NAME ________________________________________ DATE _____________ CLASS ______
Mexico Becomes Independent
Lesson 1: Spanish Texas, 1763–1819
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
How do governments change? Why does conflict develop?
Terms to Know
alliance an agreement among countries to work together
transform to change
neutral referring to an area that does not belong to any country
filibuster an individual who carries out unauthorized warfare against a foreign country
When did it happen?
Use the information from the lesson to identify the events that happened in each year on the timeline.
1760
1770
1779: City of
Nacogdoches
founded
1. What is an alliance?
Marking the Text
2. Highlight what Spain
received after the
Seven Years’ War.
92 Reading Essentials and Study Guide
1800
1800: Spain
returns
Louisiana to
France
1776: USA
declares
independence
Defining
1790
1810
1820
1806–1819: U.S. and
Spain agree to allow
Neutral Ground between
their territories
1819: Adams-Onís Treaty
ends boundary dispute,
gives Florida to U.S.
Changing Borders and Alliances
Guiding Question Why did Spain decide to close most of its Texas
missions?
The Seven Years’ War (1756–1763) was a fight between the nations
of Great Britain and France for control of North America. Most
European countries also took part due to their alliances, or
agreements, with one side or the other.
When it won the war, Great Britain gained control of Canada
and all land east of the Mississippi River. Great Britain also received
Florida from Spain. In exchange, Spain received Louisiana, the
Mississippi River delta, and the city of New Orleans. Now the eastern
boundary of Spanish Texas was the Mississippi River.
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1767: Marqués
de Rubí inspects
Spanish
settlements in
Texas
1780
NAME ________________________________________ DATE _____________ CLASS ______
Mexico Becomes Independent
Lesson 1: Spanish Texas, 1763–1819, continued
Louisiana came with both opportunities and challenges. The
Spanish no longer had to worry about the French threat to East
Texas. As a result, Spanish officials began to wonder if they still
needed the East Texas missions and presidios. The Spanish king
made Marqués de Rubí (roo•BEE) the visitador general. Visitador is
the Spanish word for “inspector.” Rubí’s job was to tour the frontier
provinces and recommend a course of action.
Rubí began his visita, or inspection, arriving in Texas in July 1767.
Over the next few months, Rubí inspected major settlements in
Spanish Texas. The inspection took nearly two years. Then Rubí
returned to Mexico City and recommended a number of changes.
He said that all missions in Texas, except for those at San Antonio
and Goliad, should be abandoned. He also recommended that all
settlers in East Texas should be moved to San Antonio.
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In 1773 Barón de Ripperdá (ree•pehr•DAH) became the new
Spanish governor of Texas. He closed the last three missions in East
Texas and ordered the settlers to move to San Antonio. East Texans
resented these changes. The leader of the East Texans, Gil Y’Barbo
(HEEL ee•BAHR•boh), asked Governor de Ripperdá to allow them to
return to their former homes. The governor refused.
In early 1779, without permission, Y’Barbo led the settlers back
into East Texas. There they founded the town of Nacogdoches,
near the Mission Guadalupe, which was one of the abandoned
missions. Spanish authorities had little control over the activities in
Nacogdoches and the surrounding area.
Spain, the United States, and Texas
Guiding Question How did the American Revolution affect Texas?
In the 1770s events in the neighboring British colonies would
transform, or change, life in Texas. A revolution was brewing in
the east. In 1776, thirteen of Britain’s North American colonies
rebelled against British rule. On July 4, the Declaration of
Independence was made public. The American Revolution had
begun. Spain and France sided with the colonists against their old
enemy, Great Britain.
Bernardo de Gálvez was the Spanish governor of Louisiana. He
opened New Orleans to American ships. He also gave weapons,
clothing, money, and medical supplies to American troops. When
Spain entered the war in 1779, Gálvez raised an army. Gálvez’s army
forced British troops from towns and forts along the Gulf of Mexico.
This helped keep the British from taking back the southern colonies.
Identifying
3. What were Rubí’s
recommendations?
Identifying
Cause and Effect
4. What led to the
founding of the town
of Nacogdoches?
