Unit 6-The Nation Grows Lesson 37-Texas

Review Oregon country became important to many Americans as they looked for new opportunities. As more details of the region were known, Americans realized the land would be important to the growth of their nation. With the concept of Manifest Destiny, the United States compromised with other nations to obtain the region.

Conflict Over Control of Texas In 1803, Americans claimed that the land of present-day Texas was part of the Louisiana Purchase. Spain protested, saying it was part of their territory of New Spain. In 1819, the United States agreed to drop any claims of Texas, in the Adams-Onis Treaty.

Land Grants In 1819, very few people lived in Texas. About 3,000 Tejanos, or Mexicans who claimed Texas as their home, made up most of the area’s population. To promote growth in Texas, Spain offered large amounts of land to people who agreed to bring families to settle the region.

Stephen F. Austin Moses Austin, a wealthy businessman from Missouri, received the first land grant in 1821. Before he could establish his colony, Moses got pneumonia and died. His son, Stephen F. Austin, asked the newly independent Mexican government to confirm his father’s grant, and then began to organize his colony.

Stephen F. Austin

Old Three Hundred Austin recruited 300 American families to settle along the Brazos and Colorado Rivers of Texas. Many of the “Old Three Hundred” received 960 acres of land, with additional acres for each child. Others were given ranches. Austin became a leader among the Americans who settled in Texas.

Mexican Colonization Laws Mexico passed three colonization laws, during 1823-1825, that offered large amounts of land to new settlers at very low prices and little to no taxes for several years. In return, the new colonists agreed to learn Spanish, become Mexican citizens, convert to Catholicism, and obey Mexican law! Most of the new settlers came for the U.S.

Growing Tension By 1830, Americans greatly outnumbered Mexicans in Texas. The Americans had not adopted Mexican practices, as promised. The United States had offered to buy Texas twice, but was turned down.

Mexico’s Response The Mexican government ordered all immigration from the United States to stop, while also placing a heavy tax on goods imported from the United States. These policies angered the Texans, who relied on trade with the United States for many of their goods.

Mexico’s Response Many Texans had friends and family who wanted to move to Texas. Also, many of the Texans who owned slaves were nervous about plans to end slavery by the Mexican government.

Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana Austin traveled to meet Santa Ana, the new Mexican president, and discuss removing the ban on American settlers and making Texas a separate state. Santa Ana accepted the first request, but not the second. Austin sent a letter back to Texas telling the people to prepare to fight for independence.

Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana

Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana The Mexican government intercepted the letter, and had Austin arrested. While Austin was in jail, Santa Ana named himself dictator and got rid of the Mexican Constitution. The Texans felt betrayed because they now had nothing in place to protect their rights. Santa Ana restructured the government, giving Mexico more control over Texas.

Conflict in Texas In 1835, Santa Ana sent an army into Texas to punish Texans for criticizing him. After a small fight in the town of Gonzalez, and pushing the Mexican troops back, many Texans considered this the beginning of the Texas Revolution. Texans offered free land to anyone who volunteered to help fight.

Conflict in Texas Many people, including Davy Crockett, African Americans, and Tejanos, accepted the offer to help. In December 1835, the Texans got an important victory when they freed the city of San Antonio from a larger Mexican force. Some Texans left San Antonio thinking it was over, while others remained and argued over who was in charge.

Battle of the Alamo Upset about losing San Antonio, Santa Ana marched back north to the lost city, arriving in February 1836. Santa Ana and his troops found only a small Texan force barricaded inside a local mission called the Alamo.

The Alamo

Battle of the Alamo The Texans had cannons, but lacked gunpowder. There were only about 180 soldiers at the Alamo to face Santa Ana’s large army of several thousand soldiers. The Texans had some brave, strong leaders.

Texan Leaders At The Alamo Davy Crockett arrived with a group of sharpshooters from Tennessee. Another leader was a Texas toughman, named, Jim Bowie. There was also the 26 year old commander, William B. Travis, who was determined to hold the Alamo.

Texan Leaders At The Alamo

Battle of the Alamo For 12 days, the defenders of the Alamo held off Santa Ana and his army with rifles. The Mexicans attacked twice, but had to back off both times. On March 6, 1836, the Mexican forces smashed the walls of the Alamo with cannon fire, and the Mexicans launched an attack.

