Spanish

Missions
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 SPANISH CONTROL OF THE
TEXAS BORDERLANDS
To control the Texas borderlands the
Spanish built 4 types of settlements:
1. missions – religious communities
2. presidios – military bases
3. towns – small villages with farmers and
merchants
4. ranchos – or ranches
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 Missions
 Developed in response to other countries
beginning to settle in the United States.
 The Spanish established these missions to
protect its borders, and to spread
Christianity.
 The Spanish built missions near rivers to
ensure a good water supply.
 Missions included churches, dormitories,
workrooms, barns, fields, and gardens.
 Missionaries taught the Indians about
3 Catholicism, and taught them how to farm.
 Missions
 To protect these missions, presidios were
established. A presidio is a military base.
Soldiers in these bases were generally
responsible for protecting several
missions.
 Settlers homes were built near missions,
so that they would be well protected.
This led to the formation of towns, for
example, San Antonio and El Paso.
 Spaniards lived near missions on ranchos,
and raised cattle.
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 Missions

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 Missions

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 New Missions along the Rio
Grande
 In the late 1600’s, the Spanish began
building missions just south of the Rio
Grande.
 They also built missions among the
Pueblo Indians of New Mexico.
 In 1680, a Pueblo leader named Pope
led a revolt, or revolution, against the
Spanish. This Pueblo Revolt, drove
the Spanish out of New Mexico.
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 THE SPANISH ESTABLISHED
MISSIONS ALONG THE
WESTERN RIO GRANDE
To provide a place to live for settlers
fleeing the Pueblo Revolt
To use missions as a base to retake New
Mexico
Pueblo Revolt – revolution led by Pueblo leader Popé
against the Spanish in New Mexico
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 Missions
In 1682, the Spanish built the first
mission in Texas, near present day
El Paso. This mission was called
Corpus Christi de la Ysleta.

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 Spanish Settlements on the
Frontier
To control the borderlands

Mission System

Goal Goal Goal

Represent Convert American Protect Borders
Spanish govern- Indians there to
ment there Catholicism

Four types of Spanish settlements

missions, presidios, towns, ranchos

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 THE FRENCH
Wanted to gain a port for the fur trade
Establish trade with the Spanish
colonies
To gain a claim to Texas and challenge
Spain’s empire
Expedition ended in disaster

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 EFFECT OF THE LA SALLE
EXPEDITION
Gave France a strong claim to Texas
2nd Flag to fly over Texas (French)
Spain sent expeditions to find Ft. St.
Louis
Spain built missions in East Texas to
protect their claim to the land

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 Spanish in East Texas
 In 1689, a Spanish governor named Alonso De
Leon led another expedition to find Ft. St.
Louis.
 A Spanish priest named Father Damian
Massanet, accompanied him.
 In early 1690, these two men, along with about
100 soldiers, built the first mission in East
Texas. It was called San Francisco de los
Tejas.
 In 1693, after three years of hardships,
including drought, disease, and the Indians
unwillingness to learn Christianity, the
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Spaniards burned the mission to the ground
 Spanish in East Texas
 One of the priests of San Francisco de los
Tejas, Father Francisco Hidalgo, wanted to
return to East Texas.
 Hidalgo decided to ask the French to build a
mission.
 In 1713, the French sent Louis St. Denis to help
Father Hidalgo.
 The Spanish arrested them and sent them to
Mexico City.
 Because St. Denis told the Spanish that he was
sent to help Father Hidalgo, the Spanish
became nervous and began to make plans to
return to East Texas.
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 FAILURE OF FIRST SPANISH
MISSIONS IN EAST TEXAS
Location too remote
Floods, droughts, disease
Internal conflicts
Indians not interested in religious
instruction

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 SAN ANTONIO RIVER AREA

Midpoint between the East Texas

missions and the Rio Grande
settlement
Mild climate and location by a river
Became the site of the most successful
Texas missions and settlements

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 Pop Quiz
1. Which of the following is one of the three main goals of the Spanish
mission system?
A. Protect Borders
B. Spread Christianity
C. Both A and B
2. The first Spanish mission in Texas was built on this date.
A. 1682
B. 1592
C. 1492
3. This first Spanish mission built in Texas was called.
A. San Antonio de Valero
B. Corpus Christi de la Ysleta
C. San Miguel de Linares de los Adaes
4. The first Spanish mission built in EAST Texas was called.
A. San Antonio de Bexar
B. Corpus Christi de la Ysleta
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WAR BETWEEN FRANCE AND
SPAIN AFFECTS TEXAS
Led to the Chicken War, which
caused Spain to abandon East
Texas
Re-established Spanish control of
the region
Separated control of French
Louisiana and Spanish Texas
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 WAR BETWEEN FRANCE
AND SPAIN AFFECTS
TEXAS (continued)
Chicken War – conflict between French
and Spanish in Texas where the French
attacked Mission San Miguel de
Linares de los Adaes

