Mr. Harris: You may have heard people say that six flags have flown over Texas. That means that over more than three hundred years, six different governments have claimed this land.

Mr. Harris: First came Spain, which claimed Texas starting in the fifteen hundreds. For a few years in the late sixteen hundreds, France also had a small settlement on the Texas coast. Then, in eighteen twenty-one, Mexico won its independence from Spain, and Texas became part of Mexico.

Mr. Harris: In eighteen thirty-six, Texas broke away from Mexico and became its own country, the Republic of Texas, for almost ten years. After that, it joined the United States. During the Civil War, Texas was part of the Confederacy, and after the war it became part of the United States again.

Mr. Harris: Each of these governments left something behind. That is one reason so many Texas cities have Spanish names, like San Antonio and El Paso, and why so many Texans still celebrate traditions that come from Mexico.