1. Spanish Rule Ends in Texas
Main Idea: After independence from Spain, Mexicans and Texas settlers maintained cultural ties to their places of origin.

2. How did the Spanish Colonial Era Affect Texas?
September 1821: Mexico became independent from Spain. The province of Texas was part of this new country.
Only three major settlements—San Antonio, Goliad (La Bahia), and Nacogdoches—stood in Texas interior.

3. How did the Spanish Colonial Era Affect Texas?
A few settlements existed along Texas’s borders. Many were not considered a part of Spanish Texas.
Northern and Western Texas lay unoccupied or were controlled by nomadic Indian tribes.
Mexico Flag 1821

4. Why did Spain neglect to settle Texas?
No gold or silver to lure fortune hunters and adventurers to Texas.
Farmers and ranchers preferred more fertile areas of Mexico and California.
Mexico City attracted people for its advances in art, law, politics, military, and the Church.
Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico City

5. Why did Spain neglect to settle Texas?
Most Texas Indians remained unfriendly and had little to no interest in Spanish culture and religion.
Food supplies for troops and maintenance funds were low.

6. How did Spanish culture influence Texas?
Spaniards mapped and explored this vast land.
Spain built the first roads over Indian trails.
Many cities, rivers, and bays in Texas have Spanish names.

7. Spanish Legacy Rio Grande Brazos River Padre Island Nueces River
Cities/Towns
Rivers
San Antonio
El Paso
Amarillo
Corpus Christi
Galveston
Nacogdoches
San Augustine
Llano
Laredo
Seguin
Victoria
Cuero
San Angelo
Port Lavaca
San Felipe
San Marcos
Del Rio
Palacios
Mission
Rio Hondo
Padre Island
San Antonio Bay
Matagorda Bay
Corpus Christi Bay
Galveston Bay
Guadalupe Mountains
Chisos Mountains
Rio Grande
Brazos River
Nueces River
Pecos River
Trinity River
Neches River
Colorado River
Leon River
Atascocita Road
El Camino Real
San Antonio Road
Bays/Island
Roads
Mountains

8. How did Spanish culture influence Texas?
Spanish settlers brought horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs into Texas.
Texans used the Spanish ranching system, with its practices, methods, and equipment such as lariats and chaps.

9. How did Spanish culture influence Texas?
Spanish vaqueros made the first long cattle drives from South Texas to markets in Louisiana.
Spanish customs were adapted to frontier conditions. These adjustments formed a distinct Tejano culture that has continued in the state to the present day.