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 Spanish Return to Texas
France and Spain decide to work
together for the missions in East Texas
Spain wants to spread Christianity
France wants to trade with the Indians
Spain builds 6 new missions

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Successful missions:
1. San Antonio
2. Nacogdoches
3. Los Adaes
4. Goliad
Other missions failed because:
1. disease
2. Indian attacks
3. crop failure- hunger

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 War and Expansion
France and Spain at War

Chicken War (June 1719)

Spanish abandon East Texas

Aguayo Expedition

Effect Effect Effect

Spanish Agreement to Expansion of
re-occupation of separate control of Spanish settlement
East Texas French Louisiana (Los Adaes,
and Spanish Texas La Bahía)

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 Life in
Missions
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 MISSIONS AND PRESIDIOS
Centered around work and worship
Life was harsh, uncomfortable
dwellings, little food
Life for soldiers was dangerous and
difficult

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 Life in Missions & Presidios
 Missions were most likely to succeed, if they
had a presidio nearby.
 These military outposts were generally made
of adobe, stone, and timber.
 They had a chapel, barracks for soldiers,
storage rooms, and a headquarters building.
 The soldiers were not paid very much, and
their uniforms were often dirty and ragged.

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 LIFE IN SPANISH
SETTLEMENTS
Diverse populations
Consisted of homes, government
buildings and stores
Economy based on farming and
ranching
Social activities centered around
church and family
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The economy of the settlements
was mostly based on farming
and ranching.
 The cattle business helped San
Antonio and other towns grow.
 Vaqueros, or cowboys, worked on
ranches near the settlements. They
were well known for their skills at
horse riding and cattle handling.
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 Mission Government.
 The ayuntamiento, governing
council, enforced royal and local
laws.
 The alcalde, served as mayor,
sheriff, and judge of small cases.

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 SPANISH CULTURE AND
TEXAS TODAY
 Spanish heritage present in Texas
architecture and celebrations
 Apparent in music and food
 Spanish influence seen in place-names,
towns, or rivers
 Some Spanish missions are still active
churches.
 They laid out the first Texas roads.
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 Life in Spanish Texas
routes of
Catholic first Texas many
heritage and roads Spanish
missions place-names

Examples of Spanish
Influence in Texas

culture
cattle
(architecture,
ranching
art, food,
legal traditions and
language,
traditions terms
music)

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 Unrest and Revolution

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 Colonists Grow Unhappy with Spain
As the small colonies grew into towns,
the settlers worked together to solve
their own problems.
• The settlers couldn’t wait for Spain to
direct them.
• The settlers felt that the king lived too far
away to truly understand their needs.
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 In the last decades of the 1700’s
Spain became involved in huge
problems in Europe.
Conflicts with England and
France took up most of
Spain’s time and money.

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 How was Spain going to get money to
fight the conflicts with England and
France?
Spain placed HEAVY TAXES on
the settlers in Texas.
Spain forced the settlers in Texas to
donate money to pay for European
wars.
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 How would you like to work hard
all week and have to give the
Spanish King and Queen take most
of your income/money in taxes?
What you had left, they tried to
make you “donate” to Spain to pay
for their European Wars.

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 By 1800, the settlers were
feeling dissatisfied.
Colonists were unhappy
with the Spanish rulers.
Colonists wanted to make
their own rules.
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 People tried to apply reason and
science to all aspects of society,
including government.
This movement challenged the idea that
kings had a God-given right to rule.
A government should support the
people’s nature rights and interests.
(If a government does not do this,
it should be replaced.)
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 Father Hidalgo Calls for
Independence
Father Hidalgo believed strongly in the
ideals of the Enlightenment.
Father Hidalgo worked among
Mexican farming families for years
just north of Mexico City. He saw
how these families struggled and
how Spain’s crown neglected to
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help them.
 Father Hidalgo knew that as long
as the king was in charge,
conditions for these Mexican
families would never change.

Father Hidalgo called for the

liberation of the Mexican
people from Spain.
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(liberation – the act of becoming
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 When the king and queen of Spain
heard that Father Hidalgo was
conspiring to overthrow the Spanish
government, they decided to ARREST
HIM.
conspiring – to join in a secret
agreement
Hidalgo heard about this beforehand
and knew he had three choices:
stay in Dolores (small town north of
Mexico City)
hide out and hope not to get caught
begin a revolution
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 Grito de Dolores
www.vivasancarlos.com/ call_ind.html

On September 16, 1810, Father

Hidalgo gave a speech titled “Grito
de Dolores”. (Remember Dolores was the
city he was in, just north of Mexico City.)

In the speech, Hidalgo called for

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Mexican citizens to rise up 45and
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On his was to meet up with his
supporters, Hidalgo was seized by
Spanish authorities and executed.
Although Father Hidalgo did not
live to see Mexican independence
from Spain, he had a great effect
on the future of
Mexico and Texas.
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