Spanish Colonial and Mexican National Eras Topic Test Questions

Following the formal organization of the new Spanish province of Nuevo Santander in 1746, Spanish colonizer José de Escandón planned and established villas and ranches along the south bank of the Rio Grande beginning in 1747. Escandón successfully attracted Spanish settlers by offering incentives, such as “good land,” no taxes for ten years, and generous allowances. Escandón’s colonizing efforts inspired other ranchers already living in the area to request permission to establish their own similar settlements. Which of the following might explain why the Spanish were willing to use Escandón’s colonization tactics in Texas?

• No American Indian groups lived in this part of Texas.

• Spanish officials were concerned that too many of the Spanish citizens of Texas were American Indian.

• The Catholic Church was losing favor within the government of New Spain.

• The mission and presidio system largely failed to establish Spanish control of Texas.

José Bernardo Maximiliano Gutiérrez de Lara (1774–1841), a supporter of the Hidalgo revolt in Mexico, had set out for the U.S. in September 1811 to seek arms, money, and support for his cause. While traveling through the Neutral Ground, he lost his credentials and his papers but continued on to Washington, where he arrived on 11 Dec. 1811. Shortly after his arrival Gutiérrez de Lara presented his case to the secretaries of state and war in an eleven-page memorandum (in Spanish), in which he offered to open trade relations with the U.S. in return for the supply of arms, munitions, and some troops to the Mexican cause, mentioning as he did so that such assistance would strengthen both the U.S. and Mexico against the nations of Europe. According to Gutiérrez, an independent Mexico would offer what benefit to the United States?

• Mexican recognition of the United States government

• an end to slavery in Texas

• a defeat of a common enemy, the American Indians

• a loss of European influence in the Americas

Right from the start, Austin grappled with the central problem of relations between his colony and Mexico. Mexico was in the final stages of a decades-long war for independence from Spain. Shortly after the colony was established, Austin learned that Mexican authorities were refusing to recognize the Spanish land grant given to his father. Austin traveled to Mexico City and succeeded in getting approval for a law that promoted the development of colonies. Known as the empresario system, the new law allowed immigration agents such as Austin to bring in families and provided land incentives for their success. Based on this passage, which of the following summarizes Stephen F. Austin's most important contribution to the history of Texas?

• ensuring the establishment of the empresario system

• helping newly independent Mexico establish a stable government

• breaking Texas off from the rest of Mexico

• establishing good relations between the people of Texas and the Mexican government

Hidalgo was born into a moderately wealthy family in the city of Guanajuato, northwest of Mexico City, in 1753. He attended the Jesuit College of San Francisco Javier, received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Mexico in 1774, and was ordained into the priesthood in 1778. He soon earned the enmity of the authorities, however, by openly challenging both church doctrine and aspects of Spanish rule by developing Mexican agriculture and industry. In 1803, Hidalgo accepted [a post at] the small parish of Dolores, not far from his native city of Guanajuato. Between 1803 and 1810, he directed most of his energy to improving the economic prospects of his parishioners. He also joined the Academia Literaria, a committee seeking Mexico’s independence from Spain. From this passage, you can infer that Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla was primarily interested in which of the following?

• furthering his own career as a priest.

• advancing the authority of the peninsulares in Mexico.

• improving the lives of the working people of Mexico.

• weakening Spain's grip on Texas.

After the failure of the missions of the late 1600s, Spanish activity in East Texas was very quiet for 20 years. Then, in 1711, a Spanish missionary named Father Francisco Hidalgo wrote to the French governor of Louisiana. He asked for the governor’s help in building more missions among the Caddoes in East Texas. Hidalgo had served as a missionary at the Tejas mission in the 1690s and was disappointed that the Spanish had not made more attempts to reach the American Indians in this part of Texas. The governor saw that the missions could bring French trade to the Caddoes. According to this passage from the text, which passage explains how Father Hidalgo was able to restart missionary activities in Texas in the early 1700s?

• by inviting settlers from the United States

• by seeking Texan independence from New Spain

• by encouraging French interest in trade with the new Texas missions

• by focusing on converting French traders rather than American Indians

At the same time, Spain was losing control of its American colonies. In 1810, a revolt against Spanish control shook Mexico. The struggle lasted more than 10 years. These factors attracted many fortune seekers from the United States to Texas. Questions about who owned the land created a very tempting situation. This passage from the text helps explain the arrival of which of the following people in Texas?

• Fray Damián Massanet

• Father Francisco Hidalgo

• Stephen F. Austin

• Dr. James Long

Iturbide met with rebel leader Vicente R. Guerrero. In 1821, the two sides agreed on the Plan of Iguala. The plan stated that Mexico would become an independent nation. The plan was a compromise between peninsulares and criollos. Under the plan, the two groups of Spanish ancestry would be equal. Also, the Catholic Church would keep its power. This passage from the text suggests that a key to the success of the Plan of Iguala was

• the military destruction of the opponents to independence.

• the loss of Spanish influence in Mexico.

• the compromise among former rivals for power in Mexico.

• the fact that the Catholic Church was not part of the agreement.

By 1821, Texas had few Mexican settlers. Yet the land held great opportunity. Many Mexicans favored ranching over other ways of life. Many parts of southern Texas were ideal for this activity. This region offered large areas of open grassland. Mexican ranching increased in this area in the early 1800s. More growth took place in South Texas in the years after the end of Spanish rule. This passage from the text implies which of the following about East Texas?

• It was not as well suited for ranching.

• It had little to offer any settler.

• It was already fully occupied with ranches.

• It was mountainous and rocky.

Austin and most of the Texas empresarios did not come from Mexico. Martín De León was different. He was the only Mexican empresario to found a colony in Texas. De León knew that Mexican leaders worried about people from the United States moving to Texas. He wanted to start a colony with Mexican families along the Guadalupe River. De León received an unusual contract. He did not have to settle a certain number of families. His colony did not have marked borders. Still, De León’s colony moved ahead. He named the main town in the settlement Guadalupe Victoria, after the first president of the Republic of Mexico. The town grew into the present-day city of Victoria. By 1835, some 162 families lived there. All but 16 of them came from Mexico. Based on this passage from the text, you can safely conclude that

• Mexican settlers did not trust the empresarios.

• the Mexican government would have rather not employed foreign empresarios.

• the Mexican government did not support the empresarios.

• Martín De León was not fair to settlers from the United States.

Based on the map, what prominent geographic feature formed a natural border between Texas and Mexico?

• the Rio Grande

• the Gulf of Mexico

• the Sierra Madre

• the Central Plateau