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Jan 1, 1400
Age Of Exploration Begins
The reasons the Europeans explored was for three specific reasons: to spread religion (God), to find riches (gold), and to gain fame (glory). Christopher Columbus was looking for a direct route from Europe to Asia when he was on the expedition, but instead, he found America on one of his trips. Most sailors were from the European country of Spain, with the exception of La Salle from France. A conquistador is a conqueror. Hernando Cortez found New Spain and tore down Tenochtitlan. -
Jan 1, 1519
Pineda Maps Texas Coast
Pineda came from Spain, like most other explorers. He went to explore the world in 1517. Pineda was looking for a passage from the Gulf of Mexico to Asia. He also discovered that Florida was not an island. He was the first european in Texas, discovered the Mississippi river and mapped the coast of Texas. He was killed by the natives. -
Nov 6, 1528
Cabeza de Vaca Shipwrecked
The Karankawa Indians had captured Cabeza de Vaca. Diseasse killed many natives and explorers, but even natives killed the explorers. After he returned to Mexico, he wrote an account as to what had happened during the expedition. The people were very curious about his stories and more explorers set forth to explore. He also mentioned the seven golden cities of Cibola in one of his entries. -
Apr 20, 1540
Coronado Sets Out For Cibola
Cibola was supposed to be treasure which were callled seven Golden Cities of Cibola. Coronado thought that Cibola was in Texas because as Cabeza de Vaca had mentioned the cities in his journal entry and that have Coronado the inspiration to look for them. No one actually found Cibola. However, the expedition did discover southwestern United States and northern Mexico. -
La Salle Lands In Texas
France had begun challenging Spain for Texas as they had claimed all the land that drained into the Mississippi. La Salle discovered the mouth of the Mississippi river on April 7th, 1682. -
Ft. Saint Louis Founded
Ft. Saint Louis is near the Matagorda Bay in Texas. La Salle established the fort. Some reasons the fort had failed are Native Indian attacks, harsh conditions, and epidemics. La Salle's leadership was proving difficult and his own expedition murdered him. -
Marcues de Rubi Inspects Texas
His mission was to inspect the frontier presidios, missions, and help the people in the economy and also prepare a report. King Carlos III appointed the expedition to Marcues de Rubi. After he had inspected Texas, he advised them to reorganize the defenses and have 15 presidios which would extend from the Gulf of California and the mouth of the Guadalupe River. He also advised them to abandon east Texas completely, except for San Antonio and Santa Fe. -
Mission San Francisco Founded
The purpose of a mission is to serve as a home to the natives who were converted by the missionaries. They were converted to Christianity and were Spanish citizen. The missionaries led the missions. Spain built missions. The missions were afflict aged with the religion Roman Catholicism. Most missions weren't successful because of the frequent attacks of the natives, harsh conditions, the treatment of the natives in the missions, disease, droughts, etc. Presidios protected the missions. -
Phillip Nolan Expedition
A filibuster is a person who declares unapproved and illegal war on a country which he/she is not a citizen of (foreign). Some other filibusters were Peter Ellis Bean, James Long, and Jean La Fitte. Jean La Fitte was a French pirate used to attack Spanish ships and steal their valuables. He also used to import slaves into Texas which was illegal. -
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The Louisiana Purchase
It was between the French and the United States. The French decided to sell Louisiana to the United States because they were economically broke and it was most lofical to give it to the U.S. But when the Spanish heard about the purchase, they were outraged. It did not help that France also sold New Orleans to the U.S. This led to many conflicts between the U.S. and Spain. The three countries which still claimed to have land in the U.S. were Great Britain, Spain, and the United States. -
Mexico Gains Independence
Mexico gained it's independence from Spain. The federalist constitution was '1824 Constitution of Mexico'. This Constitution had the official religion of Catholicism. Texas was joined with the state of Coahuila in the particular constitution. -
Moses Austin Asks Permission For Colony
At first, the Spanish had denied the request of establishing a colony, but then Moses Austin met his old friend Bastrop. Bastrop had high contacts and he reformed the request letter of Moses Austin so it was more official and made more sense. Because of his connections, the Spanish granted land to Moses Austin. Unfortunately, just as he was returning home, Moses Austin was mugged. Also, because of the cold weather and wet atmosphere, he was infected by pneumonia. He died shorty afterwards. -
Stephen F. Austin Establishes His Colony
An empresario is a kind of businessman who was granted permission by the Mexican government tobuild settlements. SFA's colony was in southeast Texas surrounded by rivers and a coast. The laws were: the colonists must be Catholic, land would be given to farmers, people must speak Spanish. The old 300 were reegular farmers, blacksmiths, any useful people with clear backgrounds. Some challenges were natives, conditions etc. Empresarios: Haden Edwards, James Power and James Hewetson. -
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Fredonian Rebellion
