Early History of Texas

José de Escandón

- Escandon was chosen by Spain to explore and settle the land that is now northern Mexico and southern Texas.

Joshua Houston

Joshua Houston was an educated slave of Sam Houston. He was later freed and went on to become a politician and run a successful business.

Mirabeau Lamar

Lamar served as the second president of the Republic of Texas. He established a fund to support public education in Texas. He did not support Sam Houston's Native American policy.

Moses Austin

Austin planned and secured approval for the settlement of what is now Austin, Texas. He died before he was able to fulfil his plan, leaving the actual settlement of Texas to his son, Stephen F. Austin.

Fray Damián Massanet

- Father Massanet, a Catholic priest and Spanish missionary, traveled from Mexico to East Texas in 1689 where he established the mission San Francisco de los Tejas with the intent to convert Native Americans to Christianity. Massanet had naively refused substantial security and soon struggled with hostile Native Americans. In 1693, Father Massanet abandoned the mission, burning it down and returning to Mexico.

The Council House Fight

During a peace meeting between Comanche and Texan leaders, a disagreement occurred resulting in the Texans attempting to hold the Comanche representatives hostage. Fighting erupted and many Comanche men and a few women and children were killed in this conflict.

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

Cabeza de Vaca was a Spanish explorer who arrived in Texas when a hurricane pushed him and his men ashore in 1529. He was the first European to explore the land of Texas and establish and relationship with Native American tribes in Texas

Stephen F. Austin

Early settler and considered the "father of Texas," served as Secretary of State for the Republic of Texas. Persuasive public speaker

Arctic

Cold, harsh environment. Hunted caribou and sea animals through ice. Inuit and Aleut.

Mayflower Compact

Established first self-regulating government since Roman Republic. Influendced by principles of democracy and bible. Common rules and lawas decided by majority.

Triangular Trade

Europeans traveled to Africa where they traded their manufactured goods and rum for slaves. Those slaves were then sent to the Americas to work in the plantations, growing cash crops of sugar, tobacco, and (later) cotton. These cash crops would then be sold to Europe, where they were turned into manufactured and processed goods to then sell in Africa and the Americas.

Francisco Hidalgo

Father Hidalgo was a Catholic priest and Spanish missionary committed to converting Native Americans to Christianity. He had been a member of the failed mission San Francisco de los Tejas, and years later, returned to establish a second mission in that location, the Nuestro Padre San Francisco de los Tejas.

Ann Richards

Female governor of Texas. Dogged on issues.

Eastern Woodlands

Fertile wooded lands with rivers and streams. Inland farming or coastal farming, Fishing, Early contact with Europeans. Iroquoian speakers (ex: Iroquois) and Algonquian speakers (ex: Pequot)

Great Basin

Flat, rocky soil, desert climate. Nomadic hunters and gatherers. Shoshone and Ute.

Proclamation of 1763

Following the French and Indian War, the Proclamation of 1763 established the Proclamation Line, which was created by the British government to prevent colonists from settling lands belonging to the Native Americans.

The Santa Fe Expedition

In an attempt to increase trade with New Mexico, then president of Texas, Mirabeau Lamar, sent a group of men to the area. After a disastrous journey, they were met by the Mexican army and taken prisoner, eventually released after intervention by the United States.

Southwest

Hot and dry desert. Primarily farmers. Tiered homes made out of adobe bricks or nomadic with temporary mud homes. Hopi, Apache, and Navajo.

Southeast

Humid and fertile. Agriculture and small permanent villages, Mound building (evidence of indigenous cultures practicing in region). Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, Choctaws, and Chickasaws.

Lorenzo de Zavala

Lorenzo de Zavala was a Mexican politician who eventually shifted allegiance to Texas and against Santa Anna's rule. He signed the Texas Declaration of Independence and served as the Vice President of Texas.

Mary Maverick

Mary Maverick was a Texas settler who kept detailed journals of her experiences throughout the fight for Texas independence. Her journals have provided valuable insight into the time period.

Plateau

Mountainous, surrounded by 4 other regions. Expansive trade network. Borrowed innovations from surrounding regions. Resided in permanent villages in winter. Hunted and gathered during remainder of year. Became more nomadic with adoption of horses.Yakima and Nez Perce.

Córdova Rebellion

Native Americans and Mexican settlers in Nacogdoches, Texas, led by Alcalde Vicente Córdova, rebelled against the newly independent Texas in 1838. Their uprising was quickly suppressed.

Northwest Coast

Ocean, coastal forests. Hunted in sea using canoes. Memorial (totem) poles and other wood carving art. Chinook.

Alonso Álvarez de Pineda

Pineda was the first to map the shore line of Texas and the rest of the Gulf of Mexico. He proved that Florida was not an island and that there is no water route through the gulf to reach the Pacific Ocean.

Sam Houston

President of the Republic of Texas, also served as a senator and governor of Texas. Strong military leader, demonstrated perseverance throughout his life

Ferdinand Magellan

Spanish King Charles I funded him to connect the Americas and Asia. While he died on the route, his ship completed the first circumnavigation of the Earth (going all the way around).

United States-Mexican War

The United States President James K. Polk began expanding westward in an attempt to spread U.S. territory across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. Mexico, in control of much of the southwest, responded to this intrusion with force, resulting in the Mexican-American War. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo both ended the U.S.-Mexican War, but also formally recognized the annexation of Texas by the United States.

California

Variety of microenvironments such as coasts, rivers, lakes, forests, valleys, deserts, and mountains. Ample sustenance. Sedentary communities. Reached levels of cultural complexity not seen among hunting and gathering cultures. Pomo and Chumash.

Comaches

Which of the following nomadic Native American tribes utilized European horses in their buffalo hunting and during military activities?

Cabeza de Vaca

Who was the first European to explore the land of Texas and establish a relationship with Native American tribes in Texas?

Great Plains

Wide-open fertile grassland. Settled farmers. Once horses arrived, became more nomadic using teepees. Sioux, Pawnee, and Cheyennes.

Northwest Passage

a water route through North America to the Pacific that would facilitate trade with Asia

Toltec civilization

known for skill in metal work and pottery

Mayan civilization

known for stair-step temples and detailed carvings; had advanced writing and mathematics

Mercantilism

the economic thought that dominated Europe during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. It is the economic belief that a country's wealth is measured by its gold reserves and that countries should export more than they import to build the wealth of the nation

Olmec civilization

the first Mesoamerican civilization; Invented the long-count calendar, a writing system, and are remembered for the excellence of their stone carvings

The Columbian Exchange

was a global exchange of goods, flora, fauna,(plants and animals) and cultural practices between Europe and the Americas. It lead to an increase in dietary choices in both Europe and the Americas.

Teotihuacán civilization

west of the Olmec area, was known for its monumental pyramids, temples, and roads