Jack of Harts

It is impossible to tell the story of Texas without also telling the story of the Mexican States. New Spain was claimed under Papal authority and conquered by Spain in the 1500s. They built missions to spread Christianity throughout the New World, and ruled the region for centuries. The parts of New Spain that would later become Mexico and Texas were rather restive members of their empire though, filled with surviving Indian communities that did not want Spanish rule, or often colonized by Spaniards who didn’t want to be ruled too closely. Those communities often merged, giving what would become Mexico an interesting fusion of local Indian and Spanish culture and blood. And as the centuries passed, they wanted more and more independence from the crown of Spain. That drive for independence was rarely met with welcome, and Spain put down a number of rebellions with a brutality that often jumpstarted the next generation of revolutionaries.