spain established martial law in nearby San Antonio and took control of the region.

The Mexican War of Independence ended after ten years of fighting. Mexico gained its independence in 1821. The Treaty of Cordoba ended the war and put Agustin de Iturbide in charge. The Treaty of Cordoba included the Plan of Iguala. This plan included three guarantees:
∙ immediate independence from Spain
∙ equal rights for Creoles and Spanish
∙ the Catholic Church would still be the official religion

Spanish and Mexican officials signed the Treaty of Cordoba on August 24, 1821, giving Mexico its freedom from Spanish rule. Iturbide became the leader of Mexico for a short time until Santa Anna took over.

​​Mexico Gains Independence

Open Ended

Why is the year 1718 important in Texas History?

Open Ended

Why was the year 1821 important to Texas History