Texas Missions

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Texas Missions
The Basic Facts
A collaborative effort by 4th grade teachers in
Hays CISD
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What is a mission?
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• San Antonio National Historic Park
• 350 years of Texas History by Jim Jones

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Who lived in the missions?
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• Click here to read about The People and
  Economics of the missions

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Where were missions in Texas?
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• Map of missions in Texas
• Pictures of various missions in Texas
• San Antonio Mission Trail

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When were missions built in Texas?
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• Timeline from 1519-1831
• The San Antonio Missions

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Why were missions built in Texas?
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• Spain wanted land in Texas. France also wanted
  the same land. Spain established missions to
  protect their interests. They used native people
  they had converted to help them.
• Spain hoped that the resources in the Americas
  would pay for their exploration and colonization
  throughout the world.
• Spain wanted everyone to be a Catholic. Their
  goal was to convert the Native Americans to their
  way of worship and thinking. The churches in the
  missions served this function.
• For more information, click here

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What were the important parts of a mission?
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• Plan of Mission San Jose
• The Acequia System
• Espada Aqueduct
• The Convento or friary
• Presidio La Bahia

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Learn more about the San Antonio Missions
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• Mission Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion de Acuna
• Mission San Jose y San Maguel de Aguayo
• Mission San Juan Capistrano
• Mission San Francisco de la Espada
• Mission San Antonio de Valero

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What were causes of missions to fail?
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• Secularization
• Disease and overpopulation
• Expense

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Texas Missions Today
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• There were around 36 Spanish missions built in
  Texas during the 1600 and 1700s. Today only six
  of these missions still stand. None of them
  serve the same purpose as they did in the past.
• The Alamo is the most famous of all the missions.
  It is now a museum dedicated to the most
  significant battle fought during the Texas
  Revolution. Inside the structure you can view
  many interesting artifacts from that time period.
  Over one million people visit the Alamo every
  year.
• Missions San Jose, San Juan, Concepcion, and
  Espada are now used as Catholic churches. They
  are open to the public and run by the National
  Park Service.
• Del Espiritu Nuestra Senora Santo de Zuniga
  mission serves as a museum in Goliad State Park.

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Secularization

• Secularization is a big word that means people
  bought the land from the church. It means the
  Catholic Church no longer owns the land even
  though the church is still on the land.
• It began in 1784 with San Antonio de Valero and
  was completed in 1824 after Mexican Independence.

Back
San Antonio MissionNational Historic
Park http//www.nps.gov/saan/visit/History3.htm
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Disease and Overpopulation

• Too many people were crammed in to the confines
  of the mission walls.
• There was not a proper system to dispose of human
  waste, so disease spread easily.
• Smallpox and measles were diseases that also
  spread quickly and added to the downfall of the
  missions.

Back
The Catholic Missions of TexasG.E.
Brown http//www.geocities.com/sanape_1/TEXPAPER.h
tml
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Expense

• Spanish authorities began to realize the missions
  were costing too much. The profits from the
  missions did not pay for running them. Spain
  decided to push for secularization so they could
  at least profit from the sale of the land and
  mission buildings.
• A problem the Spanish officials thought might
  occur once they were gone, was that the Native
  Americans who had become accustomed to mission
  life would have no one to protect them.

Back
The Catholic Missions of TexasG.E.
Brown http//www.geocities.com/sanape_1/TEXPAPER.h
tml