The Texan Revolution

   In 1821, the people of Mexico won their independence from Spain after almost 300 years of colonial rule.  The Mexico controlled a vast portion of North America, and the new government struggled with finding a successful way to manage it. 

        The Mexican government was particularly concerned with the territory of Texas.  Rich in natural resources and over 500 miles from the Mexican capital, Texas seemed like the ideal target for another nation.  Due to the fear of the Comanche, Texas was a sparsely populated part of Mexico that had potential to help bring the new nation out of debt.  Mexico began to offer incentives for Mexican citizens to relocate to Texas hoping to make it more populated and harder to take over but many Mexican citizens chose not to relocate to Texas.

    An American named Moses Austin traveled to Texas in 1821 to negotiate a settlement that would allow him to establish an American community in Texas. Austin died before he could lead his expedition, but his son Stephen Austin took over the planning.

      The Mexican government agreed to allow American settlers move to Texas if they obeyed the following rules:

           1. Settlers were to become Mexican citizens and obey all Mexican laws.

            2. Texan settlers were to convert to Catholicism and expected to assimilate to Mexican culture.

            3. Settlers were to pay taxes to the Mexican government.

Austin was assured by  Mexican officials that the American settlers would be able to live tax free and maintain their slaves for one year.  In 1825, Austin led 300 families into Texas to establish a new settlement near the Bravos River.

      Gradually more and more settlers from the United States moved to Texas, many of them living outside of Austin's settlement.  As the American population of Texas began to grow an increase in tensions between the Texan settlers and Mexican government began to grow.  Mexican officials complained that the Texans were not obeying Mexican law and refusing to assimilate to the Mexican culture.  The growing slave population of Texas was a clear indication that the Texans were not honoring their contract with Mexico.  When the  Mexican President passed a law that made it illegal for any more Americans to move into Texas, fighting and protests broke out across Texas.

    Many Texan settlers felt that the government of Mexico was taking away their basic rights and freedom.  Some Texans compared themselves to the American colonists who were protesting the taxes and policies of Great Britain before the American Revolution.  While Stephen Austin worked to resolve the growing crisis, some Texans began to call for Texas to break away from Mexico.

     In October of 1835, the people of Gonzales fought the first battle of the Texan Revolution.  That November, Texas declared itself independent from Mexico and began to seek assistance in order to win  its freedom.


Texan Revolution Notes

Tonight's H.W. is to Read and Markup the Tyler and Texas Reading and to answer the 3 questions on the first. page.