Journal # 38

1. Journal #38 • Abolish– to do away with completely • Annex – to take control of • Tejanos – settlers of Spanish descent living in what is now southern Texas • Mestizos – a person of mixed blood; usually someone who is ½ Spanish and ½ Indian

2. Announcements • There will be a journal/notes quiz on Monday, May 21!! • There will be a Final Test on Tuesday and Wednesday May 22nd and 23rd • We will review for the Final on Friday

3. Texas’ Independence and The Far West 14.1 and 14.2

4. Bonus Questions • What did Dorothea Dix want to change about American society? • What did some people blame the crime, poverty and family problems on in the mid-1800s? What was this movement called? • True or false: many women attended high school and college in the early 1800s? • William Lloyd Garrison wrote an abolitionist newspaper named this • What did the American Colonization Society want to do with freed slaves?

5. The Mexican War for Independence • People in New Spain were suffering under Spanish rule in the early 1800s • Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla organized a plot to overthrow Spanish rule • He wanted to improve conditions for the poor Indians and Mestizos in New Spain • He wanted to abolish slavery and unfair taxes on Indians • In 1811, the Spanish defeated the revolt and executed Hidalgo y Costilla – but fighting continued

6. Mexico Wins its Independence • Finally a revolutionary army led by Agustin de Iturbide defeated the Spanish • Mexico became an independent nation and the republican Mexican Constitution was passed in 1824 • The new nation included present day Mexico along with the following states • Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah • Parts of these states were also part of Mexico • Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Wyoming

7. Anglos (Whites) in Texas • Texas was officially called the province of Coahuila y Texas by the Mexican government • There were very few Mexican citizens in Texas • Many Tejanos were forced to leave because of Comanche and Apache raids • To strengthen their hold on this region, Mexico needed more people to live in Texas

8. Empresarios • To attract new settlers to Texas, the Mexican government hired empressarios to recruit • In exchange for getting people to move, empressarios were given large pieces of land • One of the first empressarioswas Stephen F. Austin in 1821 • By 1834 over 20,000 Americans had moved to Texas hoping for cheap or free land

9. Problems Between Settlers and Mexico • Americans ignored Mexican laws, instead acting as if they were still in the U.S. • Americans greatly outnumbered Tejanos, Mexico feared losing the area • Mexico began to restrict American immigration, banned slavery, and sent soldiers • Americans continued to move into Texas illegally

10. The Texas Revolution • In 1833 Stephen F. Austin went to Mexico to ask for more independence for Texans • He wanted to establish a separate state government • Mexican officials throw Austin in jail for a year and a half • When Austin gets out he encourages all Texans to take up arms against the Mexican government • “War is our only resource. There is no other remedy. We must defend our rights, ourselves, and our country by force.”

11. The Texas Revolution • The first battle took place in 1835, a month later Texans form a temporary government • The Texans wanted to resist the rule of Mexican leader General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna • Santa Anna was elected president of Mexico in 1833 and quickly ended Mexico’s republican constitution • Texans thought this violated their rights and wanted to restore the constitution • Santa Anna wanted to end the rebellion quickly

12. The Alamo • Texans captured the towns of Goliad and San Antonio • In San Antonio, a group of Texans led by William Travis and Jim Bowieoccupied the Alamo • An old Spanish mission • An angry Santa Anna marches toward the Alamo with 1,800 soldiers – he gets there on Feb 23, 1836 • About 189 Texan soldiers, including Davy Crockett, defended the Alamo until March 6, 1836 when Santa Anna attacks • Santa Anna kills all 189 defenders, sparing only a few women and children

13. The Texas Constitution • On March 2, 1836 Texas declared its independence from Mexico • The Texans wrote a Declaration of Independence and Constitution based upon those of the U.S • The Texas Constitution granted land to every family and specifically legalized slavery

14. The War Continues • At the Battle of Goliad, Santa Anna captured 400 Texan soldiers and executed them • At the Battle of San Jacinto Texan commander Sam Houston led an attack at San Antonio against Santa Anna • The Texans won in April 1836, shouting “Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!” • The Texans captured Santa Anna and forced him to sign a treaty recognizing Texas independence

15. The Texas Republic • The new town of Houston became the capital of the Republic of Texas or The Lone Star Republic • Many Texans wanted the U.S. to annex Texas, so did many in the U.S. Congress • President Andrew Jackson refused to annex Texas because it would upset the balance of slave and free states and it would anger Mexico

16. The Far West 14.2

17. The Oregon Territory • In 1811, when John Jacob Astor founded Astoria, Britain, Russia, Spain, and the U.S. all claimed Oregon • By 1827, the U.S. and Britain maintained dual control • Very few British moved to the area, but a growing number of Americans moved in

18. Marcus and Narcissa Whitman • Missionaries who were among the first settlers to go to Oregon Territory • Narcissa Whitman was the first American woman on the Oregon Trail • Eventually settlers in Oregon brought disease to the nearby Cayuse Indians • In anger, the Cayuse attack the Whitman’s mission and kill the Whitmans and ten others

19. The Oregon Trail • Good farmland, and economic problems (the Panic of 1837) encouraged people to go west • In 1843, a Midwestern newspaper reported that “Oregon fever is raging in every part of the Union”

20. The Oregon Trail • When: 1840 – 1865 • What: A 2,000 mile trail that began in Independence, Missouri and stretched across the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains. The 6 to 8 month trip on this trail started in the late spring. • Significance: Over 500,000 people went west on the Oregon Trail between these years

21. Life on the Oregon Trail • Families formed wagon trains ranging from 10 to several dozen wagons • Shortages of food, supplies, and water were a constant problem • Weather, rivers and mountains, and confusion over the best route were also problems • At the end of each day’s journey much work remained, unpacking, cooking, washing, hunting, and tending livestock • Indians often served as guide • More Indians were killed by travelers on the Oregon Trail than vice-versa

22. Lucy Hall Bennett • “The road we took might have been alright for pack horses, it was certainly not adapted to immigrants traveling by ox train. The water was so bad…you could hardly drink it. There was little grass and before long our cattle all had sore feet from traveling over the hard sharp rocks…Several of our party died.”

23. Other Trails West Before 1849 • The California Trail • Crossed the Sierra Nevada Mountains • The Donner Party – got stuck in the Sierra Nevadas in February 1847, nearly half of the 87 died, those who lived had to become cannibals • Sutter’s Fort – became a popular trading post near the Sacramento River in California • There were few Americans living in California before 1849 • The Santa Fe Trail – ran from Independence to Santa Fe – it was mostly used by traders – not settlers