Texas can claim that "Six Flags" have flown over its soil: the
Fleur-de-lis of France, and the national flags of Spain, Mexico, the
Republic of Texas, the United States of America and the Confederate
States of America.
Native American tribes that once lived inside the boundaries of
present-day Texas include Apache, Comanche, Cherokee, Kiowa, Tonkawa,
and Wichita.
On November 6, 1528 shipwrecked Spanish conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza
de Vaca became the first known European to set foot on Texas. A member
of the Narváez expedition, he was later enslaved by a Native American
tribe of the upper Gulf coast, and explored what are now the U.S. states
of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona on foot from coastal Louisiana to
Sinaloa, Mexico, over a period of roughly six years. He returned to
Europe in 1537, where he wrote about his experiences in a work called La
relación ("The Tale").
Prior to 1821, Texas was part of the Spanish colony of New Spain. After
Mexican independence in 1821, Texas became part of Mexico and in 1824
became the northern section of Coahuila y Tejas. On 3 January 1823,
Stephen F. Austin began a colony of 300 American families along the
Brazos River in present-day Fort Bend County and Brazoria County. This
group became known as the "Old Three Hundred." The "Conventions" of 1832
and 1833 responded to rising unrest at the policies of the ruling
Mexican government. Policies that most irritated the Texians included
the Mexican ban on slavery, the forcible disarmament of Texian settlers,
and the expulsion of illegal immigrants from the United States of
America.
On March 2, 1836, the "Convention of 1836" signed the Texas "Declaration
of Independence," declaring Texas an independent nation. On April 21,
1836 the Texans won their independence when they defeated the Mexican
forces of Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto. A factor in the
defeat of Santa Anna's army at San Jacinto was the time the Texas Army
got to gather itself, thanks to a small group of brave men at The Alamo.
Santa Anna himself passed into captivity, and on May 14, Republic of
Texas officials and General Santa Anna signed the treaty of Velasco. The
Republic of Texas included all the area now included in the state of
Texas, although its self-proclaimed western and northwestern borders
extended as far west as Santa Fe and as far northwest as present-day
Wyoming, respectively.
In 1845, Texas was admitted to the United States as a constituent state
of the Union.
During the Civil War, Texas seceded from the Union and joined the
Confederate States of America. In 1870, the United States Congress
readmitted Texas into the Union.
Texans pride themselves in a history of tradition, yet there are still
new social and technological developments. Austin is the headquarters of
Dell and known as "Silicon Hills", Dallas is a famously cosmopolitan
metropolis, Houston is a leader in the oil industry, and cultures of San
Antonio and El Paso retain their Mexican heritage. The state tourism
slogan is "Texas: It's like a whole other country."
