Transcript Trouble in Texas

Unit 5: Mexican Texas With the number of new American settlers moving into Texas, things are getting tense.
Students should be able to recognize the reasons for the tensions between the Mexican
Government and the new Texans (mostly former Americans) that eventually lead to the
Texas Revolution.
KEY events to focus on –
Mexican Federal Constitution of 1824
Colonization Law of 1825
Fredonian Rebellion
Meir y Teran’s Report
Law of April 6, 1830
Turtle Bayou Resolutions
Conventions of 1832 and 1833
Arrest and Imprisonment of Stephen F. Austin
The Consultation (1835)
THE CONSTITUTION OF 1824
Federalists wrote a constitution in 1824 that:
Federalists – power should be
shared between the states and
the national government
• Divided Mexico into 19 states and 4
territories
• Combined Coahuila and Tejas as one
state---Coahuila y Tejas.
• Texas could become a single Mexican
state after it’s population grew large
enough
• Out of the 12 members of the state
legislature that met in Saltillo, Texas
could have only 1
Federalists mostly left the American settlers in
Texas alone
Mexico
City
Texas Settlements Grow in Early 1820’s
While
alone and…
are in power in Mexico, the colonists are left
Trade expands
Population grows
Farms and Plantations thrive
Schools built
Newspapers printing
Slaves are accepted in colonies
State Colonization Law of 1825
• Set up guidelines to the colonization of Texas (and other
Mexican states)
• Foreigners (U.S. and European) were encouraged to
immigrate to Texas
• Same restrictions applied (become Mexican citizen, good
moral character) EXCEPT: Mexico allowed settlers to
practice other religions besides Catholicism
The Difficulties Begin
(1826-1830)
Republic of Fredonia
Mier y Teran
Law of April 6, 1830
Fredonian Revolt
1825 - Haden Edwards was awarded a large piece of land as an
empresario -• He was allowed to settle 800 families near Nacogdoches
• When Edwards arrived at his land (in September) he
discovered that there were already people living there (many
had been there for generations)
• MINE! No, it’s MINE!!
• The Political chief in the area sided with the settlers (against
Edwards)
• Edward’s brother, Benjamin, thought the only way to solve
the problem was to declare his colony independent from
Mexico
So . . .
- The brothers got 15 -30 armed settlers
and took the Old Stone Fort (Dec. 16)
- They raised a red and white flag that said,
“Independence, Liberty and Justice”
- Called it the Republic of Fredonia
- The Mexican government (with the help of Stephen F.
Austin) sent troops to Nacogdoches to stop the revolt.
(January)
- Some Fredonians were captured but most of them ran
across the Sabine River (border) into the United States …
the revolt was over
Effects of the Fredonian Revolt
• The Mexican government wanted to know what
in the world(?!) was going on in Texas so the
sent General Mier y Teran to investigate.
• Teran told the Mexican government that Texans
outnumbered Mexicans in East Texas at least 5
to 1.
• Worried about the growing American influence
in Texas.
• He also told the government that if they didn’t
do something that Texas would be “lost
forever.”
Centralist Party -- 1829
• End of independent acts
• Regulations issued to bring
the states and provinces of
Mexico more under the
control and authority of the
national government.
CENTRALISTS CAME INTO POWER IN 1829
• Issued a decree (law) abolishing slavery in
Mexico (including Texas)
Centralists – power should be
concentrated in the central
government of Mexico City
•LAW OF APRIL 6, 1830
• Stopped all immigration from the
UNITED STATES
• Encouraged immigration from
MEXICO and EUROPE
• Placed customs duties (taxes) on goods
made in foreign countries (the United
States)
Texans DID NOT like the new laws the
Centralists were putting in place.
Mexico
City
THEY SAID IT VIOLATED THEIR
CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS
(The Constitution of 1824)
Rebellions
1831-1835
Turtle Bayou Resolutions
Conventions of 1832 and 1833
Arrest and imprisonment of SFA
The Consultation
Turtle Bayou Resolutions
(June 13, 1832)
–NOT rebelling against Mexican
authority
–Supported Santa Anna’s revolt
against the Centralists in
Mexico (President Bustamante)
because they were ignoring the
Constitution of 1824
–Santa Anna supported the
Constitution of 1824
(or did he?)
