The Coming of The French

The Coming of The French • Rene Robert Cavalier Sieur de la Salle explored from 1682-1687 • The 1682 voyage down the Mississippi River • Second expedition and Fort St. Louis (1684) • Missed the river by 400 miles and ended up in New Spain • Lost and Dead

The Spanish Response • Govenor Alonso de Leon • Sent expedition to secure Texas (Tejas) in 1690 • San Francisco de los Tejas became the first east Texas mission

Competing Plans to Secure Texas Religion • Cheap • Not aggressive • Appear to natives as nice people Military • Expensive • Takes more time • Train military • Appear aggressive to native people Mexican officials chose Religion because it is cheaper --Does not Work!

The French Refuse to Give Up! • The French sent… • Louis Juchereau de St. Denis to trade with the Caddo Indians (to build rapport with them) • Went well and the Indians trusted the French a lot more than the Spanish • St. Denis travels south of the Texas border • Arrested by Spanish officials and thrown in jail • St. Denis becomes a French Spaniard because he became a traitor

Spanish Expansion in Earnest --Guadalupe de los Nachogdoches (mission) 400 miles from the nearest city --Presidio de los Adaes (Military Fort) --San Antonio de Valero (mission) --San Antonio de Bexar (mission)

Los Adaes and The Chicken War (1719) • The French hear about the wonderful fort the Spanish have called Los Adaes • The French sent 7 soldiers to attack Los Adaes • The Spanish hear about the upcoming attack and leave the fort

Chicken War cont’d. • The French are surprised to see that there is only one guard there and he was guarding a chicken coop • Out of anger, the French destroy the chicken coop and the one Spanish guard gets away • This shows the Spanish that the French are going to be hostile towards them

Comic Book Image of The Chicken War

Steps to Stop the French Threat • Populate San Antonio by sending more troops • Build a Fort on La Salle’s failed expedition

New Leader • Marquis de Aguayo • New President Governor of New Spain • Called New Spain and Texas lands Coahuila y Tejas • Founded San Antonio San Jose Mission in 1722 • Made Los Adaes a Spanish Capitol of Texas • Founded the Presidio La Bahia (fort) in 1722

The Seven Years War (1756-1763) • Treaty of Paris (1763) • England gets Florida • Spain gets Louisiana

The Coming of the Anglos Texas within an Independent Mexico

Incursions by Americans into Tejas • Spain’s response to new aggressive neighbors • America was a threat to Spain 1)Work with Indians west of the Appalachian Mountains 2)Control the Mississippi River

Pinckney's Treaty (1795) • Gave rights to access the Mississippi River to the Americans • Recognized the 31st parallel as the southern part of the U.S. *This treaty was BAD NEWS for the Spanish!

Filibusters • People looking to expand territories and expand slavery • Philip Nolan (1797) • American • Was forced out of Spanish Territory by the Spanish • Nolan returns in 1800 with a small militia • Caught and killed in 1801 by Spanish authorities

Napoleon and the Louisiana Purchase

Other Incursions • Zebulon Pike’s expedition in 1809 (forerunner to Lewis and Clark) -----1st American to enter Spanish trade routes • Andrew Jackson’s invasion of Florida (1818) • Adams-Onis Treaty (1819) • U.S. gets Florida from Spain • Undefined boundary between Texas and Lousiana

Spanish Texas in the 1800s • Tejas population around 5,000 settlers (not including Indians) • Major population centers: El Paso, San Antonio, Laredo, and the Seno Mexicano

The Coming of The French

The Coming of The French

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