1. Chapter 9 Lesson 2 First Conflicts
Trouble at Anahuac
Guiding Question: What events brought about the Turtle Bayou Resolutions?
Taxes led to the next clash between Texans and Mexico.
It took place at the port of Anahuac, where a tax collector and a unit of Mexican soldiers were assigned to control the commerce coming in and out of Mexico.
Commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services.
They were based at a garrison (fort) located at the mouth of the Trinity River.

2. The garrison was commanded by Colonel John (Juan) Davis Bradburn.
A native of Virginia, Bradburn joined the fight for Mexican
Independence and (as a reward) was made a colonel in the Mexican army.
Soon after arriving, Bradburn quarreled with the colonists living in Anahuac.
On Bradburn’s orders,
a tax collector at Anahuac attempted
to collect duties on goods as far away
as the Brazos River.
They accused him of refusing to hand over enslaved people who had tried
to escape to freedom.
At that time, a small number of Mexican troops were stationed at the mouth of the Brazos River, but there was no tax collector.
They also accused his troops (a few who were former convicts) of stealing supplies.
Perhaps the colonists greatest objection, though, was that
Bradburn tried to enforce the duty on goods imported by ship into Texas.

3. This angered ship captains, and some of them took their ships
To process the necessary papers to pay these duties, ship captains on the
Brazos were expected to dock and travel long distances overland to Anahuac.
This angered ship captains, and some of them took their ships
upriver without stopping at the mouth of the Brazos for clearance.
This resulted in the exchange of gunfire between Texans and Mexican troops.

4. Arrests lead to Clashes
In May of 1832, the situation reached a crisis point.
Bradburn arrested two lawyers (William B. Travis
and Patrick C. Jack) and put them in prison.
He believed the two had been spreading false rumors
that an armed force from Louisiana was heading to Anahuac.
Bradburn claimed they had interfered with his efforts to enforce the laws.
Two different groups of angry settlers
(totaling about 200 people) marched to Anahuac.

5. Frank W. Johnson and William H. Jack (Patrick’s brother)
led one group from San Felipe.
John Austin (friend and probably distant relation of Stephen F. Austin)
led the other party from Brazoria.
A small skirmish (fight) occurred between the Texans and Mexican troops.
The Texans captured some of Bradburn’s soldiers
hoping to exchange them for Travis and Jack.
Bradburn agreed to the exchange if the Texans retreated.

6. After another skirmish, the Texans made camp at nearby Turtle Bayou.
The Texans released the soldiers, but some of the Texans refused to withdraw.
As a result, Bradburn did not release Travis and Jack and called for additional forces.
After another skirmish, the Texans made camp at nearby Turtle Bayou.
They realized they needed more firepower, so John Austin
led a group back to Brazoria to obtain a cannon.

7. The Turtle Bayou Resolutions
While this conflict was taking place in Texas,
General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (a federalist) was leading
a revolt against the Centralist President Anastacio Bustamante.
General Santa Anna
President Bustamante
Bustamante was unpopular with Texans, who believed his
Centralist rule went against the Mexican Constitution of 1824.
Santa Anna, on the other hand, had promised to follow
the constitution, which most Texans supported.

8. News reached Turtle Bayou that Santa Anna had won
a battle in Mexico against Centralist forces.
The news heartened the Texans at Turtle Bayou.
On June 13, 1832, they
met and adopted the
Turtle Bayou Resolutions.
The Texans stated their
support for Santa Anna
and Mexico’s Federalists.
In these resolutions (formal statements) they declared their
loyalty to Mexico, but not to the Mexican government.

9. At the same time, Bradburn asked other commanders for help.
Colonel Jose de las Piedras (who controlled the
Mexican garrison at Nacogdoches) arrived in Anahuac.
Piedras believed that the Texans outnumbered
his soldiers, so he gave in to their demands.
He removed Bradburn from command and released Travis and Jack.
Bradburn resigned and fled from Texas and Piedras returned to Nacogdoches.
A Federalist officer took charge at Anahuac.
He declared support for Santa Anna, closed the fort, and moved
his troops to Mexico to join the fight against the Centralists.

10. Texans Seek Change
Guiding Question: What were the goals of the conventions of 1832 and 1833?
As the situation in Anahuac calmed, violence flared at Velasco,
near the mouth of the Brazos River, on June, 1832.
John Austin and his group had obtained the cannon
at Brazoria and loaded it onto a ship.
However, the Mexican commander (Colonel Domingo de
Ugartechea) would not let them pass Velasco.
Soon the Texans and Mexicans were fighting.

11. The Battle of Velasco was brief but bloody.
Several men on both sides died and a dozen or so on each side were wounded.
When the Mexican soldiers ran out of ammunition, Ugartechea surrendered.
Austin’s group then sailed on to Anahuac with the cannon,
only to discover that Travis and Jack had already been freed.

12. Most Texans were pleased.
Meanwhile, those supporting Santa Anna were winning battles elsewhere.
In the late summer of 1832, Bustamante resigned as
President of Mexico and the next year Santa Anna took power.
Most Texans were pleased.
They believed he would treat Texas well, since he had declared himself a Federalist.

13. In the fall of 1832, 55 delegates from Anglo American
Convention of 1832
In the fall of 1832, 55 delegates from Anglo American
settlements met at a convention in San Felipe.
They met from October 1 through October 6,
with Stephen F. Austin leading the convention as president.
They agreed to send several requests to the government of Mexico and chose William H. Wharton and Rafael Manchola to present the proposals.
The proposals of the Convention of 1832 were mainly ideas long favored by Texans.

14. None of these proposals were ever presented, though.
They wanted to resume immigration from the United States
and for Texas to be exempt from import duties for 3 years.
In a new move, the convention asked that Texas be made a separate state of Mexico.
None of these proposals were ever presented, though.
Some leaders thought that the fact that almost
all delegates were Anglo American weakened their position.

15. Among the new delegates was Sam Houston representing Nacogdoches.
Convention of 1833
In April 1833, Anglo Americans called a second convention at San Felipe.
Most of the delegates at this convention had not attended the previous one.
Among the new delegates was Sam Houston representing Nacogdoches.
The Convention of 1833 adopted resolutions like the ones adopted the year before.
However, this meeting went further than asking to make Texas a separate state.
It actually drew up a constitution for the proposed state.

16. Sam Houston served as chairman of the committee
that wrote the draft of the constitution.
Stephen F. Austin, Dr. James B. Miller, and Erasmo Seguin
were chosen to present the resolutions in Mexico City.
Dr. Miller, however, remained in Texas to treat
many people suffering from serious illness.
Seguin declined the assignment.
As a result, Austin made the trip to Mexico City alone.