Clash of Cultures in the Quest for Texas Independence

Independence for Texas CHAPTER 12 SECTION 2

A Clash of Cultures Conflict over Texas began in 1803 when the USA bought the Louisiana Territory from France. Americans believed that Texas was part of the purchase while Spain protested. The USA dropped their claim as part of the Adams- Onis treaty.

Land Grants Few people lived in Texas. Most of the residents were Tejanos. Native Americans also lived in the land. The Spanish wanted to promote the growth of Texas, so they offered vast tracts of land to people who agreed to bring families and settle there. These people who accepted were called empresarios. American Moses Austin received the first land grant in 1821, but died before he could establish his colony.

Continued Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821 and Austin s son, Stephen, received permission from the new Mexican government to organize a colony. Austin recruited 300 families to settle in Texas and Austin s success made him a leader among the American settlers. Mexico passed laws offering really low prices on land and in return, the colonists agreed to learn Spanish, become Mexican citizens, and convert to Catholicism, and obey Mexico s laws.

Growing Tension By 1830, Americans in Texas far outnumbered Mexicans. The American colonists also had not adopted Mexican ways. The USA had twice offered to buy Texas from Mexico. The Mexican government viewed the growing American influence in Texas with alarm. In 1830, the Mexican government issued a decree saying that stopped all immigration from the United States

Continued The decree encouraged the immigration of Mexican and European families with generous land grants. Trade was discouraged between Texas and USA by placing a tax on goods that were imported from the United States. This decree angered a lot of Texans because their prosperity depended on trade with the USA. Many had friends and relatives who wanted to move to Texas. Many colonists who held slaves became uneasy with the Mexican government wanting to end slavery.

Attempt at Reconciliation Some American settlers called for independence. Others hoped to stay within Mexico, but on better terms. In 1833, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna became president of Mexico. Stephen F. Austin traveled to Mexico City with the Texans demands to remove the ban on American settlers and to make Texas a separate state of Mexico. Santa Anna agreed to the first request but not the second.

Continued Austin sent a letter to Texas suggesting that plans for independence get underway, but the Mexican government intercepted the letter and arrested Austin. Santa Anna named himself dictator and overthrew Mexico s constitution of 1824. Texans felt betrayed and Santa Anna placed Texas under greater central control. This loss of local power dismayed many people. Austin concluded that war was unavoidable and Santa Anna was impossible to deal with.

The Struggle for Independence Unrest among Texans sometimes erupted in open conflict. Santa Anna sent an army to punish the rebels. Some Mexican troops tried to seize a cannon held by Texans at the town of Gonzales. The Texans taunted the troops and put a white flag on the cannon saying Come and take it. After a brief battle, the Texans drove back the troops and many believe this was the first battle of the Texan Revolution. Many volunteers came to help, but problems arose when various groups would argue who would lead. Texas should have been preparing for battle against Santa Anna, instead plans stalled.

Battle of the Alamo Santa Anna marched north, furious that Mexico lost San Antonio. When he reached San Antonio, he found a small Texan force barricaded in a mission called the Alamo. The Texans had cannons, but they lacked gunpowder. They also only had 180 soldiers to take on Santa Anna s army of several thousand. Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, and William B. Travis were leaders that fought for 12 days against Santa Anna. They were able to get letters to appeal for help from the United States.

Continued Mexican cannon fire smashed the Alamo s walls and the Mexicans were too numerous to hold back. They entered the fortress and killed all the defenders, including Crockett, Travis, and Bowie. Only a few women and children and some servants survived to tell the battle. The defenders had killed hundreds of Mexican soldiers. They had bought Texans some much-needed time.

Texas Declares Its Independence During the siege at the Alamo, Texan leaders were meeting at Washington-on-the-Brazos, where they were writing a new constitution. Americans settlers and Tejanos declared independence from Mexico on March 2nd, 1836. They then established the Republic of Texas. The Texas Declaration stated that the government of Santa Anna had violated the Mexican Constitution. With Mexican troops in Texas, it was not possible to hold an election to ratify the constitution and vote for leaders. They set up a temporary government.

Continued The government named Sam Houston as commander in chief of the Texas forces. Houston wanted to prevent the Mexicans from overrunning other forts. He ordered troops at Goliad to abandon their position. As they retreated, they came face to face with Mexican troops. After a fierce fight, several hundred Texans surrendered and Santa Anna ordered them to be executed. This outraged Texans who called it the Goliad Massacre.

The Battle of San Jacinto Houston gathered an army of about 900 at San Jacinto where Santa Anna was nearby with over 1300 troops. On April 21st, Texans launched a surprise attack shouting Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad! They killed more than 600 soldiers and captured 700 more including Santa Anna. On May 14, 1836, Santa Anna signed a treaty that recognized the independence of Texas.

The Lone Star Republic In September 1836, Texans elected Sam Houston as their president. Mirabeau Lamar served as vice president. Houston sent a delegation to Washington DC asking the USA to annex Texas. Andrew Jackson refused their request. An addition to another slave state would upset the balance of slave and free in Congress. For the moment, Texas would remain an independent country.

The Road to Statehood After winning independence from Mexico, Texas still had difficulties with Mexico, and it faced a mounting debt. Many Texans wanted to join the USA. Southerners favored Texas annexation while Northerners opposed admitting another slave state to the Union. Martin Van Buren, too, put off the question of annexing Texas. John Tyler supported Texas annexation but the Senate was divided over the slavery issue and failed to ratify the annexation treaty.

Continued The situation changed with the 1844 presidential campaign. Manifest Destiny was a popular idea at the time. The South wanted Texas and the North favored gaining all of Oregon. Candidate James K. Polk supported both actions. After Polk won, Congress passed a resolution to annex Texas. In 1845, Texas joined the Union.