Law of April 6,
1830
Chapter 9.1
Mier y Teran Report (1828)
▪ In 1828, the Mexican
government sent General
Manuel Mier y Teran to
investigate conditions in
Texas.
▪ He spent almost 1 year
touring Texas & wrote a
report of his findings.
Mier y Teran
Report (1828)
Mier y Teran reported the
following findings:
▪ Anglo American colonists
outnumbered Mexican settlers
by 10 to 1.
▪ The influence of the U.S. was
growing in Texas.
▪ Texas settlers ignored Mexico’s
laws against slavery & trading
with the U.S.
Mier y Teran Report (1828)
▪ Mier y Teran
concluded that
Mexico must gain
control of Texas
before it throws
“the whole nation
into revolution.”
Law of April 6, 1830
▪ As a result of the Mier y
Teran report, the Mexican
government passed the
Law of April 6, 1830 in an
effort to control Texas
colonists.
▪ First, this law outlawed
immigration from the U.S.
to Texas.
Law of April 6,
1830
▪ Secondly, this law canceled
all empresario land grants
that had not been fulfilled.
Anglo colonization of Texas
was now illegal.
▪ However, the government
encouraged Mexican &
European settlers to move to
Texas. They would even
provide land & money for
these settlers.
Law of April 6,
1830
Thirdly, this law
stated that slaves
could no longer
be brought into
Mexico. This
would hurt Anglo
Texans’ ability to
develop the
cotton industry.
Law of April 6, 1830
▪ Fourthly, this law placed
customs duties on all goods
brought into Texas from the
U.S.
▪ This would hurt the Anglo
Texan economy by forcing
them to pay more for U.S.
supplies.
Tensions Over The Law
▪ Under the Mexican
Constitution of 1824,
the law’s provisions
should have been
decided by the state,
not the national
government.
Tensions Over The Law
▪ Many Mexicans felt that the
national government had
gone too far. Instead of
solving the problem, the
Law of April 6, 1830 caused
the tensions between Texas
& Mexico to grow stronger.