Reading
Progress Check
5. What was the goal
of Rubí’s visita, or
inspection?
Marking the
Text
6. Highlight the ways that
the Spanish supported
the Americans against
the British.
Reading Essentials and Study Guide 93
NAME ________________________________________ DATE _____________ CLASS ______
Mexico Becomes Independent
Lesson 1: Spanish Texas, 1763–1819, continued
Describing
7. How did the Louisiana
Purchase change things
on the border of Spanish
Texas?
Reading
Progress Check
8. Who was Bernardo de
Gálvez?
9. Underline the text that
explains how conflict
started between the
Americans and the
Spanish at this time.
Identifying
Cause and Effect
10. What was an unintended effect of
declaring an area
Neutral Ground?
94 Reading Essentials and Study Guide
In 1800, Spain gave Louisiana and New Orleans back to France.
Three years later, the United States purchased the Louisiana
Territory from France, doubling the size of the United States. It also
now shared a border with Texas. With the Louisiana Purchase, the
people of the United States were free to push to the border of
Spanish Texas.
Border Disputes Develop
Guiding Question What was the significance of the Adams-Onís
Treaty?
Thousands of Americans moved into the Louisiana Territory in the
early 1800s. Some settled in Spanish East Texas. The Spanish
ordered the Americans out of Texas, but that set off a boundary
dispute. The United States said that the Sabine River was the
boundary between Texas and Louisiana. Spain claimed that the
boundary was a line from the Arroyo Hondo to the Calcasieu
(KAL•kuh•shoo) River in Louisiana. For several years, the Spanish
and Americans argued over the boundary. Neither Spain nor the
United States wanted to go to war over this.
General James Wilkinson, commander of the U.S. Army in
Louisiana, and Colonel Simón de Herrera, commander of the
Spanish in East Texas, came up with an answer. Instead of fighting
for the area, they declared it to be the Neutral Ground. That meant
it was land that did not belong to either country. Between 1806
and 1819, no nation governed it. Soon, smugglers, outlaws, and
fugitives from New Spain and the United States moved into the
Neutral Ground, where they were safe from the law.
In 1819 the United States and Spain signed the Adams-Onís Treaty,
ending the boundary dispute.
Conditions of the Adams-Onís Treaty
Spain gave Florida to the United States.
Spain agreed to the Sabine River as the eastern
boundary of Texas.
The United States gave up all claims to Texas.
The Neutral Ground was now in U.S. territory.
Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use.
Marking the Text
In 1783 the American Revolution ended, and a treaty was signed
between Britain and the United States. The new country’s boundaries
stretched from Canada to Florida, and west to the Mississippi River.
Florida was returned to Spain, and both the United States and Britain
had trading rights on the Mississippi River.
NAME ________________________________________ DATE _____________ CLASS ______
Mexico Becomes Independent
Lesson 1: Spanish Texas, 1763–1819, continued
Many Americans who had come to Spanish Texas were farmers,
craftspeople, and traders. Others were military adventurers known
as filibusters. A filibuster is someone who fights another country
without government permission. One filibuster was Philip Nolan,
who came from Ireland. Nolan claimed to be in Texas to capture
and sell wild horses. The Spanish suspected that Nolan was a spy
who was working for General James Wilkinson. Wilkinson was the
American military leader in Louisiana. The Spanish warned Nolan
to stay out of Texas.
In late 1800 Nolan led a party of 27 people into Texas. Expedition
members spent the winter catching wild horses in Central Texas.
In March 1801 Spanish soldiers surrounded the group’s campsite
on the Brazos River, near present-day Waco. They demanded that
Nolan’s men surrender. Nolan refused, and fighting broke out.
Nolan and another man were killed. The Spanish marched the rest
of the men to a Mexican prison.
Defining
11. What is a filibuster?
Reading
Progress Check
12. What did Spain gain in
the Adams-Onís Treaty?
Writing
Check for Understanding
Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use.
1. Expository How did the change in ownership of Louisiana affect Spanish Texas?
2. Expository Explain the original purpose of the Neutral Ground. What was the result of its
creation?
Reading Essentials and Study Guide 95