The Texas Revolution was a rebellion against the centralist Mexican government. The rebellion took place between October 2, 1835 and April 21, 1836. The primary participants were the occupants of the Mexican province of Texas. Political and cultural differences prior to the beginning of the Texas Revolution lead to the occurrence. By the end of the rebellion Texas became the 28th state of the United States.
Several steps preceded Texas Independence. In 1821 the Treaty of Cordoba was signed releasing Mexico from 300 years of Spanish control. Within the same year the first Anglo settlers migrated to Texas under Stephen F. Austin’s leadership. (Winders) The following year Andrew Robinson opened a ferry at the “La Bahia Crossing on the Brazos.”
This conquest allowed Jared E. Groce to open the first “native” cotton seed in Texas. (Barker) In 1823 the General Colonization Law was passed and Texas was formally approved for colonization. The next year provided the Constitution of 1824 for the Mexican government. Texas and Coahuila became one joint state under the constitution. By 1829 Irish immigrants settle in South Texas, the first school is established and the Texas Gazette is published. By 1833 a state constitution was drafted for Texas. The initial governing body of Texas established a postal system, revised the constitution, and created a provisional government in the year 1835. The next great siege began in February 1836. The siege of the Alamo began on February 24, 1836 under the command of Colonel William Barret Travis. (Barker) The Fourth Convention declared Independence for Texas, established a constitution and provided an interim government. Delegates sign the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 3, 1836, establishing the Republic of Texas. (Binkley) The Texas Revolution is ended when Santa Anna and David G. Burnet sign the Treaty of Velasco. (Winders) Under the leadership of Sam Houston Texas is demilitarized, peace is established with the Indians, and Texas is annexed to the United States. (Barker) Various figures were monumental in leading movements towards independence. Mier y Teran was responsible for reports to the Mexican government. His reports of Americans outnumbering Mexicans 10 to 1 caused the Law of April 6th to be enacted. Under the law Americans were prohibited from immigrating to Texas. George Childress drafted a Declaration of Independence which was adopted without opposition on March 2, 1836. (Barker) Sam Houston serves as an additional figure of importance. He organized the regular military and volunteers for the militia. (Binkley) Furthermore, once elected President of Texas in 1836 he assisted in removing the military, establishing peace with the Indians and annexing Texas to the United States. (Winders) The first battle between Mexican Calvary and Texian settlers took place on October 2, 1835. (Binkley) The dispute began over a small cannon that settlers refused to give up. By the 28th of October 1835 the siege of Bexar begins. Texian troops, under the command of Stephen Austin, attempt to find a defensive location, but are surprised by General Martin Cos. Nevertheless, the Texians drive the Mexicans away. On November 26, 1835 the “Grass Fight” took place outside of San Antonio. This is the second clash in the siege of Bexar. By December 9, 1835 General Cos surrendered and withdrew troops from Rio Grande. (Barker) Participation in the Texas Revolution was a tough decision for the Tejanos. The group of Hispanic descent Texans were basically forced to pick a side. The choice surpassed ethnic barriers. Tejanos had to make a decision that would keep their families safe. Moreover, their decision would have an impact on their possession of land. Even their businesses depended on their decision. (Binkley)
Ramos, Raul A. Beyond the Alamo: Forging Mexican Ethnicity in San Antonio, 1821-1861. The University of North Carolina Press. 2008.
Many factors led to the Texicans’ decision to declare their independence. The declaration was due to a lack of tolerance for religion, the repealing of the constitution of 1824, an unstable government with an unstable president, and the closure of the Mexican legislature, a congress of nine declared Texas independent from Mexico, followed by a formal declaration on March 2, 1836. After the declaration, General Samuel Houston was appointed commander-in-chief for the Texican government. Immediately after the declaration, hostilities between Mexico and Texas began. Santa Anna sent back up to Texas, but the Texicans fought them off with bows and spears (Mckeehan). Santa Anna’s first mistake was his decision to go to Texas with 10,000 men behind him with no intention of mercy.
Calvert, Robert A., Arnoldo De Leon and Gregg Cantrell. The History of Texas. 4th. Wheeling: Harlan Davidson, Inc., 2007. Print.
Texas won independence from Mexico in 1836. In the year 1844, James K. Polk was elected president. He was a strong believer in manifest destiny. Congress decided to annex Texas into the United States. Mexico felt that America stole Texas from them.
Southern slave owners. Citizens of the U.S. where starting to move to Texas and the Mexicans welcomed them to settle because they thought it would be a good idea (Doc D). Soon after, Mexico realized that cultural effects would become be a big factor in differences (Doc D). In Mexico slavery was illegal at the time but because it was still allowed in the U.S. the slave holders defied Mexico's laws and took there slaves with them across the Sabine river into Mexico (Doc D). Obviously Mexico didn’t enforce their anti-slavery laws (Doc D). Since Mexico didn’t enforce certain laws it made them look weak to other people, so the United States took over Texas. The citizens expected Texas to become part of the U.S. and that was finally fulfilled.
Just before Polk's presidency Texas had freed itself from Mexican rule and desired American annexation. This desire came from thousands of former American citizens that settled in Texas in the 1820s. This was due to the Mexican government supplying huge land grants to entice new settlers to Texas and secure its northern border from America. The Mexican government failed to realize the true impact that their persuasion of Americans for settlement would cause. In 1830, Mexico finally put a freeze on all American immigration due to the large number of American settlers and their certain revolution. In 1836, The Republic of Texas was est...
