What was a characteristic of the Spanish colonial era in Texas?
The Spanish Colonial era in Texas began with a system of missions and presidios, designed to spread Christianity and to establish control over the region. The missions were managed by friars from the order of St.
What did the Spanish do in Texas?
The Spanish established themselves in Texas by using the same system they had established in Arizona and New Mexico. Through missions, presidios, and an adjoining civilian community (a villa), missionaries and soldiers Christianized and Hispanicized the native population.
How did the Spanish settle Texas in the eighteenth century?
For the next 150 years, Spain settled and governed the region via Franciscan missions and presidios. The emergence of the United States in the late eighteenth century, and 1803’s Louisiana Purchase, led to a border dispute between the U.S. and Spain.
Why was Texas so important to the Spanish Empire?
The reestablishment of missions and a presidio in East Texas was very important historically, as it gave Spain a valid claim to the land north of the Rio Grande; did much to determine that Texas would be Spanish, not French; and helped to advance the eventual boundary between Texas and Louisiana to the Sabine River.
Why was education important to the Spanish in Texas?
Education in Spanish Texas was designed to Christianize and domesticate the Indians and to provide the rudiments of learning for the children of garrison troops and Spanish colonists. Mission schools were established for the Indians, the first being at San Francisco de los Tejas Mission in East Texas in 1690.
When did Texas become part of the Spanish Empire?
This lesson details the history of colonial Texas, from its settlement by Europeans in the sixteenth century until Mexican independence in 1821. Before Texas was one of the most populous and culturally vibrant states in the United States, Texas was part of New Spain, a colony in the Spanish Empire.
What did the Spanish do in San Antonio?
The Mission Espada Chapel, in San Antonio, is a well-preserved example of Spanish colonial architecture. Missions and presidios developed hand-in-hand, as the goal of Spanish settlement in Texas was the spread of Catholicism.
What was slavery like in the Spanish colony of Texas?
Field slavery of the type common in England’s American colonies and in parts of Spanish America did not exist in Texas absent an export cash crop economy. In Texas, as in most of New Spain by the latter part of the Spanish colonial period, slave ownership was a matter of status and most slaves provided domestic services.
