Things to do / Travel Guide
The land of southwest Texas has had six national flags fly over its soil: those of Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederacy, and the United States. A history of the region is a history of the rise and fall of these flags.
The Apaches and other Native American tribes were the first people to live in the area later designated southeast Texas. While they didn't have a flag, they set the stage for all subsequent culture and history of the region.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, Texas was divided between the French and Spanish empires. Spain eventually dominated most of Texas, and the remaining French-controlled area was sold to the U.S. in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. But, by 1821, once Mexico won its independence from Spain, the Mexican flag flew over all of Texas.Largely unsettled, Mexico at first invited Europeans and Americans to build homesteads and develop the large territory, for the sake of keep the antagonistic Native American tribes from harming Mexican interests. By 1835, Mexican President and General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna abolished the benevolent Mexican constitution of 1824 and attempted to centralize power in faraway Mexico City. Anglo “Texians”and Hispanic “Tejanos”revolted against the regime and declared independence for Texas. The rebels' courageous declaration, however, resulted in massacres at the Presidio in the city of Goliad and the Alamo in San Antonio, but this helped sway public opinion against Santa Ana and towards them.
Texas General Sam Houston took all the remaining forces and pulled east all the way to near the Louisiana border. Waiting until the Mexican forces took a summertime siesta, the Texan forces attacked with their battle cry of “Remember the Alamo.” Houston and his men captured Santa Anna himself, who was forced to sign a full surrender. With this, Texas won its independence.
The Republic of Texas was recognized and had full diplomatic relations with the United States and other countries. The Republic would not last long, however, due to a limited agrarian economy and the threat of a growing Mexican army to the south; it was annexed by the United States in 1845 and made the 28th state. Later, in 1861, Texas seceded from the United States to join the Confederacy, and rejoined during Reconstruction in 1870.
Texas began to rebuild and diversify its economy after the Civil War. In 1900, however, a hurricane destroyed the flourishing coastal city of Galveston (then the chief port of the state) killing over 6,000 people in the worst natural disaster in U.S. history.
In the past century, the discovery of oil has caused Texas to become the center of the oil industry in America. Southeast Texas is a hub of oil shipping and refining for the rest of the United States. In the 1950s, Houston was selected as the site for Mission Control in the U.S. Space Program, a boon for Houston industry and enterprises, as well as for tourism. Southeast Texas is tremendously industrialized, and this region along with Dallas and Fort Worth, contribute to make Texas the state with the second-largest economy in the Union, after California.
Historical Attractions in Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Padre Island and Southeastern Texas
History
|
|
|