HISTORIES
RIO GRANDE the
Republic of the T
THE REPUBLIC of the Río Grande Museum, which tells the story of the revolu- tion of 1840, is housed in one of Laredo’s oldest structures located on San Agustín Plaza in down- town Laredo.
First, the backstory. In New Spain, Nuevo Santander included the modern Mexican state of Tamaulipas and southern Texas. Unlike and prior to the storyline of most other early European colonial efforts in North America, Spanish settlement of Texas began with a series of missions and/or presidios designed to facilitate the interface with the Native American popula- tions. Laredo was among 20 towns and 18 mis- sions established in New Spain between 1749 and 1755 by José de Escandón, the governor of Nuevo Santander. He was commissioned by Spain to occupy this territory in order to convert the indigenous people to Christianity and dis- courage French and English expansion. Laredo is the only remaining Spanish colonial settlement on the northern bank of the Rio Grande. Putting the founding of Spanish Laredo into historical context, one of the most important developments in the struggle by Spain, France and England for control of colonial territories in North America was the Treaty of Paris in 1783, which ended the French and Indian War.
76 AUTHENTIC TEXAS
Under this treaty, France ceded their claim to the territory in Canada and territory east of the Mississippi to England. France also ceded their claim to Louisiana west of the Mississippi River to Spain in compensation for Spain’s loss to Britain of Florida. This confirmed England as the dominant power in eastern North America and solidified Spanish claim to Texas.
MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE The First Texas Revolution The first Texas revolution was proclaimed in Dolores, near Guanajuato, 500-plus miles south of Laredo, and it was a declaration of indepen- dence from Spain.
In brief, Miguel Hidalgo y Castillo, a Roman Catholic priest in Dolores, proclaimed the Grito de Dolores (Cry of Dolores) on September 16, 1810. The long struggle for Mexican Independence was not fulfilled until September 28, 1821. But the Grito serves as a declaration of independence of the Mexican Empire, earning Father Miguel the credit for being the “father of his country.” It is therefore appropriate that this day continues to be cel- ebrated widely in Texas. Equally important, it is typically known by its Spanish name, Diez y Seis
de Septiembre or simply Diez y Seis.
REPUBLIC OF TEXAS The Second Texas Revolution The Texas Revolution of 1836 resulted in the creation of the Republic of Texas with a south- ern border defined by the Nueces River, not the Rio Grande River. For the citizens of northern Mexico, some of the same issues resulted in yet another revolution from Mexico.
REPUBLIC OF THE RIO GRANDE The Third Texas Revolution The story of an independent republic, declared and fought over during the span of 10 months in 1840, begins years before that in the politi- cal and social turmoil that embroiled Mexico and its vast geographic domain. Repudiated by Mexican historians and validated in the writings of Texian and American journalists and travelers, the Republic of the Río Grande’s very existence, like almost everything else in the border region, is a cause for contradictory opinions. Coming out of a valiant and victorious struggle for independence in 1821 against the 300-year rule of the great Spanish empire, Mexico
Laredo &
WEBB COUNTY HERITAGE FOUNDATION
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