So, before Texas could join the United States it first had to win its independence from
America’s favourite southern neighbour, Mexico, and the Mexicans weren’t all
that happy to see it go.
But, why did Texans want independence in the first place?
What was it that drove them to fight for it, and then ultimately how and why did Texas
become American?
Well, freshly after Mexico itself broke free from the Spanish Empire, the state of Coahuila
y Tejas was a sparsely populated part of the new nation, however, that was quickly changing.
Texan land was both fertile and, importantly, underused, and as such, American settlers,
led by Stephen F. Austin, were pouring in.
That’s right, the first illegal immigrants on the southern border were going the other way.
All though, at least at the start, American immigration was something that was actually
encouraged by the Mexican government.
There were some conditions though, which the Americans weren’t fans of and didn’t follow.
Some even actively revolted in the 1820s but they failed miserably.
The largest cultural clash though turned out to be the practice of slavery, which the settlers
had brought with them, and that was fast falling out of favour in Mexico.
So much so that they abolished it, which caused an uproar, and Texas would’ve revolted then
and there, had Mexico not quickly granted them exceptions.
By then, the Texian population (that’s American Texans) outnumbered the Mexican Tejanos by
about 3 to 1, so the US government offered to buy Texas, not once, but twice.
Mexico refused both times, and then passed the cleverly named Law of April 6th, 1830 which
banned new American immigration to Mexican territories.
It didn’t actually stop anyone.
For a moment though, it did look like the situation might cool down.
In 1833, a general named Antonio López de Santa Anna was elected President of Mexico
with a pledge to support its federal system, where much like in the US, states were largely
free to govern themselves.
Unfortunately, he was a liar.
Within two years of his election, Santa Anna had moved all power to the central government,
scrapped the Constitution, and made himself into a bona fide dictator.
All over Mexico revolt broke out against his rule.
In Texas, Santa Anna’s men were sent to disarm the town of Gonzales of a cannon in
October 1835.
In response, the Texians proved that they truly were American at heart by flying a flag
that read, “come and take it.”
The ensuing Battle of Gonzales (which the Texians won) encouraged militiamen from all
over the region to flock to the capital, Béxar, today’s San Antonio, which was besieged
by Stephen Austin.
By early December, the town had fallen, and Mexican forces fled Texas.
Yet there remained significant division among
the Texans as to whether their goal was independence
(and subsequent union with the US) or, what
most Tejanos wanted, to reinstate a federal Mexico.
That indecisiveness gave Santa Anna the advantage though and he personally led an army, some
6,000 men strong, into Texas.
He expected an easy victory, and not without cause.
Texas was in disarray.
After their victory at Béxar many volunteers had returned to their homes and there was
really no central government to make them stay and fight.
That was because it had imploded.
Texas had elected a Provisional Government at the start of the revolution, but its head,
Henry Smith, was an ardent separatist while its council was more split and quite ineffective.
So Smith dissolved it, and in turn, the council impeached him.
All the while, Santa Anna was seizing scores of virtually undefended Texan territory.
That was until he reached the Alamo Mission on the outskirts of Béxar in late February.
There, his 1,500 man force (he had split his army to cover more ground) found about a hundred
defenders, led by Davy Crockett, James Bowie, and William Travis.
Bowie had actually been sent to evacuate and destroy the fort to keep it out of Mexican hands,
but instead it was decided that the Alamo should be held.
So, the defenders called for assistance from the de facto Commander in Chief of Texian
forces, Sam Houston, who, knowing they had no chance, sent them nothing.
On March 6th, Santa Anna stormed the Alamo
and massacred the Texians and the few Tejanos inside.
Cries of “Remember the Alamo,” as well as “Remember Goliad,” the site of another
massacre later that month, were then used to inspire Texan fighters, as well as, critically,
to recruit hundreds of new volunteers from the US.
Four days before the fall of the Alamo, Texas had, finally, declared its independence and
Houston was officially made Commander-in-Chief.
The new Republic of Texas then set about writing a constitution which came out to be almost
a copy-paste version of the US one, all though Texas’ explicitly legalized slavery.
Not that it looked then like that would matter.
By mid-April, Santa Anna had retaken most of Texas, but he was about to make a fatal mistake.
On April 20th, Santa Anna and 700 soldiers, made camp, against the advice of his officers
and basic military strategy, on a wide, marshy, plain near the San Jacinto River.
He later received about 500 exhausted, and inexperienced reinforcements.
On the 21st, Houston and an army of about 900 launched a surprise attack on Santa Anna’s
position; about half of the Mexicans were slaughtered.
Houston lost 11 men, and he took the President of Mexico himself captive.
With that as a bargaining chip, He negotiated a Mexican withdrawal from Texas.
The war was over.
Though Mexico never officially recognized Texan independence.
The fame he gained at San Jacinto allowed Houston to triumph over Henry Smith and Stephen
Austin in the first Texan presidential election, and then, as President, he was faced with two
problems.
Firstly, was Texas meant to look like this, which it controlled, or this, which it claimed?
And also, why couldn’t it immediately join the US?
Well, America refused to annex Texas as doing so would’ve disrupted the ever-important
balance between slave and free states in the Union.
Though they did eventually get around to it and Texas became the 28th State in 1845.
As for the question of borders, well that took the Mexican-American War, which began
because of the annexation of Texas, to sort out.
In its aftermath though, Texas’s modern borders within the US were established.
If you enjoyed this video don’t forget to subscribe and hit the notification bell below
so you don’t miss the next one, and as always, I’ve been James, and thank you for watching
Look Back History.