Texas Revolution

I

Introduction

Texas Revolution, a rebellion in late 1835 and early 1836 by residents of Texas, then a part of northern Mexico, against the Mexican government and military. The rebellion led to the establishment of the independent Republic of Texas. The short-lived republic was annexed by the United States as a state in 1845. These events were among the causes of the Mexican War (1846-1848) between the United States and Mexico, after which Mexico relinquished all claims to Texas and much of the present-day southwestern United States.

II

Roots of Rebellion

In 1835 Texas was part of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Texas and its residents were governed as citizens of Mexico. For many years Mexican policies had rarely caused concern in Texas, although a large part of the population was Anglo-American immigrants who were attracted by generous land policies.

Rebellion stirred when Mexican authorities began to regulate Texan activities more closely. A brief revolt in 1826 known as the Fredonian Rebellion was an attempt by two Anglo-American brothers to establish an independent republic. The revolt, which was not supported by most Anglo-Americans, was unsuccessful, but was one factor that led Mexico to prohibit the immigration of Anglo-Americans in the Decree of April 6, 1830. The decree also banned the importation of slaves into Texas; slavery was already prohibited in other parts of Mexico. Immigration from the United States halted for almost four years. Mexico also imposed new taxes on commerce in Texas and threatened to abolish slavery outright. Unrest intensified when Stephen Austin, the most prominent Anglo-American leader in Texas, was imprisoned, apparently because of suspicion that he had encouraged insurrection. Mexican authorities had obtained a letter he had written advising Texans to organize a separate state. When Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Anna set aside the nation’s democratic 1824 constitution and assumed dictatorial powers in 1834, Texans resisted his authority. A battle resulted in which the Texans defeated Mexican soldiers near Gonzales, Texas, on October 2, 1835.

III

The Revolution Begins

Texans won all the major battles in the fall of 1835, at Gonzales, Goliad, and San Antonio), and declared they were fighting to restore democratic government in Mexico. Soon after these initial battles, a convention of Anglo-American settlers set up a provisional state government, elected a governor and a council, and declared that Texans were fighting for the rights due them under the Mexican Constitution of 1824. Stephen Austin and two others were sent to the United States to secure loans. The Texans quickly gathered an army and marched to attack the Mexican garrison at San Antonio. In December a volunteer force led by Ben Milam defeated the Mexicans and forced them to surrender and later to retreat to the south, across the Río Grande.

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After taking San Antonio, many Anglo-Americans returned to their homes, leaving about 150 men in the town, many of whom were volunteers from the United States. Despite rumors that Santa Anna was amassing troops at the Río Grande, most Texans believed that he would wait until late spring before invading Texas. On February 23, 1836, however, Santa Anna’s forces entered San Antonio and the Anglo-Americans withdrew to The Alamo, a former mission in San Antonio. William B. Travis, the commander of Texan forces at San Antonio, sent pleas for reinforcements, but only 32 men from Gonzales answered the call. For 13 days the small force defended The Alamo against more than 2000 Mexican troops. On March 6, The Alamo fell and its defenders were killed, including Tennessee-born frontier hero, pioneer, and politician, Davy Crockett, and Georgia-born pioneer, James Bowie.

Small groups of Texans were overwhelmed by Mexican forces in other battles at San Patricio, Agua Dulce, and Refugio. In a retreat from Goliad, Colonel James W. Fannin and approximately 280 men surrendered at nearby Coleto Creek on March 20, 1836, and were marched back to Goliad. A week later, as an example to Anglo Texans, most of the prisoners were executed by order of Santa Anna in what came to be known as the Goliad Massacre.

On March 2, 1836, during the siege of The Alamo, a convention of Anglo-American Texans had met at Washington-on-the-Brazos and declared independence from Mexico. The delegates chose David G. Burnet as provisional president, named Sam Houston commander-in-chief of all Texan forces, and adopted a constitution that protected the institution of slavery. It was otherwise similar to the Constitution of the United States, but not in all respects.

Houston, who had been negotiating with the Cherokee to prevent them from aiding Mexico, returned to take command of the revolutionary army just in time to learn that most of his forces had been killed at Goliad. He decided to retreat toward the east and to entice Santa Anna and his forces away from their supply lines, which were near San Antonio. Houston destroyed crops and supplies as he retreated to deny food to the Mexican troops. Streams of Anglo-American families fled eastward as the Mexican armies advanced and the Texan forces retreated. Convinced that surrender meant death after the executions at Goliad, Anglo-American Texans became determined to resist.

Houston’s army increased daily as volunteers from the United States came to Texas to aid the revolution. He had slightly more than 900 men under his command when he camped at San Jacinto opposite Santa Anna’s force of about 1300 soldiers. Santa Anna failed to post guards, and shouting the battle cry, “Remember The Alamo! Remember Goliad!,” the Texans attacked on the afternoon of April 21, 1836. Completely surprising the Mexican Army, they killed, wounded, or captured most of Santa Anna’s troops in the brief battle. The Texans suffered 9 dead and 30 wounded, one of whom was Houston, shot in the ankle. Santa Anna was captured the next day, an event which essentially marked the end of the revolution. On May 14 he signed the Treaty of Velasco in which he agreed to order Mexican troops still in Texas to retreat south of the Río Grande and to persuade the Mexican government to accept the independence of Texas. Mexico refused to acknowledge Texan independence but made no serious effort to regain control. Meanwhile, Texans elected Sam Houston as the first president of the Republic of Texas and secured recognition from the United States and eventually from several major European countries.

Most Texans, however, wished to be part of the United States. Annexation was delayed for ten years because people in the United States who were opposed to slavery did not want to add any more slave states to the country. Other people were concerned about a possible Mexican reaction to annexation. Negotiations resumed after John Tyler became president of the United States and Sam Houston was elected president of Texas for the second time in 1841. An act making Texas the 28th state of the American union was signed on December 29, 1845.