Karen Hagan, Ph.D.

Here's a breakdown of each lecture and a list of things that you should know to have full comprehension of the material.  This list is not entirely comprehensive, but it will prevent you from going into an exam without any context.​​

 

WHAT IS TEXAS: 

This thesis lecture establishes the economic, geographic, cultural, and meteorological significance of Texas.  It examines why Texas has assumed its modern importance in the United States and the world, and looks at how history, resources, location and "bigness" have shaped its legendary status.  This lecture also examined some elements of Texas that disabuse common myths about the state.​

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You should know the following:  

• The extent to which Texas has become national and international brand.

• The reasons Texas attracts the attention it does.

• Aspects of Texas that speak to its enormous size and reach.

• The modern Texas population and areas where the state ranks #1 in the country.  Also, note where it does not rank #1 and note the states that occasionally outpace Texas.

• Prominent Texas industries

• The diversity of modern Texas agriculture 

• Texas' primary trading partners 

• What Texas as meant to the various people who have lived here.

 

 

​ANICENT TEXAS:  

Here, we examine the history of Ancient Texas first through a standard timeline lecture.  The last part of this subject switches to an interpretive approach, examining the significance of Native history and the effects of Native and European cultural interactions.  This lecture points out that long before Spain, Mexico, and the United States occupied Texas, a variety of Native cultures lived in the state.  The huge amount of information in this lecture speaks to the enormity of Native American history in Texas, driving home the point that the Native history of this state extends far longer than Spanish or Anglo.  

 

Timeline/narrative lectures are always the  most detailed.  That's because an undeveloped timeline quickly becomes uninteresting, dull, and the type of history people detest.  When you encounter the enormous details in a timeline lecture, don't freak out thinking you have to remember it all.  You don't.  Just enjoy the details.  Learn a bit.  Like I said with De Vaca, FLOW with the information and stop yourself from tightening up with worry.  The fun and interesting history is in the details.  The significant history is on the test.  ​

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You should know the following:

• The various eras of Native American history in Texas.  And how many of these eras are present in Texas history.

• The significance of the Clovis Point and the various Pre-Clovis sites in North America and Texas.

• What the various sites tell us about natives of the Paleo-Indian, Archaic, Woodland, Prehistoric, and historic periods.  Different sites tell us how they lived, their technological improvements, and what they ate.  These sites tell us the flow and development of Native American history.

• Alibates Quarry is an unusually important location, as is Kincaid Shelter.

• The specific changes in the Archaic period.

• Moundbuilding in Texas and the new developments associated with Woodland culture.

• Weaponry in the Prehistoric era and the arrival of corn.

• The Caddo, their behavior and their contribution to Texas history.

• The late prehistoric tribes of Texas.  Be able to identify these groups and where they lived.

• The new arrivals in the Historic period and their impact on the existing natives of Texas.

• The Comanche, their culture, and how this tribe breaks down.

• The culture clash that took place when Europeans encountered Native Americans.  How did these cultures differ?

• Herman Lehmann

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​TEXAS COLONIAL BACKGROUND:

We shift now to an interpretive study that examines the cultural background of colonial Texas and analyzes the significance of the colonial era to modern Texas.  This lecture compares Texas colonial culture to British, and examines the Reconquista and its importance to Spanish colonization activities.  British colonial culture is included to contrast Texas to the rest of the United States, rests its history on thirteen British colonies on the east coast of North America.

 

You should know the following:​

• Texas' origins as a Spanish colony.

• The significant differences between British colonies and Spanish colonies

• How Texas colonial history differs from United States colonial history

• The length of time Spain controlled Texas as a Spanish colony

• The Reconquista

• The Reconquista and its effect on Spanish culture and Spanish colonization

• Elements left from the Reconquista that we can see in Texas today.

• Ranching and its evolution in Spain and Texas

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• The mentality of Spanish colonization and conquest, including why people wanted to get involved in exploring the New World.

• The contributions to Texas history/discoveries in Texas of the individual explorers, including Pineda, Cabeza de Vaca, Coronado, de Soto, Moscoso

• The Seven Cities of Cibola

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​SPANISH TEXAS:

This blended lecture brings Spain into Texas and traces the evolution of the Mission/Presidio system in northern Mexico.  It also examines why Spain started to take an interest in Texas, and how Spain began developing the region.  The lecture departs on some thematic analysis, especially when it considers the examination of the horse in Texas.  And shifts to thesis towards the end when it studies the reasons the mission system failed in Texas.

You should know the following: 

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• How and why Mission/Presidio evolved in Mexico.

• The Chichimeca

• The importance of the horse in Texas and the types of horses that came to the state

• La Salle and his arrival in Texas.  This is a pretty far-reaching topic.  Understand what La Salle was doing in Texas, why he ended up here, and his fate.

• The Astrolabe and its significance to La Salle's story

• Fort St. Louis, its fate, and La Belle

• Alonso de Leon's expedition and its discoveries

• The significance of the Talon children

• The first Texas missions and their fate and the revival of the mission effort because of St. Denis

• The mission/presidio efforts of the 1700s

• The failure of the mission system in Texas and the reasons for its failure

• San Saba and what it tells us about the mission experiment in Texas

• The Marquis de Rubi and his report on the mission system in Texas

• New Regulations for Presidios and its effect on Texas.

• What Spanish Texas became by the late 1700s and its long-term impact on Texas.

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​THE END OF SPANISH TEXAS:

This complex narrative begins with a study of the conditions in Spanish Texas around 1800.  It mostly focuses on the issues Spain encountered with people from the United States, who had an intense interest in occupying and acquiring Texas.  The lecture branches into examinations of the aggressive nature of the Americans, the spy network Spain used to keep an eye on the United States, filibusters, and the eventual collapse of Spanish Mexico.  Expect a lot of information here, because three countries come together in Texas in this period - Mexico, the US, and Spain.  And one of those countries - Mexico, had an independence revolution at the same time.  There's no way around it.  This is a lot of history.

 

You should know the following:​

• The state of Spanish Texas in 1800.

• The nature of Americans from the United States

• James Wilkinson and his actions

• Pinkney's Treaty

• The various filibusters and exploreres from the US - know what they wanted, what they did, where they went.

• The issues with the Louisiana Purchase

• The Neutral Ground agreement

• La Bahia and why filibusters always seemed to end up here

• Gutierrez-McGee and their operation, battles, etc.

• The Battle of Medina and Arredondo's behavior

• The Adams-Onis Treaty

• Jane Long and her contribution to Texas history

• The Mexican independence movement.  Mexican independence is a HUGE subject with multiple starts and stops, changes of heart, rebellions and restorations.  Keep that in mind as you go through.  And keep in mind the impossibility of writing test questions that could remotely cover this enormous and complex event.  Test questions will have to be rather overall when we deal with the Mexican Revolution.

• The Spanish Constitution of 1812

• The class system of Mexico and what the various classes wanted from Spain and Mexico.

• Father Hidalgo and his contribution to the Mexican Revolution

• Mexican independence actions in Texas - Las Casas, Gutierrez-McGee

• Iturbide and the Three Guarantees/Treaty of Cordova

• The situation in Texas and Mexico after Mexican independence

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