Many people that were indigenous to New Spain and latter, Mexico had settled in Texas when it was a northern State of Mexico. Many contributed in an effort to tame the wild paradise and bring civilization to the region beyond what the Spanish missionaries had begun a century before. In 1821, Mexico gained independence from Spain, and began to actively recruit people to populate the land north of the Rio Grande with far more urgency that did Spain. The residents were both of Spanish decent as well as Euro-American. Those delegated the authority to organize these settlements were called Empresarios. The Empressarios applied for huge tracts of land and then had the authority to sell to those that wished to settle it and swear an allegiance to Mexico---- agreeing to become citizens as well as become Catholics. Mexicans that moved north to Texas were known as Tejanos ( Tejanas for the females) .In 1836, when Texas acquired independence from Mexico, Tejanos remained concentrated in settlements founded during the eighteenth century, namely Nacogdoches, San Antonio, Goliad, and Laredo. Other communities with a primarily Mexican descent population in 1836 included Victoria, founded by Martín De León in 1824, and the villages of San Elizario, Ysleta, and Socorro in far west Texas. ( Arnoldo De León,).
From the early days of pioneers and settlers, thousands of Americans began to move into what would become Texas. The Mexican government was wanting to populate the Texas area to increase the economy. For a long period of time the Mexican government had placed many laws on the territory, but none that were deeply inforced. Finally when a new dictatorship came into power, they began to enforce the laws. Slavery among other issues
Narrative History of Texas Annexation, Secession, and Readmission to the Union. Texans voted in favor of annexation to the United States in the first election following independence in 1836. However, throughout the Republic period (1836-1845) no treaty of annexation negotiated between the Republic and the United States was ratified by both nations. When all attempts to arrive at a formal annexation treaty failed, the United States Congress passed--after much debate and only a simple majority--a Joint Resolution for Annexing Texas to the United States. Under these terms, Texas would keep both its public lands and its public debt, it would have the power to divide into four additional states "of convenient size" in the future if it so desired, and it would deliver all military, postal, and customs facilities and authority to the United States government.
Well before the beginning of the Civil War, Texas and some. of its surrounding territories were property of Spain just like its southern neighbor, Mexico. Soon after realizing their particular suppression by Spain, Mexico fought for, and won. independence from its mother country. Mexico now had control of their country and the territory of Texas.
Its breakdown in Mexican Statehood was caused by Gnereal Santa Anna’s centralized all power in Mexico City and limited U.S. trade, and the Battle of the Alamo was the final nail in the coffin. Then Texas was called the Republic of the Rio Grande, and the capital was Laredo. It was a small country that only existed in 1840, but it was never officially recognized. The second constitution was the Republic of Texas in 1836 to 1845. It was an independent nation that nearly copied the US Document. Texas mandated homestead protections, establish wife and community property rights, and legalized slavery. The Republic of Texas breakdown caused by the US Statehood in 1845. After, the Republic of Texas became the State of Texas in 1845. This breakdown when economic tyranny by the north and slavery. 1861 - 1865, the Confederate State of Texas replaced US with Confederacy in the documents of 1845 and banned the freeing of slaves. It breakdown caused by the lose of Confederacy in Civil War. The history of how Texas got to the current constitution can be compare to the Mexico history. As Texas gained their independence from Mexico, Mexico gained their independence from Spain.
Thesis: The nine years of Texas’s independence were long and seemed to be dragged out. Were those nine years unnecessary and could it have been done in a shorter period of time? 13 October 1834 was the first revolutionary meeting of the American citizens who’d settled in Mexico, in the area soon to be known as Texas. The people attempted a movement that soon was laid to rest by the Mexican Congress. Attempts at independence were silenced for the time being and the elections of 1835 proceeded forward.
Beginning in 1845 and ending in 1850 a series of events took place that would come to be known as the Mexican war and the Texas Revolution. This paper will give an overview on not only the events that occurred (battles, treaties, negotiations, ect.) But also the politics and reasoning behind it all. This was a war that involved America and Mexico fighting over Texas. That was the base for the entire ordeal. This series of events contained some of the most dramatic war strategy that has ever been implemented.
The connection between Britain and the English colonies was that of the ruling of the colonies by the king of Britain, King George III and his parliament. The king’s ruling was very unfavorable for the colonists because of his tyrannic dictatorship and unjustly taxations. The mere thought of an island ruling an entire continent thousands of miles away with poor communication and lack of supervision of the colonies by the king, did not work in favor of the colonies nor for Britain. Three contributing factors for the outbreak of the American Revolution were (1) the king’s taxes, (2) neglect of the 13 colonies and (3) England’s mercantilism policy. King George III and his decisions were one of the major causes that had the English colonists fumed with anger towards Britain and this eventually led to the American Revolution.
The relationship between Britain and her Americans colonies slowly deteriorated between the 1750s and the beginning of the American Revolution. When the first British immigrants settled in America, the relationship of the colonies and their mother country was somewhat peaceful. In the following generations, however, their relationship became tenser as Britain imposed policies and taxes on unrepresented American colonists. The British believed they were right in doing so because they had large debts to pay from ongoing wars with France. These taxes caused uprisings among colonists which contributed to British occupation in America, leading to more rebellions. Eventually, the rift in the relationship between the colonists and the British led to the Revolutionary War and the formation of a new country.