Before the Battle of the Alamo, the Spanish dominated what’s now known as the American Southwest. They documented hundreds of years of history at the time — most of which was lost before the end of the 19th century.
Raúl Coronado, author and associate professor at UC Berkeley, discusses the importance of Spanish print culture in his book, “A World Not to Come: A History of Latino Writing and Print Culture.”
The history of Texas — as many of us were taught in school — began with the heroes at the Alamo, who fought and died valiantly in 1836 against the Mexican forces led by General Santa Anna. But before the Alamo, there were centuries of decrees handed down by a divine ruler that gradually evolved, and some had the tendency to borrow their language and use it in such a way to win support to start a new form of government. Bernardo Gutierrez de Lara was one such individual.
In 1813, he and his army entered San Antonio de Béxar, the Spanish governor surrendered, and Texas declared independence. It’s an event that portrays itself as a momentous period in Texas history but isn’t nearly as well-known as the events that unfolded by the turn of the century.
In his book, “A World Not to Come,” Coronado details the language and philosophies during the four times Texas changed sovereignty in the 19th century, starting as a Spanish colony, transforming to a Mexican republic, revolutionized to a Texan republic, then ultimately into the 28th state in the United States of America.
Norma Martinez can be reached at norma@tpr.org and on Twitter @NormDog1 and Lauren Terrazas can be reached at lauren@tpr.org and on Twitter @terrazas_lauren.
