Texas History - Essay Example

?Full 18th July Q Describe the Texas before European contact. Be sure to include a discussion of its people, climate and ecology. Answer: McComb reveals the geographical boundaries of Texas to stretch from 770 miles from east to west and 800 miles from north to south, encompassing the area of magnitude 267,000 square miles, taking up 7% of the whole of United States (2). He further states that the region is called ‘Land of Contrasts’ owing to its variation in landscape since four out of eight geographic terrain making up North American Topography marks the state (3). Schmidly states that the Grasslands stretch from Canada to the High Plains till the prairies, sandy beaches and marshes marking the coastline, in addition, the western region of the state is overshadowed by the mountainous ranges and desert, which are separated by Rio Grande, a major river of Texas (307). He further states that in the east, Big Thickets and Pineywoods represent sections of the forest that stretches all the way till the Appalachians, in the south a subtropical Rio Grande Valley dots the southern Texas, these landscapes meet in Central Texas where the country includes a mixture of grassland, shrubs and forest (307). McComb states that the average rainfall recorded drops from fifty-eight inches per year in the east to eight inches in the west, while heavy snowfalls are a rare commodity but there are records of blizzards on the High Plains (5). He reveals that despite of the southerly breezes the summers are quite hot, during the 1980 summer, the temperature of 105 to 110 were common in the state which permits a prolonged growing season in the south (7). Procter and McDonald state the sufficient archeological evidence exists which confirms the fact that migrants belonging to Asia crossed the Bering Land Bridge forty thousand years ago and became the early occupants of America collectively known as Paleo Indians (3). They divulged the fact that archeologists unearthed the oldest human signs in the state almost thirty thousand year old whose cultural complexes are known as Lano and Falsom suggesting that Paleo Indians made Texas their abode for thousands of years. Foster indicates that early study reveals that the native tribes of Texas exhibited a broad range of cultures and lifestyle, reflected by their abstinence and settlement patterns over the state (233). He is of the opinion that most of them were agriculturist who constructed villages near the major rivers, while small proportion of them were dispersed groups whose mean of sustenance were fishing, collecting local plant products and hunting small woodland games. He further stated that spanning the stretches of Central, West and South Texas were semi nomadic groups who moved occasionally to other states of America for subsistence and followed the traditions of Homo Sapiens of the Old World which thrived thirty thousand years ago. Q.2) Identify the important explorers of Texas. What motivated these men to risk their lives in a distant, inhospitable land? Answer) According to Bolton and Barker, Spanish occupation of Texas did not happen by chance, it was a result of a series of pre-planned explorations of the land with the suitability of settlement in mind (1). He suggested that the main reason behind the capture other than the French advances in the region, was the search of kingdom of Quivira, a part of myth and romances associated with Texas, where crockery was manufactured of precious metals such as those of gold and wrought plate, even their vessels, tips of arrows and lances were made out of gold due to it being in plentiful supply and no other metal were known for its existence along with another myth that the kingdom of Texas has lavishly built towns and buildings where grain grew in such abundance that it was fed to their horses (2). Klos is of the opinion that the European powers made Texas a ‘horse and gun’ junction, French and the English traders traded guns with the Indians in Texas to win over their alliance, and the Spanish introduced horses which proved to be the cause for the economic revolution in the region since horses enhanced motility of the Native Indians and subsequently led to vigorous trading activities and enabled a change of habitat for them. He also mentions that in 1600’s Spain settled in Texas to cease the advancement of the French into the Spanish provinces of Mexico. Wright writes that the Spanish colonial authorities set up missionaries whose task was to establish Christian towns with communal property, labor, worship and political life supervised by the authorities themselves. However, few natives welcomed this policy action since they were semi nomadic and were reluctant to a year round fixed sedentary existence according to Wright. The situation was further aggravated by the European transmitted diseases, which proved to be a deathblow for the Native Indians whose population dwindled due to the epidemics. The Spanish Community were greatly influenced by the French and Indian War which continued from 1754 to 1763, which was a struggle between the English and its colonies versus France and the Native Indians as to who England or France would control the Americas, in which England proved victorious but came out submerged in huge debt (Pugh 47). During this process, Spain acquired Louisiana from France and so a military threat from the French were overruled, this led to considerable decrease in the military expenditure in the East Texas and contemplating the limited success of the missionaries in the state, the King Charles III of England ordered a change in budget allocation for the region according to Chipman, which specified pays and designations. Pugh also shares the fact that to pay off the debt, the King Charles III also levied tax on the colonies and imposed other restrictions (48). Even after the collapse of the Spanish Empire, its legacy was indistinguishable in the region; the Spanish culture and its missionaries were evident in the Plains and the vibrant culture that resulted due to the Spanish-Indian interaction is an integral part of the life there (Wishart 346). Wishart also mentions the fact that Spain having managed to claim a large part of southern plains reflects its strong background in the region that goes a long way back in history (346). Works Cited Procter, Ben and Archie P. McDonald. The Texas Heritage. Wheeling, IL: Harlan Davidson, 2003. Print McComb, G. David. Texas, a modern history. Texas: University of Texas Press, 1989. Print Chipman, E. Donald. "NEW REGULATIONS FOR PRESIDIOS," Handbook of Texas Online(http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/nfn01), accessed July 17, 2011. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. Print Pugh, M. Channon. Barron's TAKS: Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills Social Studies Exit Exam. New York: Barron’s Educational Series, 2007. Print Klos, George. "INDIANS," Handbook of Texas Online(http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/bzi04), accessed July 17, 2011. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. Print Bolton, E. Herbert and Eugene C. Barker (ed). The Southwestern Historical Quarterly: Spanish Occupation of Texas, 1519-1690,   (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101058 : accessed July 17, 2011), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association, Denton, Texas. Wright, E. Robert. "SPANISH MISSIONS," Handbook of Texas Online(http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/its02), accessed July 17, 2011. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. Print Wishart, J. David. Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. Nebraska: U of Nebrask Press, 2004. Print Schimidly, J. David. Texas natural history: a century of change. Texas: Texas Tech University Press, 2002. Print . Read More