This is an IHeart podcast.

This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people.

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Up next, a story about the only state in our nation to join us as a nation.

I'm, of course, talking about Texas.

Here to tell the story of how Texas gained its independence from Mexico is Monty

Monroe, the Texas state historian.

Take it away, Monty.

I think it's necessary to tell just a little bit about the first group of Europeans that came into this geographical

space that we now call Texas, the Spanish conquistadors.

Prior to the discovery of the New World, Spain had suffered under an extended period of war

from about 7-11 AD when the Moors from Africa invaded Spain, they pushed the inhabitants

all the way back across the Iberian Peninsula to the vicinity of what is today France.

Ultimately, a small group of Spanish Christians defeated the Muslims at the famous Battle of Covedonga, and this marked the beginning of the so-called Reconquista, reconquest period of Spain, which lasted over 774

years.

That struggle took place.

It ended basically in 1492 when Isabella and Ferdinand, who had unified the Iberian

Peninsula to a large extent forced the Muslims

out of Granada following a 10-year siege. It's in this atmosphere of this general nationalistic

expansion that Columbus made his great discovery of the so-called new world.

And his discoveries started this period of maritime reconnaissance and inland conquest

...