Ch. 10 Road to Revolution

Ch. 10 Road to Revolution

American Settlers in a Mexican Nation American colonists in Texas had to adapt to a different culture and government in Mexican Texas. Many refused to adapt. They wanted to live like they had in the U.S. So they started their own churches, newspapers, and schools Protestant church were common in the American colonies

Haden Edwards In 1825 Haden Edwards received an empresario grant in east Texas near the U.S. border. (Louisiana) He found that there were many people already living on the land including squatters. Edwards was angered by the squatters and told them the had to provide land titles showing that they owned the land if they wanted to stay. A squatter is someone who settles on land without title or the right to do so.

Edwards posted notices saying that people need to produce legal documents for their land or they had to leave. They could stay on their land if they paid Edwards a fee. S.F. Austin wrote Edwards: You despise the class of people who were now settlers in the country, and only wanted rich men, and would drive away the poor devils who has been the first to settle, unless they paid your price

Some settlers who had lived there for years had no documents and could not afford to pay Edwards. The people appealed to the Mexican governor and the governor backed the settlers which further angered Edwards.

Edwards, as empresario of the area, also got involved with a disputed election for alcalde in Nacogdoches. Samuel Norris won the election but Edward s son-in-law, a Mr. Chaplin claimed the office as well. Edwards overturned the election and put his son-in-law in the position.

Mexican Governor Blanco reversed the election decision and took away Edward s land grant. Edwards was furious and complained he had invested $50,000 on this land grant and now it was all gone.

In December of 1826 Edwards, angry at the Mexican Government for taking away their land grants, recruited some soldiers and captured the Old Stone Fort in Nacogdoches. They claimed Nacogdoches and the surrounding area was independent and was now a new country, The Republic of Fredonia. The Republic of Fredonia Flag The Old Stone Fort in Nacogdoches

Effect of the Fredonian Rebellion In early 1827 Mexican soldiers and militia from Austin s Colony arrived and Edwards gave up and fled to Louisiana. This confirmed the fear of Mexican officials that Americans were trying to take Texas.

The Mier y Teran Report In 1828, Mexico feared there were too many Anglos in Texas so they sent General Manuel Mier y Teran to investigate the state. When he returned to Mexico he said there were too many Americans in Texas. He said that Texas was more like the US than Mexico. Finally he said if something was not done that Mexico would lose Texas. Manuel Mier y Teran

The Mier y Teran Report Mier y Teran recommended three things: He encouraged trade to increase between Mexico and Texas and that they discourage trade between Texas and the U.S. Second he felt that more soldiers were needed to help keep order and to increase Mexico s control over the region. Lastly, he suggested Mexico should encourage more Europeans and Mexicans to settle in Texas to stop some of the American influence.

Mier y Teran Report Reaction After the Mier y Teran Report many nationalists in Mexico thought that the Americans in Texas were dangerous for Mexico. The Mexicans passed the law of April 6 th, 1830 as a reaction to Teran s Report. It followed a lot of the advice Teran gave A Nationalist is a person devoted to the national interest of their country An American Nationalist

The Law of April 6, 1830 Mexico passed the law to control American-Texan colonists. The law: 1. Outlawed immigration from the US

2. Canceled all Empresario contracts that were not fulfilled.

3. Encouraged Mexican and European settlement of Texas

4. Slaves could not be brought to Texas

5. Customs duties (Taxes) were placed on goods from the U.S.

This law upset Texans!!! Their friends and relatives could not move to Texas. They also thought that the law would hurt the Texas economy because of its slavery provision. Texans thought that under the Mexican Constitution of 1824, the state should have passed this kind of law not the national government. (States Rights)

The law: The Law of April 6, 1830 1. Outlawed immigration from the US No more Americans could come to TX 2. Canceled all Empresario contracts that were not fulfilled. Empresarios lost the right to bring Americans into TX 3. Encouraged Mexican and European settlement of Texas Balance out the Americans living in TX 4. Slaves could not be brought to Texas Texians thought this would hurt the cotton industry and the economy of TX 5. Customs duties (Taxes) were placed on goods from the U.S. Caused the price of American goods to go up in TX

Problems with government officials In 1832 American Juan (John) Bradburn was sent to Texas as a Mexican Army Colonel to strictly enforce Mexican laws on immigration. He followed the April 6 law so closely that he upset many Texians.