Finally in 1833, Santa
Anna became president
of Mexico… most
Texans were happy…
because he had
declared himself to be a
FEDERALIST… he
had promised to
support the
Constitution of 1824…
which is what the
Texans wanted…
I am a
Federalist.
NO, really
I am a
Centralist
CONVENTION OF 1832 (October 1)
•Stephen F. Austin was elected president of this convention
•Six major resolutions made:
1.
Texas should be made a separate state
2. Immigration from the U.S. should be allowed again
3. Texans be exempt from certain import taxes
4. They would receive better educational facilities
5. Better protection from the Native Americans
6. Land titles for settlers in East Texas
CONVENTION OF 1833
(April 1)
• Included the same resolutions from
the earlier convention
• Also, included a constitution calling
for Texas to become Mexican state
of its own.
• The delegates decided to send
Stephen F. Austin to Mexico to
present their resolutions to Mexico
City
Increased Tensions
1833-1835
Stephen F. Austin imprisoned
General Cos incident
Consultation of 1835
Cholera Epidemic in Mexico City
In April 1833, Austin arrives in
Mexico City as a cholera epidemic
is sweeping through the city
Austin’s meeting with Santa Anna
is delayed because Santa Anna did
not want to be in the city while so
many people were dying of cholera
Austin gets frustrated (he had been waiting for 3 months) and writes
a letter to the delegates in San Antonio telling them to go ahead and
form their own government
In November, Santa Anna finally meets with Austin and agrees to
some of the resolutions… mainly doing away with the law
restricting immigration
Austin gets thrown in prison
Austin leaves Mexico City in December 1833 to
head back to Texas
In the meanwhile, the Mexican authorities in Saltillo
had read Austin’s letter to the delegates in
Texas… they weren’t too happy…
Austin is arrested in January 1834 and sent BACK
to Mexico City
Texans were appalled… they asked for Austin’s
release…
• After being imprisoned for
1 ½ years, Austin was
finally given his freedom
in July of 1835…
• he got back to Texas that
September –
over 2 years since
leaving!!!
While Austin was in Prison
• The cholera epidemic also killed colonists; including 8
members of Austin’s family
• In the Fall of 1833, malaria also hit the colonists due to
heavy rains in East Texas
• 1834 was better because reforms Santa Anna promised
began –
–
–
–
–
English became official language
Immigrants from U.S. were allowed in
Improved courts
Increased number of Texas representatives in the state legislature
of Coahuila
– Religious tolerance was granted
Here we go again --In early 1835, trouble began again in Anahuac!
To make a short story long, Anahuac merchant, Andrew Briscoe, told Garrison Captain,
Antonio Tenorio that the taxes were not being collected in other ports and he refused to pay the
duties until the law was enforced equally. Well, Tenorio arrested Briscoe! Colonists got mad
and in late June, a group in San Felipe, led by
William B. Travis
decided to take action. They went to Anahuac and forced Tenorio to surrender and leave
Texas!!
Some Texans disagreed with what Travis had done and wrote a letter of apology to General
Martin Perfecto de Cos, Santa Anna’s brother-in-law and commander of the Mexican forces in
Coahuila.
General Cos
“Apology NOT accepted!”
• Arrested William B. Travis, Frank W.
Johnson and Samuel M Williams
• Arrested distinguished Mexican politician who helped
frame the Mexican Constitution of 1824 (remember that
one?), Lorenzo de Zavala
• Santa Anna wanted them to stand trail. (He is no longer a
Federalist but a Centralist.)
Consultation of 1835
August 15, 1835, leaders in the town of Columbia issued a call
for a convention so people could discuss the situation with Cos
and Santa Anna.
This convention was known as the CONSULTATION and was
held at Washington-on-the-Brazos on October 15.
Colonists had mixed opinions --
Peace Party
War Party
This Historical Marker
shows about where the
courthouse, built about
1830, stood.
Both the first and second
conventions of Texas,
1832 and 1833, and the
consultation of 1835 were
held on this site.
The provisional
government functioned
here until March 2, 1836,
“War is our only recourse. There
is not other remedy. We must
defend our rights, ourselves, and
our country by force of arms.”
Stephen F. Austin