The Road Leading to the Texas Revolution The Start of Trouble The Road Leading to the Texas Revolution

Trouble Brewing 1830 – Over 20,000 settlers in Texas were Anglo-Americans from the United States. In the 10 years since the start of Austin’s colony, the United States had sent more people to TEXAS than Spain or Mexico had in the 150 years before that.

Different Views At first the newcomers got along well with the Mexican Government, but after a few years the Anglo-Americans saw that they had different rights under Mexican laws than they had under the laws of the United States. The Anglo-Americans had become Mexican citizens, but they knew little about Mexico or Mexican culture.

Most Anglo-Americans did not learn to speak Spanish, which was the language of the Mexican government, so it was hard for them to discuss their problems with each other. The Mexican government did not allow for Protestants to practice their religion. Many Protestants from the United States had said they would become Catholics so they could move to Texas, but most of them had not kept their promise.

Slavery The Mexican government also passes a law against owning slaves in Mexico. Many Texans came from the southern United States and owned slaves, so they feared that Mexico would pass a law against owning slaves in Texas also. The Texans believed they had a right to keep their enslaved people.

Fredonian Rebellion The first conflict between the Mexican government and Texas colonists. 1825 – Haden Edwards gets a land grant to settle 800 families near Nacogdoches. Already settlers there and Edwards was told to respect the land of those that had proper Land Titles

Edwards ordered everyone to produce their Land Titles. Anyone who could not had to pay Edwards to secure a Land Title. Many of these settlers were from Mexico, Louisiana, or were Indians who had been forced there and had been settled there for years and didn’t have Land Titles. The Mexican Official in San Antonio sided with the original settlers.

Edwards returned to the United States and his brother Benjamin came back and organized a group to oppose the Mexican government in December 1826. He recruited a small band of settlers and declared that part of Texas as the Republic of Fredonia. Many fled when Mexican troops arrived and the rest were captured. Those captured were released when SFA spoke on their behalf.

Results Many people in the US believed that the Mexican government had treated Benjamin Edwards unfairly and that most Texans were in favor of the rebellion. Mexico sent more troops into Texas because they suspected that the Fredonian Rebellion was part of a plot by the US to acquire Texas.

Mier y Teran General Mier y Teran is sent to Texas to investigate and report on the new settlers to Texas. He found that the farther north that he traveled, Texas became less and less “Mexican” and more like the US. More settlers were arriving everyday

For the Texas settlers, the Mexican government was far away and did not affect their lives. The Anglo settlers set up English schools in Texas and were sending their older children to the US to go to school. Mier y Teran warned the Mexican government that they must act quickly or there would be revolution in Texas.

Mier y Teran’s Recommendations Send more Mexican troops to Texas Send more Mexican and European settlers to Texas 3. Increase Trade with Texas Mexico also decides to ban slavery. This ban is never enforced in Texas. It was designed to discourage settlers coming from the US.

Law of April 6, 1830 In 1830, the Mexican leaders changed their laws for settling Texas. They no longer gave land grants to people from the US, and only let people from Mexico and Europe settle there.

The Anglo-Americans in Texas who had families that were still in the US were angry, because now the rest of their families could not join them in Texas. The Mexican officials put a tax on goods made in the US and sold in Texas. This tax made American goods cost more. The leaders hoped that this tax would weaken the ties between Texas and Americans.

The law also said that no more slaves could be brought into Texas and no new towns could be built. Convicts would also be sent to Texas to live. The new laws of 1830 made Anglo- Americans in Texas angrier than ever. In 1833, SFA went to Mexico City, planning to ask President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna to change the laws about who could move to Texas.

SFA also wanted to ask Santa Anna to make Texas a separate state of Mexico and that way they could elect their own state leaders. CONFLICTS AT ANAHUAC In the fall of 1830, troops built a fort at the mouth of the Trinity River on Galveston Bay. This became known as Anahuac. This was an important trade and immigration route. Here, the troops could enforce new trade and immigration laws.

George Fisher became the new customs official, and demanded that all ships landing in Texas pay their customs duties at Anahuac. This meant some shippers had to land and then travel overland to get the proper paperwork. SFA responds and says the rules were “utterly impracticable and their execution is impossible.” Several altercations occurred and SFA’s quick reaction was the only thing stopping an all-out battle. Citizens such as William B. Travis and Patrick Jack were arrested. This outraged the Texas settlers.

TURTLE BAYOU RESOLUTIONS Although angry following the law change in 1830, the Texans passed the Turtle Bayou Resolutions. In the resolutions the Texans declared that they were not rebelling against Mexico and pledged their loyalty to the Mexican Federal Constitution of 1824 and to Santa Anna

Convention of 1832 Delegates of all the colonies except San Antonio met on April 1, in San Felipe. The delegates voted for: Repeal of the immigration restrictions Three-year exclusion from custom duties Permission to form an armed militia and create an independent statehood Land for public schools In 1833, they convened again with San Antonio delegates and voted to send SFA to Mexico City to meet with Mexican officials about these petitions.

Austin’s Imprisonment After Austin arrived in Mexico City he had to wait for months to talk to someone in the government. Meanwhile he wrote a letter to some Texans in San Antonio, telling them to start the state government without waiting for Mexican approval Mexican leaders read the letter and put Austin in jail for treason. Austin did not see Texas again until 1835, almost 2 years.

The Mexican government finally let SFA out of jail in July 1835 The Mexican government finally let SFA out of jail in July 1835. By that time SFA felt that a peaceful solution to the problems between Texas and Mexico was not possible. When SFA was released he stated the “war was the only recourse”. Three months later Texas and Mexico were at war.

Convention of 1836 The Texans recognized that Santa Anna would not compromise and they organized a convention at Washington-on-the-Brazos. The 59 Texans who met decided that Texas had to have independence from Mexico. On March 2, 1836, those Texans signed the Texas Declaration of Independence.

Texas was now a free country and no longer under Mexican rule. The most important reason Texans wanted to break away from Mexico was that Santa Anna had abolished democracy in Mexico and had become a dictator.

Other Reasons Laws of 1830 would not allow people from the US to move to Texas. Mexican government did not protect the rights of the citizens The Texans were also angry that SFA was kept in jail for nearly 2 years without a trial.