The goal of the Fredonian Rebellion was to secede from Mexico and to declare independence from Mexico. The Edwards brothers were very upset with the Mexican government involving complaints. They simply thought that the Mexican goveernment wasn't involved in the matters of the public and it took too long for them to take any action. The rerbellion ended badly as the Edwards brothers fled from Mexico and found shelter in Lousiana. The Cheroke leaders (John Hunter & Richard Fields) were executed. -
Mier y Teran Report
The goal of the expedition was to inspect the conditions and influence in Texas. Mier y Teran was well educated and had experience, so the government thought he was capable of going on this expedition. The recommendations that he made were: trade between Mexico and Texas should be more encouraged so that the Mexican influence will affect Texas. He also said that more soldiers were needed to be there to increase control. Lastly, more Europeans, especially Tejanos, should settle in Texas. -
Law Of April 6th, 1830
The U.S. immigration was banned so that people couldn't come to Texas without the government's permission. The law suspended the incomplete empresario contracts and made them renew them. Also, the law stated that the Mexican immigration should be more than the United States. The law also banned more slaves to enter Texas, only pre existing ones were ok. It also made sure that new forts were built to strengthen the control. Also, the government began to tax all of the imports from the U.S. -
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The Conventions of 1833
The common goal of the conventions was to discuss about the requests of the citizens that had gone unnoticed by the Mexican government. Also, after the meetings, they made petitions adressing the government. Stephen F. Austin was the person selected to go to Mexico City to present the draft of the state constitution made by the colonists. -
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The Conventions of 1833
The common goal of the conventions was to discuss about the requests of the citizens that had gone unnoticed by the Mexican government. Also, after the meetings, they made petitions adressing the government. Stephen F. Austin was the person selected to go to Mexico City to present the draft of the state constitution made by the colonists. -
Stephen F. Austin Arrested
Santa Anna had taken over Mexico in 1833. After Stephen F. Austin had presented the petitions made by the colonists, he was traveling to Texas in December. But on his way back, he was arrested for trying to incite instability and rebellion among the colonists. SFA was held in prison for almost a year without trial. He got released in December, 1834, but couldn't leave the city. He went back in August, 1835. SFA changed his mind about being in favor of Mexico after this incident occurred. -
Battle Of Gonzales
The first official battle of Texas. It was fought because the Mexican government had given the colonists a cannon to repel native attaccks, but now they wanted it back sensing the instability in Texas. The colonists didn't want to hand it over, so the battle was fought. The famous slogan which was in white material called 'Come And Take It' originated. -
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San Antonio de Bexar Siege
A siege is a kind of battle where one enemy surrounds the other on all sides, cutting of any necessary supplies and other materials, and demands for surrender. The Mexican government, Martin Perfecto de Cos, was in control of Texas before the siege. After the siege, San Antonio was under the control of the Texas volunteers and the Texas colonists. It served as campaign. -
Convention Of 1836
The two important documents which were created were, 'The Texas Declaration of Independence' and the 'Constitution of Republic of Texas'. -
Fall Of The Alamo
Three notable Alamo defenders are: David Crockett, William Barret Travis, and James 'Jim' Bowie. There were about 189 Alamo defenders and around 2000 Mexican troops. Sam Houston did not send reinforcements b cause he was waiting for the perfect place and the perfect moment to strike the Mexican army. The Mexican government won the battle of the Alamo. -
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The Runaway Scrape
Everyone was trying to flee east, crossing the Sabine River into Louisiana. The purpose of the runaway scrape was to escape from Texas into safety before the Mexican army could get to them and execute everyone. Everyone was running away because the Santa Anna had executed all his prisoners and announced that he would kill anyone who dared to oppose the Mexican government. Everyone thought that Sam Houston was a coward and that he was running away from the army instead of staying and fighting. -
Goliad Massacre
Fannin and his men lost the battle of the Goliad and were taken prisoner. It was fought near Coleto creek where the Mexican army surrounded them. General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna ordered the execution of Fannin's men. Some 230-240 people were massacred. -
Battle Of San Jacinto
The two war cries were: 'Remember the Alamo' and 'Remember Goliad'. The casualties were as follows: 700 Mexican killed, 208 wounded, and 730 prisoners. For Texans: 9 killed and 30 wounded. Santa Anna had shredded his armor and disguised himself as a common soldier to escape severe punishment. He was trying to escape. But, he was caught when one of the soldiers accidentally called him El Presidente. This time, the Texans were victorious at last.
