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Welcome to the Settlement of the New World: A Brochure for Newcomers

Sonia Yvonne Escobedo

Reprinted from the OAH Magazine of History
14 (Summer 2000). ISSN 0882-228X
Copyright (c) 2000, Organization of American Historians

In this lesson students will learn about the settlement of the colonial borderlands through the experience of the Canary Islanders in Texas. Students will analyze the immigrant experience of the Islanders and consider their interactions with new peoples and environments on the colonial Texas frontier. Some of the themes students will research include: economic development and opportunities; the challenges of climate and geography; interactions with Native Americans and other settler groups; frontier political and social institutions; and the roles of women, soldiers, and stock herders. Students will integrate this learning by producing a brochure for use by the Canary Islanders.

Background

This lesson plan was developed to coincide with a series of lessons from San Antonio Missions Learning Center, which describes the life led by Native Americans, Spanish friars, and Spanish soldiers on the Texas frontier. These lessons involve comparing and contrasting the missions, writing letters to loved ones describing life in the missions, and creating timelines using the Internet and research materials. This particular lesson acquaints students with the lives led by the different people trying to populate Texas in the name of Spain.

Time Frame

Students are to work in groups of six, with each student researching one theme for the brochure. Research should take no more than two class periods, although additional work may be done outside of class. The class time is for inquiry and teacher guidance. Modifications may be applied and adjusted for special needs students at the discretion of the instructor.

Student Objectives

  1. To organize, interpret, and present research in written and visual formats.
  2. To enhance critical thinking skills.
  3. To identify issues surrounding the adaption of immigration groups to new environments.
  4. To understand the effects of the interaction between humans and the environment.
  5. To gain skills at using maps, globes, and other graphic tools to acquire, process, and report information.
  6. To comprehend the characteristics, distribution, and migrations of human populations.
  7. To understand the process, patterns, and functions of human settlement.
  8. To perceive the consequences of human and physical systems.

Procedure

In order to appreciate the experiences of the Canary Islanders, students must understand the establishment of San Antonio and the events occurring on the frontier of New Spain in the early eighteenth century. These events helped shape the environment and people that led to the settlement of Texas during the 1730s. Teachers should present an introduction to this history as described below.

Teachers should then divide the class into groups of six, with each student researching one theme for the brochure. Alternatively, for students less experienced with research, instructors may divide the class into six groups and have each group work together to research one theme.

Once assigned to groups, students should receive the handout, below. As research proceeds, instructors can offer guidance and ensure that students stay on task. Criteria for assessment is explained on the student handout; a grading rubric sheet accompanies this article.

Similar Projects for Other Borderland Areas

Even though this particular project is concentrated in Texas history, many of the ideas for this lesson can be incorporated into other borderland lessons: For instance, "Welcome to San Augustine, 1563," "Welcome to New Mexico, 1598," and "Welcome to San Diego, 1769." For any of these projects, teachers must make sure there are materials available for the students.

History

The eighteenth century saw the Spanish officials of New Spain concerned over the possible loss of their new land to foreign intruders. Missions and presidios had been established to secure the frontier from the French, and they provided important buffers between French Louisiana and the silver mines of Mexico. Nevertheless, the established sites did not totally guard against intrusions. For this reason, Spanish officials in 1718 chose a site along the San Antonio River to develop a civil settlement. The area was named San Fernando de Béjar. Also established along the river was Villa de Béjar (San Antonio) and the San Antonio de Valero mission.
For many years, the Spanish missionaries had encouraged the Spanish government to establish a civil settlement, believing that settler families would lead to stability on the frontier. Few families were already settled in the area, and the presidio soldiers living there were not very interested in settling the vicinity.

In 1719, the French had renewed their efforts to place settlements in the Province of Tejas, and the Spanish felt threatened by this move. To counteract this ploy, the Council of the Indies asked King Philip V of Spain to send 2,000 families from the Canary Islands (off the coast of Spain) and the kingdom of Galacia to settle the area of New Spain. In 1722, the king finally agreed to send 200 families from the Canary Islands to settle along the coast of Texas.

Even as plans were being made for the settlement of Canary Islanders in Texas, the king took steps to strengthen Spain's hold on the frontier by sending Colonel Pedro de Rivera as the leader of an inspection of the outlying areas. Rivera reported that maintaining the missions and presidios was too costly, especially since France and Spain were no longer at war. He also recommended that the government undertake the recruitment and settlement of families in Texas. Rivera's report further supported Spain's efforts to bring civilians to the area.

Only ten Canary Islands families responded to the initial recruitment effort, arriving in Vera Cruz on 19 June 1730. When the viceroy of New Spain asked what to do with these families, the Crown recommended that they not settle along the coast, as originally intended, for the Karankawa Indians were a threat to anyone living in that area. Rivera then urged abandoning the idea of new recruitments in favor of finding settlers from Mexico, a less costly alternative. His suggestions prevailed; the viceroy directed the ten families to continue on to San Antonio de Béjar but instructed the governor of Havana to keep other families arriving from the Canaries until further notice from the king. The plan to send additional settlers from the Canary Islands to colonize New Spain had come to an abrupt end. Those that did arrive in San Antonio were a special class.

Bibliography and Resources

Buck, Sam. Yanaguana's Successors. San Antonio: The Naylor Company, 1949. Reprint, San Antonio: Robert M. Benavides, 1981.

Chipman, Donald E. Spanish Texas, 1519-1821. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1992.

de la Teja, Jesus F. "Forgotten Founders: The Military Settlers of Eighteenth-Century San Antonio de Bexar." In Tejano Origins in Eighteenth-Century San Antonio. Ed. Gerald E. Poyo and Gilberto Hinojosa, 27-48. Austin: University of Texas Press for the Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio, 1991.

------. San Antonio de Bexar: A Community on New Spain's Northern Frontier. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1995.

Guerra, Mary Ann Noonan. The History of San Antonio's Market Square. San Antonio: Alamo Press, 1988. Second edition published by Lebco Graphics.

------. The San Antonio River. San Antonio: Alamo Press, 1987.

Habig, Marion R. The Alamo Chain of Missions: A History of San Antonio's Five Old Missions. Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1968.

Jones, Oakah L., Jr. Los Paisanos: Spanish Settlers on the Northern Frontier of New Spain. Reprint, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996.

Martinello, Marian L. San Antonio: The First Civil Settlement in Texas, A Guide for Teachers, K-12. San Antonio: City of San Antonio, 1981.

Poyo, Gerald E. "The Canary Islands Immigrants of San Antonio: From Ethnic Exclusivity to Community in Eighteenth-Century Bexar." In Pogo and Hinojosa, eds. Tejano Origins in Eighteenth-Century San Antonio, 41-68.

Weber, David J. The Spanish Frontier in North America. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992.

Internet Resources

Alamo de Parras: <http://home.flash.net/~alamo3/main4.html>.

Handbook of Texas Online: <http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/>.

Plan of the Presidio of San Antonio de Béjar in the Province of Texas (1722): <http://www.flash.net/~alamo3/archives/presidio/presidio.htm>.

Texas History Timeline: <http://www.main.org/boyscout/texas2.htm>.

Sonia Yvonne Escobedo is a teacher in the San Antonio Independent School District and has taught history for thirteen years. She earned her B.S. from Our Lady of the Lake University and her M.Ed. from Southwest Texas State University.