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Who: Commandant General Juan de Ugalde, his troops, and allied Native American auxiliaries against Lipan and Mescalero Apaches. What: Ugalde's forces decisively defeated a large group of Apache warriors. Where: The battle occurred at the Sabinal River canyon in Texas. Why: The victory validated Spain's new policy of allying with some tribes to make war on others, which brought nearly two decades of peace to Texas settlements. (97) Image citation- https://shorturl.at/jJf1J -
Who: Philip Nolan, an American adventurer, and Spanish authorities. What: Nolan led an unauthorized expedition into Texas to capture wild horses, leading to a fatal confrontation with a Spanish patrol. Where: Central Texas, near present-day Hill County. Why: This event increased Spanish suspicion of American adventurers as spies contrabandists, contributing to growing tensions and the need to defend Texas from U.S. encroachment. (104-105)
Image Citation - https://shorturl.at/scxbZ -
Who: The United States under President Thomas Jefferson and France under Napoleon Bonaparte. What: France sold the vast Louisiana Territory to the United States. Where: North America, creating a new U.S.-Spanish border. Why: This created an international border between Spanish Texas and an expansionist U.S., leading to boundary disputes and making Texas a contested frontier. (102, 106) Image Citation: https://history.state.gov/milestones/1801-1829/louisiana-purchase -
Who: Juan Bautista de las Casas, Spanish Governor Manuel Salcedo. What: Casas led a coup that briefly overthrew the royalist government in Texas before being suppressed by a counter-revolt. Where: San Antonio, Texas. Why: It was the first revolt against Spanish rule in Texas, demonstrating that disaffection with the crown had reached the province revealing the divided loyalties of the military. (118) Image citation: https://texastejano.com/history/casas-revolt/ -
Who: Mexican insurgent José Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara, Augustus Magee their republican army of north What: An armed filibustering expedition invaded Texas, captured Nacogdoches, La Bahía, and San Antonio, declared Texas independent from Spain. Where: Sabine River - San Antonio. Why: first attempt to separate Texas from Spain. Its initial success led to the "1st Independence of Texas," but its brutal defeat devastated province. ( 102, 119-120)
Image citation- https://shorturl.at/Kr1n6 -
Who- The Republican Army of North and the Spanish royalist army under General Joaquín de Arredondo. What - Arredondo's royalist forces decisively defeated the insurgents, ending the first attempt at an independent Texas republic. Where- South of the Medina River, near San Antonio. Why- This catastrophic defeat crushed the independence movement in Texas and devastated the Tejano population (101, 122) Image citation - https://somersettxstories.com/battle-of-medina-part-3-the-plot-thickens/ -
Who: Moses Austin Antonio Martínez. What: Facing financial ruin in 1819, Austin traveled to San Antonio and proposed to settle 300 Catholic families from the United States in Texas. Where: San Antonio de Béxar, Spanish Texas. Why Desperate to populate nearly empty province, Spanish officials approved Austin's plan. This decision opened the door to large-scale Anglo-American colonization, which would change the demographics future of Texas. (102,130) Image Cite-https://shorturl.at/nOc49 -
Who-Royalist officer Agustín de Iturbide and rebel leader Vicente Guerrero. What-The Plan of Iguala united former enemies to achieve Mexico's separation from Spain. Where- Mexico; acknowledged in San Antonio and La Bahía, Texas. Why-This event ended three centuries of Spanish rule in Texas and ushered in the Mexican period, creating a new set of political realities for the province. (129) Image citation - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_War_of_Independence -
Who- Emperor Agustín de Iturbide's government empresario Stephen F. Austin. What- Mexico established a national colonization law that set up an empresario system, offering land grants to attract new settlers. Where-Mexico City Why- This law provided legal framework for Austin's colony, officially opening Texas to large-scale Anglo-American settlement and starting a major demographic shift. (143) Image citation- https://shorturl.at/fown2 -
Who- Mexico's Constituent Congress, including Texas delegate Erasmo Seguín. What-Mexico adopted a federalist constitution that established a republic with separate executive, legislative judicial branches. Where-Mexico City Why-It established the political framework for the new nation but controversially merged sparsely populated Texas with Coahuila, a major point of contention for years to come. (138-139) Image citation- https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/constitution-of-1824