7th GradeTexas History

Natural Texas and its People / Age of Contact

Test ReviewKEY

Natural Texas and its People

4 Regions of Texas

Coastal Plains

  1. Physical Geography (Landforms): The Coastal Plains are made up of mostly flat prairie with areas of pine & oak forests, also with wetlands near the coast and a series of barrier islands just off the coast. This region receives the highest rainfall in the state and has the greatest number or rivers running through it.
  2. Human Geography (cities, monuments):Most of Texas’ major cities are in this region (Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio) and in general the population density is much higher than the other regions of Texas. Some notable features include the Alamo, San Jacinto Monument, Sam Houston Statue, & Galveston Seawall among others.

Great Plains

  1. Physical Geography (Landforms): The Great Plains is a region of incredibly flat prairie that sits at a higher elevation than the other plains of Texas due to its location on top of the Caprock& Balcones Escarpments and on top of Edwards Plateau. The area has very little vegetation besides native grasses, with very few trees. The region is much drier than areas further east. The Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River runs through Palo Duro Canyon in the north of this region.
  2. Human Geography (cities, monuments): The major cities in the Great Plains are Amarillo and Lubbock; the plains have a very low population density with most of the area being used as farm or ranch land.

Mountains & Basins

  1. Physical Geography (Landforms): The region is made up of rocky mountains and desert basins. Texas’ highest point, Guadalupe Peak is in this region. Big Bend National Park also lies in this region along the Rio Grande River. This is the driest region in Texas.
  2. Human Geography (cities, monuments):The largest city in the region is El Paso, the population density is the lowest in Texas with much of the region being uninhabited.

North Central Plains

  1. Physical Geography (Landforms): The Region consists mainly of rolling plains with bands of mixed hardwood forests. This region receives adequate rainfall to make it suitable for many types of agriculture. This region is not quite as flat as the coastal plains and abruptly turns transitions into the Great Plains at the base of the Caprock Escarpment.
  2. Human Geography (cities, monuments):The major cities of this region are Fort Worth and Abilene. This region has a moderate population density with many small agricultural towns spread throughout the region.
  3. Label the 4 regions of Texas, the Red River, Sabine River, & Rio Grande River on the map below.

  1. What is “physical geography” & “human geography”?

Physical Geography: The study of the land and its features; physical geography includes any natural characteristic of a place.
Human Geography: The study of the way humans have affected their geography and how the geography of a place has affected the humans living there. Any man-made characteristic of a place.

  1. What is “absolute” & “relative” location?

Absolute Location: The exact location of a place, usually using a system such as the grid system (latitude/longitude) to describe the specific location.
Relative Location: The location of a place described by places that are near it (ex. The United States is south of Canada and north of Mexico.)

  1. What is the largest city in Texas?Houston
  2. How does the elevation change across Texas?

Highest in the West and slopes slowly towards the Gulf of Mexico in the East.

  1. What is latitude & longitude?

The grid system used to determine absolute location on the Earth. Latitude lines measure location north and south of the equator, longitude lines measure location east and west of the Prime Meridian.

  1. What are “hemispheres”, which hemisphere is Texas located in?

Hemispheres: the sections of the Earth created when we divide the Earth in half on the Equator (creating the Northern and Southern Hemispheres) and on the Prime Meridian (creating the Eastern and Western Hemispheres).

Texas is located in the Northwestern Hemisphere.

Native Texans

Puebloan Peoples

  1. Cultures:Tigua, Jumano, Concho
  2. Dwellings:Adobe Pueblos
  3. Foods:Farmed a little (corn, beans, squash) hunted and gathered (deer, rabbits, fish, nuts, berries, cactus, roots)

Southeastern Peoples

  1. Cultures:Caddo, Atakapan, Wichita
  2. Dwellings:Grass lodges, sometimes tipis (Wichita)
  3. Foods:Mostly Farmed (corn, squash, beans, pumpkins, melons) Hunted some (small animals, deer, fish) (Wichita hunted Buffalo in winter)

Western Gulf Peoples

  1. Cultures:Karankawa, Coahuiltecan
  2. Dwellings:rough stick huts covered in animal skins at most…lived outside a lot.
  3. Foods:Hunter-gatherers: fish, shellfish, cactus, small animals, deer, roots, berries, mesquite beans, lizards, armadillos, snakes, nuts.

Plains Peoples

  1. Culture: Lipan Apache, Kiowa, Comanche, Tonkawa
  2. Dwellings:Tipis
  3. Foods:Primarily Buffalo
  4. Label the following native cultures on the map of Texas in the regions they inhabited. Caddos, Wichitas, Atakapans, Karankawas, Cohuiltecans, Jumanos, Tiguas, Conchos, Kiowas, Lipan Apaches, Comanches, Tonkawas

  5. What effect did disease have on Native Texans?Created huge epidemics that killed millions of Native Texans in the years after European Contact.

Age of Contact

List the most important accomplishments of the following expeditions:

Spanish Explorers

  1. Alvarez de Pineda: Mapped the Texas coastline in 1519.
  2. Cabeza de Vaca:First European to explore large parts of southeast Texas; wrote a book, La Relacion, about his journeys and describes many of the Native Texans he encountered on his journeys.
  3. Hernando de Soto/Luis de Moscoso:Moscoso took over after de Soto died and explored a large part of east Texas before returning to Mexico.
  4. Francisco Coronado: First Europeans to cross the Llano Estacada and discover Palo Duro Canyon.

French Explorers

  1. Sieur de La Salle: Built a, ill-fated French colony on the Texas Coast.

Place the expeditions from 30-34 above on the timeline with their dates

  1. What are the 3 G’s?

God, Gold, & Glory: These were the primary motivating factors for most of the European explorers during Texas’ Age of Contact.