Nupur Patel
Hist-2301
White
Evaluate how successful (or not) the Spanish were in Texas, making sure to actually define what you mean by "success.”;
The Spanish attempted to colonize Texas and wanted to settle there, which was not exactly successful. I believe that if they were successful they would have settled there and not fail to form strong missions, but they instead formed weak missions which led them to give up.
In my opinion, the Spanish colonial was successful in some manners. The Spanish had various approaches when it came to their colonization, one thing was that they wanted to convert everyone into Catholics, which definitely can be a success and a failure since they did not exactly convert everyone but a majority. The Spanish had established more than a handful of missions, however, only a few of them were effective enough for them to convert into Catholicism.
The Indians did come in between since they were being hostile. The Spanish did not plan for the native’s hostility and were not prepared. The Apache Indians and Comanche settled in the area did not want to cooperate with the Spanish. This made the Spanish settlement harder for them. They did not want to become a Spaniard and had gone out with numerous attacks on the Spanish around San Antonio.
Texas was failing because the Spanish did not know how to overcome their obstacles when trying to settle and colonize cities. The presidios were a great opportunity for settlers to have employment. Also since there was a lot of cattle raising which attracted many people to Texas. This way the Spanish were successful since they were trying hard to colonize and have everyone to settle and have a well-rounded state.
In conclusion, as I see it the Spanish were not successful when it came to their colonization since they were not prepared and did not plan for any of their obstacles that came in their way. Since things did not go their way, they eventually had to give up when Mexico claimed their independence.
How did Mexico's policies towards Texas both ensure success and ultimate failure?
Texas being under the Mexican rule definitely ensure success and ultimate failure since it did help them but at the end, United States did take Texas. The Mexican government was afraid so they decided to form policies to have more settlers.
Mexico decided to bring Anglo immigration from the United States. But since Spain had already been trying to do that they had to plan other ways to bring in more people which were to establish an empresario system. Moses Austin who was a failed lead miner, his son Stephen F. Austin had to be persuaded to take his father’s place.
The government had worked with impresarios, who were real estate agents and bring settlers to Texas. The most successful impresario was Stephen F. Austin, who had completed 3 contracts with the government and brought many families to settle in Texas. The other empresarios were not as popular as Stephen F. Austin. Many settlers that came up Austin also brought along their slaves, even though there was a ban on slavery, the government made an exception for Texas.
The Mexican government was only concerned about the United States taking Texas since it was thriving so much. And they failed to keep Texas to themselves since they were bringing settlers from the United States. They became official citizens of Mexico but still was close to the United States. Trying to fix that, the government tried to control it and forced to end slavery and end the immigration coming from the United States.
Texas was slipping from the Mexican government when President Santa Anna deserted the constitution which the settlers from the United States had granted them to live under. And one summer, he had sent an army which made the Anglo Americans not too excited.
Their ultimate failure was the Mexican losing Texas to the United States and since because of their fear it leads them to the Texas Revolution which started off with the infamous slogan “Come and Take it,” and all in all ended with Texas becoming their own nation.
Is Texas as an independent country a success, or failure
Texas became their own independent nation in 1836. The Texas Revolution lasted from October 2, 1853, to April 21, 1836. The result of the Texas Revolution was the Treaty of Velasco. The Treaty of Velasco stated that Mexican troops are to leave their territory to the other side of the Rio Grande. It was signed by President David Burnet who is from Texas and Santa Anna who is from Mexico.
Being their own nation, Texas had plenty of challenges. Texas had a financial issue and was going through a huge debt. Security was also an issue because Mexico dismissed the Velasco Treaty and needed to tighten their security. The native Americans also were also a problem since most of them were still being hostile.
Sam Houston was elected, and this first term was not successful. Houston wanted to be recognized by the United States but was unsuccessful. Since money was a challenge, Houston authorized tariffs. And soldiers were not ready to stop fighting which was another challenge for Houston. The Cordova Rebellion which happened during Houston’s first term, it was his attempt to reconcile the Anglos and the Natives.
Since Houston was restricted from running for a second term. Texas was also accused of babying the natives. Mirabeau Lamar becomes the president, who was an ally of Burnet and sitting vice president. Lamar wanted a “Texian Empire” which was an idea he was determined to accomplish. He was also establishing new settlements; the Peters Colony was one he established. Again, money was an issue, but Lamar took care of it by having a massive increase in paper money. Lamar also wanted to authorize a public education and develop schools.
Houston’s second term and Lamar was not able to succeed. But during Houston’s second term, the Mexicans invade Texas and Santa Anna returns. Houston had profusely pushed the united states to take up the annexation again, which they agreed to. I believe that Texas as its own nation was a failure since the Houston and Lamar did not accomplish too much as they should have.
Why did Texans fight in the Civil War? Were all Texans equally motivated?
The Civil War was a problematic time for the United States and more specifically Texas. The Civil War ended with more than 600,000 deaths of men, and it was fought over the states’ rights and slavery in Texas. Texans fought in the Civil War to keep slavery and to protect their states’ rights and also because of their love for their state. In the book “Why Texans Fought in the Civil War”, written by Charles David Grear, he states that there are many reasons as to why a soldier would go to war, but mainly because they think of Texas as their home and have a sense of being protective for it.
Since we knew the plain reasons as to why Texans went to war, Grear goes more in-depth and talks about a Texan’s decision throughout the war. The common thing that motivated the Texans to fight was slavery. It motivated the Texans since they did not want to ban slavery in their state. Grear also proclaimed that there were three groups that fought for Texas. The first group was from the larger part of South Texas and they fought on the far side of the battlefields. Grear specified that they are the newer immigrants. The second group took protecting Texas their primary motive and fought in theaters that were primarily helping to the security; mainly by Mississippi. The last group generally was all immigrants who were not tied with the South like Tejanos and Germans which caused them fighting for the Union.
Throughout the war, the Texans motivation and reason for their fighting changed over time. Since the United States were clearly moving to victory the soldiers have reconsidered their ways of how to protect their homes. Grear states how the Mississippi was forming a barrier to the Texans insecurity and the aggression that came from the Union. After the barrier was broken the Texans had to choose between their nation and their state.
Another reason for the Texans to go to war was because they were willing to fight for their love for Texas. Obviously not every Texans fought for love but everyone had their own reasons to be motivated. Because of that, the Texans went to fight a gruesome war that has happened in American History. Since not all of them were motivated equally, every Texan had their own reason but all fought for their nation. Some people fought for slavery right and did not slavery to be banned. Other Texans fought for their states’ rights and the right to be a self-government. Lastly, some Texans merely fought for their love for their Nation.
In conclusion, not all the Texans were equally motivated but had many reasons that motivated them to be equal and fight for their nation. They all joined together to fight of the union and even though they did not come to victory it was for their home.