Heritage and History of Texas - Essay Example

Pacific Northwest History What we see of Texas today is not all of what it was in the past. The time period from 1810 to 1848 was the time when some of history’s most important events took place, leading to the rich culture, heritage and history that Texas holds today. The problem that was raised between the Spanish, French, Anglo-Americans, Indians and the Europeans was that they all lived on an interactive barrier and their lives were linked, no matter how hard they tried to be economically and socially independent; trade relations, diplomacy and war still occurred between them. The Mexican war of independence took place between 1810 and 1821. The foundation of the events which led to the Mexican war of independence started in the 1690’s when Texas was first known as Spanish Texas, as it was claimed by Spain and remained one of the interior provinces of New Spain from 1690 until 1821, although Spain did not attempt to colonize Texas until they discovered the failed colony of the French. When the Spanish claimed Texas as their property, the Native tribes in Texas were resilient towards the Spanish and the Spanish returned to Mexico, leaving the tribes in peace for the next two decades. But in 1716 Spain returned to East Texas and set up several missions and a base to protect their territory against pirates, as well as maintain a buffer between Spanish Territory and the French Territory. Two years later the first civilian settlement in Texas was established and was called San Antonio. But this soon became a target for attacks by the Lipan Apache and these attacks continued until 1749 when the Spanish and the Apache made peace, but the peace that was made between the Spanish and the apache angered the Apache’s enemies and fear of Indian attacks discouraged settlers to move to Texas leading to Texas being the least populated area in New Spain, which was a distress for the Spanish government as they believed that a larger population would keep them safe and in control of the Indians. These attacks continued until 1785 when Spain made peace with the Comanche tribe. Although the French had failed at colonizing Texas, they still tried to reclaim it; When French Louisiana was ceded to Spain in 1762, France tried to reclaim Texas, since Texas was no longer needed as a buffer province, but in 1799 Spain gave Louisiana back to France and thereafter Napoleon sold the territory to the USA who insisted that the purchase included all of the land to the east of the Rocky Mountains and to the North of the Rio Grande. This dispute was only resolved in 1819 when Spain gave Florida to the USA in return that the Sabine River would be recognized as the eastern boundary of Texas. All of these events led to the Mexican War of Independence where the Mexican people sought independence from the Spanish. On 24 August 1821 the Mexican people had won their independence after a fierce war fought by three caudillos. Spain however did try to regain Mexico between 1823 and 1829, but they were unsuccessful and finally recognized the Mexican independence in 1830. Americans were welcomed into Texas by the Mexican government in the 1820’s, but the Americans soon became restless from being under Mexican reign and began a rebellion in 1835. On 21 April Texan troops overthrew the Mexican troops and Texas then gained a new independence under the American people and got rewarded its first president; Sam Houston. The biggest problem with this situation was that the Americans would not leave the Indians and their cultures and traditions be; they wanted to evangelize and civilize these tribes, taking away from them their rich heritage and beliefs which was one of the biggest reasons that the Indians fought to keep the Americans out of their territory. The American and European people however had the vision of a stable and productive society in mind, and the beliefs and traditions of the Indian people did not fit in with their vision. The banner of Manifest destiny was first mentioned in1845 by and American Newspaper Editor called John O’ Sullivan who was writing about the idea of claiming Texas. John O Sullivan stated that it was America’s destiny to take over the continent and it was shortly after that the USA annexed Texas and it became the 28th US state, which infuriated the Mexican people who had never accepted the fact that Texas had become independent. This led directly to a war with Mexico since the USA feared that the Mexicans would try to overtake Texas. The Mexican war ended in February 1848 by the treaty of Gaudalupe Hidalgo and Mexico surrendered New Mexico and California to the USA. The Manifest Destiny played a big role in the politics of America during the 1800’s and it was one of the biggest factors behind America’s drive to expand from the East to the West. The Manifest destiny was also advertised and displayed in many newspapers and other forms of media, encouraging the drive in all Americans to make America the biggest and strongest country in the world. Although the Manifest Destiny was not a government policy, it did lead as a passage to other legislations, as it was inspiring and influential to all Americans. But America was not the only country seeking power, and there were many competitors who tried to claim as many land as possible for themselves as well; the dispute that existed between the USA and Great Britain was one about the boundary between the U.S. and British Canada in the Oregon Country. This dispute was only settled in 1846, as both the U.S. and Great Britain were under tremendous stress from other factors that had occurred like the threat of war, and the USA finally succeeded in claiming Texas as part of the USA, therefore spreading out to the West and claiming the Pacific Northwest. The Pacific Northwest is restricted to the coastal region form Kodiak Island in Alaska south to northwest California, and the USA only made its claim after the region had been explored by the Lewis and Clark expedition. The fight for the possession of Texas was one that was filled with the thought of a heritage for the Indian people; this was where their culture, ancestors and future lay. The Mexicans had willingly allowed Americans to settle in Texas after they had gained independence from Spain, but the Americans were not satisfied with the Indians way of life and culture and wanted a more civilized, productive and educational society, therefore forcing the Indians to give up their beliefs and culture and to become civilized and evangelized according to the American culture. The term “frontier” that was used by the European, Spanish, American and Indian cultures was seen as a fight for space and property between the Indian and white people, which means that the Texas frontier was constructed to form a boundary between cultures, and to keep other beliefs and traditions out, so that a socially acceptable colony could be formed. The Texas frontier was more of an inventive term, which people saw in their mind when talking about the Indians and the whites; it was more of a barrier; a term to keep the Indians out of the whites’ property. The ways that the Americans used to keep the Indians at bay were violent and cruel, but when looking back at the struggle, war and threats that were going on between all of the Regions and cultures to claim property, so their economy and society could grow stronger and bigger, one can see why the Americans felt so threatened by the majority of Indians and their vast knowledge of the Texas Region. Online Sources: The Indian Frontier, 1763-1846, by R. Douglas Hurt, Page xv. Xvi British newspapers and the Oregon Treaty 1846, Oregon Historical Quarterly, 22 March 2003,McClintock, Thomas C. Wikipedia the free encyclopedia- Pacific northwest Read More