The Capital of Texas

A New History of Old Texas

Brandon Seale

Arts, Cabeza De Vaca, The Alamo, Battle Of Medina, San Antonio Missions, Texas, Mexico, Gutierrez-magee, Education, Comanches, Apaches, Society & Culture, San Antonio, Courses, Philosophy, History

2.4 • 686 Ratings

🗓️ 23 January 2018

⏱️ 20 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When San Antonio became the capital of Texas in 1772, it was a recognition in law of something that was already true in fact. The new concentration of resources on the town and the opening of new lands led to a minor boom, particularly in the cattle business, which immediately ran afoul of Spanish royal authorities and their inflexible mercantile system. Selected Bibliography Alessio Robles, Vito. Coahuila y Texas en la época colonial (1978). De La Teja, Jesús F., ed. A Revolu...

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to a new history of Old San Antonio.
0:11.4	Episode 7, the capital of Texas.
0:13.8	I'm Brandon Seal.
0:19.9	I'm a city, San Antonio. Tonight I'm looking at your love. In 1767,
0:21.6	Tonight I'm looking at your lovely life
0:25.6	In 1767, as the Marquis de Rubie put the finishing touches on his survey of the New Spanish frontier, he struggled to find anything good to say.
0:34.5	Northern New Spain was a money pit.
0:36.4	Most of the missions were jokes. The East Texas
0:38.4	mission still hadn't converted a single Indian, and the East Texas Presidio was too sad to even be
0:42.6	funny. With a garrison of 61 men, it had only two muskets and not a single uniform. The entire
0:48.6	province, according to Ruby, quote, should be returned to the Indians, end quote. With one exception, San Antonio, he noted,
0:56.4	was the, quote, only good thing this province has, end quote. By 1767, San Antonio's missions
1:02.4	were the jewels in the Franciscan crown, even as they continued to post a dubious return on
1:06.4	investment. But collectively, they had converted 4,400 Indians since 1718.
1:11.6	And some of these mission Indians had made the jump into civilian Spanish society through intermarriage,
1:15.6	comprising as much as 15% of the 260 vicinos in San Antonio in 1767.
1:21.3	And at Rubi's recommendation, in 1772, all of the East Texas missions, presidios, and civilian settlers were relocated to the San Antonio area, marking the third time now that San Antonio had absorbed the East Texas missions.
1:33.1	San Antonio's Presidial force also shined by comparison to anything else in northern New Spain.
1:37.7	Comprized of only 22 men, it was in good order, with provisions, uniform, and discipline, and actively complemented by the mounted citizen Companus volantes, like cavalry, which when mobilized could number as many as 350 men.
1:49.4	This mounted militia supported Rubie's characterization of San Antonio's as comparatively,
1:53.1	quote, rich, given that apparently one-fifth of the population could afford to arm themselves,
1:57.3	provision themselves, and supply a string of horses for military excursions deep into Indian territory, as we saw in the previous episode. And indeed, their new Presidio
	...

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