Name:
ANSWER KEY
Class Pd: ________________
DBQ Question: “Why Did Texas Almost Fail As a Spanish Colony?”
(Document A)
Title: Spanish Missions in Colonial Texas
Step 1: Analysis
Significant facts from this document
The Gulf of Mexico was shallow and
had no ports
Step 2: Inferences and Generalizations
What inferences can I make from this
document?
This would have made shipping supplies as
well as traveling by ship from New Spain
very difficult
Very difficult terrain between New
Spain (Mexico City) and the mission
settlements (mountains, desert, rivers,
hostile natives)
Overland routes for trade and supplies
would have been difficult because of the
terrain and landscape.
Nearly 700 miles between Mexico City
(New Spain) and the San Antonio
missions
At 15 miles per day, this journey would
take 2 months – crossing rivers, desert,
mountains, and trying to avoid being raided
by hostile natives.
Step 4: Overall, what’s the main idea of this document?
Physical Barriers & Distance prevented trade and discouraged new settlers
(Document B)
Step 3: Application (Put it to use)
How does this document help to
answer the question?
Student answers will vary
Step 5: Analytical Category (Which
bucket/s?)
Location (Geography)
Hostile Natives
Mission Problems
Title: Population of Spanish Texas (1777 – 1821)
Step 1: Analysis
Significant facts from this document
The population of military (soldiers)
and civilians (soldier families and
settlers) increased over the years
The population of mission Indians and
Friars (priests) decreased over the year
Step 2: Inferences and
Generalizations
What inferences can I make from this
document?
The missions were not serving their
purpose and the Indians must not have
liked the mission lifestyle, or were dying
because of disease.
Step 3: Application (Put it to use)
How does this document help to answer
the question?
Student answers will vary
Maybe the Indians didn’t like the
mission restrictions on their lifestyle
and beliefs.
Mission life was different from the
traditional nomadic existence.
Step 4: Overall, what’s the main idea of this document?
The missions weren’t successful at converting the natives and creating Spanish
subjects as evident by the decreasing population of friars and Indians in the
missions.
Step 5: Analytical Category (Which
bucket/s?)
Mission Problems
(Document C)
Title: None – (From Nicholas de LaFora’s “The Frontiers of New Spain”
Step 1: Analysis
Significant facts from this document
Step 2: Inferences and
Generalizations
What inferences can I make from this
document?
This doc is an eyewitness account of
conditions at the missions in East Texas
and San Antonio
Success - San Antonio missions had ten
working friars and 809 Indians
Fail - Naogdoches mission didn’t have a
single Indian convert in 40 years
Step 3: Application (Put it to use)
How does this document help to answer
the question?
Student answers will vary
The missions were successful in some
parts of the plains region (San Antonio)
and appealed to some of the Indians.
The East Texas missions didn’t appeal to
the Indians there… they were already
fairly advanced – they spoke Spanish
well and already were farming – they
had no use for the mission lifestyle.
Step 4: Overall, what’s the main idea of this document?
The Spanish government hoped the missions would Christianizer the Indians and
prepare them to be Spanish citizens and this would attract more settlers from New
Spain. This did happen in San Antonio on a small scale and a small number of
Indians became Spanish, but the Comanche and Apache (plains Indians) remained
outside of the mission and church influence.
Fail – No Indians living in the missions
at Los Ais either
Step 5: Analytical Category (Which
bucket/s?)
Mission Problems
Geography
(Document D) Title: Apache and Comanche Attacks in and Around San Antonio and La Bahia (Goliad) 1776
Step 1: Analysis
Significant facts from this document
Comanche and Apache appear to be
causing the most problems for the
missions
Spanish settlers weren’t the only
victims, the doc references attacks on
mission Indians in August and October
of 1776
Coamnches and Apache would raid
ranches and missions to steal horses
Step 2: Inferences and
Generalizations
What inferences can I make from this
document?
Most missions were built in the plains
region in and around nomadic
Comanche and Apache territory. – They
were the most war-like
Step 3: Application (Put it to use)
How does this document help to answer
the question?
Student answers will vary
The Coamnche and Apache saw the
missions and Spanish settlements as a
resource for horses and supplies to steal
instead of being willing to become
Spanish and converted to Christianity
Step 4: Overall, what’s the main idea of this document?
This doc shows that hostile natives and the fear of attack were important reasons
why so few Spanish people moved to the frontier province of Texas (Doc B)
Step 5: Analytical Category (Which
bucket/s?)
Hostile Natives