He also forced Texians to provide free labor to build a new fort named Anahuac (an-a-wak) near Galveston. The fort was used to collect taxes He used Mexican soldiers to attempt to dismantle an illegal squatter town named Liberty. Excavations of the Anahuac walls.

Texians did not like Anahauc because it was far out of the way from Galveston

Disturbance at Anahuac In May of 1832 an American named William Logan came to the Anahuac to retrieve two runaway slaves. Bradburn would not release the slaves without proof of ownership. Logan hired a 22 year old lawyer name William Barrett Travis to help him while Logan returned to Louisiana to get proof of ownership. Likeness of William Barrett Travis (supposedly)

Travis started spreading rumors that a large armed group of vigilantes was coming to free the slaves. Bradburn had Travis and another attorney named Patrick Jack thrown into jail. Jack s Brother showed up with an small group of about 150 settlers demanding their freedom.

Bradburn said if they would leave, Travis and Jack would be released. The settlers left but Bradburn lied and didn t release them. The settlers then gathered at Turtle Bayou just to the south of Anahuac.

Turtle Bayou Resolutions There they pledged their allegiance to the constitution of 1824. They also said their actions were against Bradburn, not Mexico. This was called the Turtle Bayou Resolutions.

At Turtle Bayou, the settlers sent John Austin (may have been a relative of Stephen F.) to Brazoria to get a cannon and reinforcements. On his way back Mexican forces stopped them at Velasco.

Battle of Velasco The two sides fought the brief Battle of Velasco. The Mexicans ran out of ammunition and had to surrender to the Texians. 10 Texians and 5 Mexicans were killed The soldiers were ordered to return to Mexico and the Texians went to Anahauc.

When the settler army arrived at Anahauc they found that Bradburn had been fired and Travis and Jack were released. Tensions cooled off for a while. Travis became a revolutionary celebrity.

The Texians call a convention The Texians called a convention together in 1832 to address grievances they still had with the Mexican Government. But the San Antonio officials did not attend so the convention was not taken seriously. In 1833 they held a convention in San Felipe and drafted a resolution to separate Texas from Coahuila. They elected Stephen F. Austin to take the resolution to Mexico City.

Austin in Mexico Austin arrived in Mexico City to find a chaotic scene. Santa Anna was now president but had stepped aside to recover and rest from a health problem and let V.P. Valentin Gomez Farias run the country. There was also a huge outbreak of cholera and an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 people died.

Austin had to wait over a month for Farias to reply to his request for an audience. He grew impatient and wrote a letter back to Texas telling the convention they should arrange for a state government, with or without Mexico s approval. Valentin Gomez Farias

Austin finally got an audience with Santa Anna and the President agreed to the lift the immigration ban and to consider reforms in the administration of Texas. Santa Anna did not agree however on separate statehood for Texas.

Austin thrown in Jail On his way back to Texas, Austin was arrested in Saltillo, the capital of Coahuila y Texas. His letter about separate statehood had been sent by the Mexican government in San Antonio to Mexican officials in Mexico City. Austin was escorted back to Mexico City where he was thrown in Jail, with no trial or bail.

Back in Texas War or Peace? After Austin s arrest Texians became divided into two parties a War Party and a Peace Party Peace Party: Wanted diplomatic solution to problems with Mexico War Party: Wanted to fight for Independence from Mexico

Sam Houston comes to Texas Born in Virginia, raised in Tennessee, he ran away in his teens to live with the Cherokee Indians who he adored. Served in the army during the War of 1812 and the Creek (Indian) Wars under Andrew Jackson where he almost died at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. Afterwards became a protégé to Jackson

Sam Houston was elected to Congress and then served as the Governor of Tennessee in 1827 His young wife, Eliza Allen, left the Governor under mysterious circumstances which ended his political career in Tennessee. He resigned from office and spent time with the Cherokee again. Came to Texas in 1832 and immediately got involved in the War Party Houston with the Cherokee Houston later in life