Many Americans felt that Texas was valuable, and many southerners hoped it would become part of the U.S. Much of Texas was well suited for growing cotton, the South’s most valuable cash crop.

The American story of Texas begins with Moses Austin, a banker and business owner who dreamed of starting a U.S. colony in Spanish Texas. In 1821, Spanish officials granted Austin a huge piece of land. But Moses Austin died that same year. Mexican officials agreed to let Austin start his colony ……. under certain conditions. His son Stephen took over his father’s dream just as Mexico declared its independence from Spain.

Austin had to choose only moral, hardworking settlers. Settlers had to promise to become Mexican citizens and to join the Catholic church. Austin agreed, and by 1827 he had attracted 297 families. How do you measure something like that?

Austin’s colony was so successful, by 1830 there were about 25,000 Americans in Texas, compared to 4,000 Tejanos, or Texans of Mexican descent. How do you think this went over with the natives? Right. Not so well. Tensions began to rise.

The Tejanos were upset that many settlers had come to Texas without Mexico’s permission. Even worse, most of these new immigrants showed little respect for Mexican culture and had no intention of becoming citizens.

The Americans had their own complaints. They were used to governing themselves, and resented taking orders from Mexican officials. They did not like that all official documents had to be in Spanish, a language most of them were unwilling to learn. In addition, many were slaveholders who were upset when Mexico outlawed slavery in 1829.

So the Mexican government closed Texas to further U.S. immigration, and sent troops to enforce the immigration laws.

Americans in Texas resented these actions by the Mexican government. One group of Americans called for revolution. Another group led by Austin asked the Mexican government to reopen Texas to immigration and to make it a separate Mexican state so Texans could make their own decisions.

General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the new head of the Mexican government, was a power- hungry dictator. A dictator is a person exercising absolute power, especially a ruler who has absolute, unrestricted control in a government without hereditary succession. Santa Anna had no tolerance for Austin and threw Austin in jail for promoting rebellion.

Soon after Austin was released in 1835, American Texans revolted. Santa Anna marched north with about 6,000 troops to stop the rebellion. When Santa Anna reached San Antonio, TX, he found about 180 Texans defending the town from an old mission known as The Alamo.

Among the defenders was Davy Crocket, the famous frontiersman and former congressman, as well as James Bowie, a well-known “freedom fighter” and William Travis. Santa Anna raised a black flag, meaning “expect no mercy.” Travis responded with a cannon shot. Santa Anna’s troop began surrounding the Alamo. The Texans were outnumbered about 180 to 4,000.

Travis sent word to other towns in TX, pleading for reinforcements But none came. Travis vowed not to abandon the Alamo, proclaiming, “Victory or death!” For 12 days the Mexicans pounded the Alamo with cannonballs.

Then, on March 6, Santa Anna gave orders to storm the fort. The Texans tried desperately for 90 minutes to fight off the attackers. But it was too much. Any Texans who survived the fight were executed on the spot, as per Santa Anna’s orders. This filled Texans with rage!

Sam Houston, commander of the Texas revolutionary army, decided to move his troops eastward, hoping to lure Santa Anna deeper into Texas. Houston hoped to make it difficult for Santa Anna to supply his troops. Houston’s strategy wasn’t popular, but it worked brilliantly.

Santa Anna caught up with Houston near the San Jacinto River. Expecting the Texans to attack at dawn, Santa Anna kept his troops awake all night. When no attack came, they relaxed. Santa Anna went into his tent to take a nap.

Late that afternoon, Houston’s troops staged a surprise attack, yelling “Remember the Alamo!” Santa Anna fled, but was capture the next day. In exchange for his freedom, he ordered his remaining troops to leave Texas. The Texas War for Independence was won, but Mexico did not fully accept the loss of its territory.

Texas was now an independent country. It became known as the Lone Star Republic because of the single star on its flag. But most Texans were Americans who wanted Texas to become part of the United States. Sam Houston became the first president of the independent country of Texas in Texas remained its own nation for ten years.

Some in the U.S. were not sure about whether to annex Texas or not. Annex – to add a territory to a country. Southerners were eager to add another slave state. Northerners wanted to avoid having another slave state.

After much debate, Congress voted to annex Texas. In 1845, Texas became the 28 th state. Some Americans feared annexing Texas would lead to war with Mexico.