Battle of the Alamo

Battle of the Alamo During the attack, many Mexican soldiers were killed as they crossed the land and tried to climb the walls of the Alamo. The large number of Mexican soldiers was too much to hold back and with time they were able to enter the fortress. The Mexicans killed all the defenders, leaving only a few women and children and some servants to tell of the battle.

Texas Declares Independence While the Battle of the Alamo was going on, leaders of Texas were meeting to write a new constitution. Four days before the Alamo fell to Mexico, on March 2, 1836, American settlers and Tejanos declared independence from Mexico, forming the Republic of Texas.

The Texas Declaration of Independence was similar to the United States’ Declaration, written 60 years earlier. 1.Texans declared that their rights to freedom of religion, trial by jury, to bear arms, and to petition, as was protected by the Mexican Constitution, had been violated. 2. It also noted that the protests of Texans had been met with force.

Texas Declaration of Independence

New Texas Government Texans were not able to hold a general election to ratify their constitution or to choose their new leaders because of Mexican troops in Texas. They set up a temporary government and selected leaders to serve until regular elections could be held.

Sam Houston Sam Houston was selected as commander in chief of the Texas troops. Houston, who was raised among the Cherokee people, arrived in Texas in 1832. He had helped Andrew Jackson fight against the Creek people. He was also a politician, serving in the U.S. Congress and as the governor of Tennessee.

Sam Houston

“Goliad Massacre” Houston wanted to prevent the Mexicans from taking any other forts in Texas. He ordered troops at Goliad to abandon their position, but were met by Mexican troops as they retreated. Several hundred Texans surrendered, and then were executed a few days later on Santa Ana’s orders. Outraged Texans called it the “Goliad Massacre.”

Battle of San Jacinto Houston moved his remaining army east about 100 miles while watching the movements of Santa Ana’s troops, waiting for a chance to strike. After adding some new troops, Houston had an army of about 900 soldiers gathered at San Jacinto, near the present-day city of Houston.

Battle of San Jacinto Santa Ana’s army of more than 1,300 soldiers were camped nearby. On April 21, 1836, the Texans pulled off a surprise attack against the Mexican troops, shouting, “Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!”

Battle of San Jacinto

Battle of San Jacinto The Texans killed more than 600 soldiers and captured about 700 more, including Santa Ana. On May 14, 1836, Santa Ana signed a treaty recognizing the independence of Texas.

The Lone Star Republic Texas elected Sam Houston as their president in September 1836. Houston sent a delegation to Washington, D.C., asking the United States to annex, or take control of, Texas. President Andrew Jackson refused, stating it would upset the balance of slave and free states in Congress. For now, Texas would remain an independent country.

Struggle for Texas The new republic struggled politically and financially, although they had huge growth in population. The Mexican government refused to honor Santa Ana’s recognition of Texas as independent, and fighting continued. Texas also had a huge debt because of the war with Mexico, but had no way to repay it.

Question of Annexation Many Texans still hoped to join the United States. In the United States, Southerners favored annexation of Texas, while Northerners objected, arguing that Texas would add another slave state. Presidents Jackson and Martin Van Buren put off the idea due to not wanting the slavery issue to become a major argument or risk a war with Mexico.

Question of Annexation In 1841, President John Tyler supported adding Texas to the United States. Tyler persuaded Texas to reapply for annexation, but the Senate was divided over slavery and failed to agree to the annexation treaty.

Texas Becomes a State During the campaign of 1844, annexation of Texas was an important issue being discussed because of the growing desires of Manifest Destiny. The South favored the annexation of Texas, while the North demanded that the United States gain control of Oregon country from England.

Texas Becomes a State James K. Polk supported both, allowing him to be elected as president in 1844. With support of Polk, Congress proposed and passed a resolution to annex Texas. On December 29, 1845, Texas officially became a state of the United States!

State Flag of Texas

Conclusion Americans began to settle in Mexico in 1821. The settlers began to grow upset with the Mexican government when they felt their rights had been violated. As a result, Texans led a revolution against Mexico, eventually earning their independence. Texas struggled as a country and hoped to be annexed by the United States. In 1845, Texas was officially annexed and became a state.

Assignments Answer the four review questions for this lesson. Complete the Texas Independence Worksheet You will have a Unit 6 test after you complete Lesson 39