Spanish government and Mexican Texas As early as 1519,
Alonso Álvarez de Pineda claimed the area that is now
Texas for
Spain. The
Spanish monarchy paid little attention to the province until 1685. That year, the Crown learned of a French colony in the region and worried that it might threaten Spanish colonial
mines and
shipping routes. King
Charles II sent ten expeditions to find the French colony, but they were unsuccessful. Between 1690 and 1693, expeditions were made to the Texas region and acquired better knowledge of it for the provincial government and the settlers, who came later. Tejano settlements developed in three distinct regions: the northern
Nacogdoches region, the
Bexar–
Goliad region along the
San Antonio River, and the frontier between the
Nueces River and the Rio Grande, an area used largely for ranching. Those populations shared certain characteristics, yet they were independent of one another. The main unifying factor was their shared responsibility for defending the northern frontier of
New Spain. Some of the first settlers were
Isleños from the
Canary Islands. Their families were among the first to reside at the
Presidio San Antonio de Bexar in 1731, which is modern-day San Antonio, Texas.
Ranching was a major activity in the Bexar-Goliad area, which consisted of a belt of ranches that extended along the San Antonio River between Bexar (
San Antonio area) and
Goliad. The
Nacogdoches settlement was located farther north and east. Tejanos from Nacogdoches traded with the French and Anglo residents of Louisiana and were culturally influenced by them. The third settlement was located north of the Rio Grande, toward the Nueces River. Its ranchers were citizens of
Spanish origin from
Tamaulipas, in what is now northern Mexico, and they identified with Spanish
Criollo culture. On September 16, 1810,
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a Catholic priest, launched the
Mexican War of Independence with the issuing of his
Grito de Dolores, or “Cry of Delores.” He marched across Mexico and gathered an army of nearly 90,000 poor farmers and civilians. The troops ran up into an army of 6,000 well-trained and armed Spanish troops; most of Hidalgo's troops fled or were killed at the
Battle of Calderón Bridge.
Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara, a supporter in independence from Spain, organized a revolutionary army with José Menchaca, who was from the
Villa de San Fernando de Bejar. After Hidalgo's defeat and execution, Gutiérrez traveled to Washington, DC, to request help from the United States. He requested an audience with President
James Madison but was refused. He met with Secretary of State
James Monroe, who was busy planning the invasion of
Canada in the
War of 1812. On December 10, 1810, Gutiérrez addressed the
US House of Representatives. There was no official help by the
US government to the revolution. However, Gutiérrez returned with financial help, weapons, and almost 700
US Army veterans. Gutiérrez's army would defeat the
Spanish Army and the first independent Republic of Texas, "the Green Republic" was born with the Declaration of Independence. Spain had reinforced its armies in the colonies, and a well-equipped army led by General Juaquin de Arredondo known as the "El Carnicero," invaded the Green Republic of Tejas. During the time of the Republic, the Spaniard
José Álvarez de Toledo y Dubois had been undermining Gutiérrez de Lara's government. Toledo was successful, and Gutiérrez was ousted. Toledo then led the Republican Army of the North (the Green Army) into a trap against the Spanish Army, and no prisoners were taken by the Spanish at the
Battle of Medina. The Spanish Army marched into San Antonio, rounded up everyone it could find from Nacogdoches to El Espiritu de Santo (Goliad), and brought them to San Antonio. The Spanish killed four males a day for 270 days, eradicated the Tejano population, and left the women when they left in 1814. Toledo returned to Spain, a Spanish hero. In January 1840, the northern Mexican states of
Nuevo León,
Coahuila, and
Tamaulipas seceded from Mexico to establish the
Republic of the Rio Grande, with its capital in what is now
Laredo, Texas; however, they became part of Mexico again in November 1840.
Republic of Texas , Tejano leader of the
Texas Revolution and statesman in the
Republic of Texas By 1821, at the end of the
Mexican War of Independence, about 4,000 Tejanos lived in Mexican Texas, alongside a lesser number of foreign settlers. In addition, several thousand New Mexicans lived in the areas of Paso del Norte (now
El Paso, Texas) and
Nuevo Santander, incorporating
Laredo and the
Rio Grande Valley. During the 1820s, many settlers from the United States and other nations moved to
Mexican Texas, mostly in the eastern area. The passage of the
General Colonization Law, encouraged immigration by granting the immigrants citizenship if they declared loyalty to Mexico. By 1830, the 30,000 recent settlers in Texas, who were primarily English speakers from the United States, outnumbered the Tejanos six to one. The
Texians and Tejano alike rebelled against attempts by the government to centralize authority in
Mexico City and other measures implemented by President
Antonio López de Santa Anna. Tensions between the central Mexican government and the settlers eventually resulted in the
Texas Revolution.
20th century In 1915, insurgents in
South Texas wrote a manifesto that was circulated in the town of
San Diego and all across the region. The manifesto "
Plan de San Diego" called on Mexicans, American Indians, Blacks, Germans, and Japanese to liberate south Texas and kill their racist white American oppressors. Numerous cross-border raids, murders, and sabotage took place. Some Tejanos strongly repudiated the plan. According to Benjamin H. Johnson, middle-class Mexicans who were born in the United States and desired affirming their loyalty to the country founded the
League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). It was headed by professionals, business leaders, and progressives and became the main Tejano organization promoting civic pride and civil rights. Other sources attribute the founding of the organization in 1929 largely to Tejano veterans of
World War I, who wanted to improve civil rights for Mexican-American citizens of the United States. They were socially discriminated against in Texas. Only American citizens were admitted as members to LULAC, and there was an emphasis on people becoming educated and assimilated to advance in society. In 1963, Tejanos in
Crystal City organized politically and won elections; their candidates dominated the city government and the school board. Their activism signaled the emergence of modern Tejano politics. In 1969–70, a different Tejano coalition, the
La Raza Unida Party, came to office in Crystal City. The new leader was
José Ángel Gutiérrez, a radical nationalist who worked to form a Chicano nationalist movement across the Southwest in 1969 to 1979. He promoted cultural terminology (
Chicano, Aztlan) designed to unite the militants; but his movement split into competing factions in the late 1970s. ==Demographics==