Independence of Texas

Clash of Cultures In the early 1800’s, Texas was actually part of Mexico’s Northern Frontier But since the Spanish controlled the Texas Territory, they wanted to promote the land to outsiders and get people to settle there

Clash of Cultures The Spanish then began to give out land grants The first land grant went to a businessman from Missouri by the name of Moses Austin He agreed to bring a number of settlers to Texas, but died before he could organize them

Stephen F. Austin After Moses died, his son Stephen F. Austin recruited 300 settlers to live in Texas These were called the Old Three Hundred Many received 960 Acres

Clash of Cultures Mexico WANTED settlers from many places, not just the U.S., to settle in Texas Mexico passed laws giving cheap land to those who promised the following: Learn Spanish Convert to Catholicism Obey Mexican Law

Disobedience Most Texas settlers continued to ‘be Americans’ and declined to adopt Mexican ways By 1830, there were more Americans than Mexicans in Texas Mexico then forbid any further immigration to Texas from the United States

Important Meeting Angered by this, Texans selected Stephen F. Austin traveled to Mexico City to speak to Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna- Texans wanted to have more American settlers and become a separate state Santa Anna lifted the settlement ban but disagreed with the second command

Why did the Mexican Government decide to stop Americans from settling in Texas?

Struggle for Independence In 1835, unrest grew among Texans and Mexicans and occasionally resulted in open conflict Santa Anna sent then sent an army into Texas to punish any Texan criticizing him His first stop was at the city of Gonzales

Gonzales Mexican troops tried to seize a cannon held by Texans Texans refused to give it up and wrote “Come And Take It” on a white flag on the cannon The Texans then drove back the Mexican troops This was considered the first fight for Texan Independence

The Battle Continues After the Texans were able to push the Mexicans back, the Texans called on volunteers to join their fight Offered free land to anyone who would help The Texans then liberated San Antonio from Mexican control Many left to go home because they thought the war was over

The Battle of the Alamo

The Battle of the Alamo Furious, Santa Anna marched north to retake the settlement of San Antonio Only a small force of Texans were to be found. They barricaded themselves in a nearby mission called the Alamo The numbers: 180 vs 2,500

Texan Leaders at the Alamo Davey Crockett Jim Bowie Commander William B. Travis

Battle of the Alamo The Texans had cannons, but lacked gun power Everyone in the Alamo held off the better-armed Mexican force for 12 days Once the walls of the Alamo collapsed, the Mexican soldiers killed almost everyone inside

The Alamo Santa Anna stated, “The Texans fought more like devils than like men” The Battle of the Alamo actually bought Texans much needed time While the Battle of the Alamo was going on, the Texan leaders declared independence from Mexico and established the Republic of Texas

Texas Declaration of Independence “The people of Texas, in solemn convention assembled, appealing to a candid world for the necessities of our condition, do herby resolve and declare that our political connection with the Mexican nation has forever ended; and that the people of Texas do now constitute a free, sovereign, and independent republic”

Sam Houston When the declaration was completed, Texas named Sam Houston their new chief of Texas forces

Goliad Massacre To prevent any forts being overrun by Mexicans, Houston ordered the troops at Goliad to abandon their posts Mexican troops captured them all soon after Santa Anna ordered over 200 to be executed a few days later

The Battle of San Jacinto Commander Houston gathered 900 troops at San Jacinto (Present-day Houston) because Santa Anna and 1,300 others were camped nearby Texans did a surprise attack on the camp killing 600+ and capturing around 700, including Santa Anna Santa Anna then signed treaty that recognized the independence of Texas

The Lone Star State

Question of Annexation Just like with the addition of Missouri, adding a slave state to the union would create an imbalance to the Union To fix this problem, the United States demanded to gain control over the Oregon country from Britain On December 29, 1845, Texas officially became a state of the United States