During the Age of Exploration, European powers competed with one another to colonize and settle as much of the Americas as possible. Spain and France competed to conquer many of the same territories in North America. This intense competition eventually led to conflict over Texas.

Spanish explorers claimed much of the land that is now the United States. They did this even though many different American Indian tribes lived on the land before their arrival. The Spanish empire extended from present-day Florida, along the Gulf of Mexico, through present-day Texas. From there, it reached all the way to the Pacific Ocean. One of their main goals was to create settlements throughout their empire to ensure they remained in control.

In 1564, word reached Spanish leaders that the French were once again exploring and attempting to colonize the eastern coast of Florida. This news angered the Spanish. To prevent the French from settling the area, King Philip II of Spain sent Pedro Menéndez de Avilés to Florida to establish a base. From there, they could attack the French. On Sept. 8, 1565, Menéndez de Avilés and his men landed in Florida and named the new colony St. Augustine. This became the first permanent European settlement in what would become the continental United States. Within a year, Spain forced the French off the land.

Following their defeat in Florida, the French shifted their efforts to exploring and colonizing Canada and areas around the Great Lakes, in present-day Wisconsin and Michigan. Eventually, French explorers traveled farther south, inching closer to the Spanish empire. During much of the late 1600s, explorers established trading posts and forts along the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico.

One of these explorers, René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, claimed all of the land drained by the great Mississippi River for France. He called it the Louisiana Territory. This was a huge claim because thousands of rivers, from the Appalachian Mountains in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west, drain into the Mississippi River. Much of this territory was already claimed by the Spanish. France’s claim to the land led to further tensions between the two nations.

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