The ROAD to REVOLUTION
The causes of the
TEXAS REVOLUTION
Requirements to live in Texas
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Pledge loyalty to Spain/Mexico
Good character
Catholic
hard times coming
Trying to CHANGE...
• People beginning to grow tired of Mexican
laws
• Begin to establish Anglo schools
• … Anglo newspapers
• Mexican government begins to worry that
the anglos (Texans) are becoming too
independent
Fredonian Revolt
• Haden Edwards was given an empresarial
grant by the Mexican government
• “Squatters” occupied most of his land
• The Mexican government refused to force
the squatters off the land
• Edwards, with his brother and two others
claimed the area around Nacogdoches free
and independent
Fredonian Revolt
• The Mexican government sent soldiers in to
stop the rebellion, and Stephen F. Austin
sent in militia
• Without shots fired the rebellion was ended
• SFA sided with Mexico to prove his
continued loyalty to the Mexican
government
• The Mexican government grows more
worried about anglo independence
The Mier y Teran Report
• The worry of anglo independence led to the
Mexican government sending in highly
decorated General Mier y Teran to
investigate the conditions in Texas
The Mier y Teran Report
• General Mier y Teran found the following
that concerned him about Texas…
• Anglos outnumbered Texans 10-1
• Texans trading with U.S. (illegal)
• He told officials that Mexico had lost
control of Texas, and they must regain a
strong hold of the area
Steps to REGAIN Texas
• 1829 - Abolish slavery
• 1830 - April 6th Laws
– Outlawed immigration from the U.S. to Texas
– Cancelled all empresarial grants unfulfilled
– Encouraged Euro and Spanish settlement in
Texas
– Tax on all goods from US
– No slaves imported from US
Texans Angered
• NO SLAVES = NO COTTON
• New taxes hurt economy
• New laws made it impossible for friends
and family to join new settlers
• Mexican soldiers increased in Texas
• Mexican government no longer based on
States’ Rights
• Feel wronged/betrayed
Texans React
(Turtle Bayou Resolution)
• Showed support for Santa Anna and his
attempt to revolt against the Mexican
government
• Texans thought that Santa Anna would be
good for them by bringing back a
government centered on states’ rights
Santa Anna Elected President of
Mexico
• Convention of 1832
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Repeal immigration laws
fair taxes
mail system
court system
land for schools
Mexican Officials Say NO!
• Mexican officials in San Antonio refuse to
send the requests to Santa Anna in Mexico
City
• Convention of 1832
– Same basic principles, only this time SFA takes
it himself
SFA Arrested
• SFA goes to Mexico with the requests of
the Convention of 1832
• Initially is responded to negatively, and
writes a letter back to Texas requesting
them to begin making Texas and
independent state loyal to Mexico
• After the letter is sent, SFA gets to meet
with Santa Anna, and gets everything he
wants, except statehood
The BLUNDER
• After SFA gets everything he wants, lower
taxes, repeal of the immigration laws, etc.,
the letter is found, and he is jailed for
treason. He spent two years in Mexico.
• The treatment of SFA by the Mexican
government angered Texans, and the fear of
Texan independence scared worried the
Mexican government
Shots soon to come...
• The measures and countermeasures from
both sides made for great tension between
the Texans and Mexico
• Both sides were waiting for any small
reason to start a war, and that small reason
was going to be a cannon in Gonzales that
for all intents and purposes was useless.