1. DBQ: Why Did Texas Almost Fail as a Spanish Colony?
Think like a historian: Critically think- conclusions based on limited evidence (sources)
Mission San Juan, San Antonio Texas

2. Hook
Year The U.S. Government is recruiting 200 Americans to settle on the moon for a minimum of 5 years. You will live in the Ameridome (finished after 10 years of construction by lunar engineers). The Ameridome is about the size of a Turner stadium. It includes gardens & a water system in which every drop is recycled. A meteor-proof glass bubble covers the structure. NASA has decided to prohibit pork, poultry, & beef to reduce health risk.

3. Hook
Below are 6 concerns that have been expressed by other settler candidates. Discuss the concerns with your partner.
2 task
Put the concerns in order of importance (1 being what bothers you most, to 6 bothering you least)
Will you volunteer to settle on the moon? Explain.

4. Background Essay: Vocabulary
#7. Define each of the following
“Cows” – bison (buffalo)
Missions- Spanish settlements built to convert Indians to Catholicism
Franciscan friars- Catholic priest
Presidio- Spanish fort
Rubi Report- recommendation that the Spanish abandon Texas, close the missions, & reinforce presidios at the Rio Grande.

5. Document A El Paso to Galveston = 800 miles
Chicago to Washington D.C. = 705 miles
Brownsville to Wichita Falls = 655 miles
London, England to Berlin, Germany = 580 miles

6. Document A
The political boundaries of Texas were not defined in the 1700’s.
Marquis de Rubi argued that simply putting a mission & presidio in the middle of Apache or Comanche (dangerous) land did not make that land Spanish.

7. Document A A mule train averaged 15 miles a day.
A caravan carrying goods from San Antonio to Laredo = 15 days & another 15 days to get to Saltillo, Mexico

8. Document B

9. Document C Nicholas de Lafora
Part of an inspection team headed by Marquis de Rubi. (His report will recommend that most settlements in Texas be closed)

10. Document D Apache’s acquire the horse in the late 1600s
Preferred method of getting good = theft
Loved raiding Spanish settlements for goods & horses
Viceroy of New Spain declared the Apaches “the enemy most feared.”

11. DBQ Writing -Geographic problems (Doc A)
Thesis sentence: Spain failed to develop Texas because of geographic problems, mission problems, & hostile Indians.
-Geographic problems (Doc A)
1 Paragraph (5 complete sentences)
-Mission problems (Doc C)
-Hostile Indians (Doc D)