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  s a companion to Ken Burns' Liberty! The American Revolution, HoustonPBS participated in a state-wide broadcast of Liberty-Texas, a thirty-minute documentary casting a revealing light on the role of Texas – then a part of the Spanish empire – in supporting the American Revolution. Liberty-Texas shows that the Texas role was crucial. Many of the documentary’s insights concern Texas’ role as a critical nexus between the European nations of Spain and England, and their North American colonies.
 At the time of the American Revolution, Spain, smarting from recent defeats at British hands, was looking for an opportunity to even the score and recoup lost power. Accordingly, Spanish colonies – from Texas to Florida – opened up a pro-American front along the Gulf Coast.
The American Revolution was starving because of a tenacious blockade imposed by Britain’s fleet, the most potent naval force in the world. The British stranglehold extended along the Atlantic from Boston to Charleston. Vital relief came from Texas, which organized vast cattle drives north and east to feed the needy revolutionaries. History students have been surprised to learn that the cattle era in Texas started a full century before the cowboy tradition of the 19th century.
 But facts alone are only half of history. Liberty-Texas is intimate as well as informative. The documentary features on-location views of significant historical sites. The reading of documents, diaries and letters invoke the voices of the past, while interviews with some of the state’s leading historians show that the Revolutionary War is a vital page in Texan, as well as American history.
Liberty-Texas is produced by Tony Burden and presented by HoustonPBS.Production and educational support for Liberty-Texas and Liberty-Texas Minutes is generously provided by Norwest.
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