Name_______________________ Hour______
Texas Independence
The name Texas is comes from the Native American tribe Caddo’s word, teja, which means
friends or allies. Ever heard of Six Flags Amusement Park? They were founded in Texas and
are called “Six Flags” because of the six nations that used to have had claim to Texas: Spain,
France, Mexico, the United States, and the Confederate States
(of America). The sixth nation was an independent nation called
Texas from 1836 to 1848. This was a result of the Texas
Revolution: a six-month conflict between Texas and Mexico
from October 2, 1835 to April 21, 1836. Imagine if Minnesota
was its own country; that is what happened in Texas. Texas was
annexed (connected to) the United States in 1848 following the
Mexican-American War. The events of Texas’s march towards
independence and statehood are as diverse as the state itself.
Today, we will investigate those events.
Your Task: we are going to create a timeline of Texas independence through three different
perspectives: Cultural, Political, and the Military. You will be assigned one of the three perspectives
to create a timeline of the events.
1.
Go to http://www.txindependence.org/texas_timeline.phpso
2.
Grab a ruler and a pencil so you can make straight lines to make your timeline neat and organized
3.
Look for the KEY of the timeline: Culture is green, Military is red, and political is blue
4.
Use the timeline to find the events that correspond with the dates on your timeline. You do not need to
write everything, just the key points or a few words that summarize your event. Look for the KEY of the
timeline: Culture is green, Military is red, and political is blue
a. Read about the event b. think about the event.
5.
c. re-read the event
d. summarize the event
Use the correct sheet to complete your timeline. Use your ruler to plan out your timeline. Examples for
the beginning and end are done for you. Be sure to be neat when writing and making your lines. The
first one is done for you. Answer the questions on the back of this sheet when you are done.
Name_______________________ Hour______
Follow Up Questions
1.
What political perspective did you have? CULTURAL POLITICAL
MILITARY
2.
What new words/vocabulary did you encounter in this activity? Write down as many as you can.
3.
What do you think your political perspective means? Through whose eyes were you viewing the Texas
Independence movement?
4.
How close were the dates on your timeline? Did they span a few days, a few months, or a few years?
5.
What was the biggest gap between the events on your timeline?
6.
What was the most interesting thing you found while researching the Texas Independence
movement?