All About Mexican Texas

Mexico became a country free from Spanish Colonialism after the their War of Independence but even at that time what is now the American state of Texas was still governed by Mexico. There was very little legislative support however and an illegal slave trade still flourished with many other difficulties to contend with as well. Things all merged into a sort of flash point after a fifteen year period of increasing tensions in the Texas area and finally culminated in a revolt

When Mexico became independent, there was a debate about whether it should be a republic or a monarchy. Coaguila and Texas were merged together to form one state by the new Federal government; this was done after the empire that had been in power, collapsed after only 10 months. This was due to the fact that it was very sparsely populated, and it was the poorest territory in a country with a seriously bankrupt government. Constant Native American raids on the lands of settlers garnered virtually no protection from the military.

Immigration into this new spot was highly encouraged at first; at least one square league of land (according to the General Colonization Law), could be claimed by any citizens or immigrants of Mexico, regardless of their financial standing, as it was hoped that they would increase commerce for local and national economies (become productive).. There was a need for residents to learn Spanish and to be Catholics - rules which many families ignored. While citizens of the United States were eager to settle there (and initially hundreds of them did), the Mexican government became concerned about their influences and prohibited them in 1830. This was the first of many issues that Texans saw as unacceptable.

Another issue was that of slavery. Many of the first land claims were made by affluent Anglos who were able to produce and export the goods that Mexico was expecting. However, the country was in the process of outlawing the practice entirely. Reports in 1825 showed that many Texans had ignored the orders to free their slaves, even with the gradual emancipation policies which were put in place. The wealthy believed that if all of their slaves were freed that an economic crisis would ensue. The area was even exempted from the complete prohibition of 1829 for an extra year, but it wasn't enough. Citizens of the territory became alarmed when, that same year, President Guerrero gained dictatorial powers over the country's army.

Finally, things came to a head. Representatives from Texas, which had now become far more populous, went to the Mexican capital in 1832 to express their complaints about how they'd been treated under the new centralist government. In their eyes, they hadn't received enough federal representation, they were being denied much-needed funding for education and the ban on U.S immigration was hurting their economy. While Mexico's leaders tried to address some of their concerns, the new president, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, revoked the entire 1824 constitution, which provoked revolts all over the place. Texans had had enough. It was time to take what they felt they deserved, and they weren't afraid to do so by force.

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