When Mexican independence was declared from Spain in 1821, the inhabitants of the region around San Antonio de Béxar the newly formed nation with open arms.
The new Republic of Mexico would prove to be just as incompetent as the Spanish at solving the problems of settling and governing Texas. The main cause of the trouble remained the sparse settlement of the region. After a hundred years of Spanish settlement, only three permanent communities of any size had emerged: Nacogdoches, Presidio La Bahía (Goliad), and San Antonio de Béxar. In fact, the population of Texas had decreased between 1810 to 1820 from the devastation caused by the long struggle for independence.
Desperate to turn the situation around, the leaders of the new country saw the immigrants coming from the United States as a way to bolster Texas’ dwindling population. The government granted contracts to agents called empresarios. It would be the duty of these men to select hopeful candidates, and to ensure that only law-abiding men and women were allowed to settle in Texas. One of the first to plan large scale settlement of Texas was Moses Austin, a Connecticut businessman. Austin died in 1820 just as his plans were being approved. His son, Stephen F. Austin, carried on his work and became the first empresario of Texas.
Although the system at first was relatively successful, the vast number of Americans wanting to move to Texas quickly overwhelmed the Mexican territory. From 1823 to 1828, the immigrant population had grown from only 500 to over 30,000. This would cause future problems between the settlers and the Mexican government.
In 1824, Mexico adopted a new constitution that created a federal style government for the new nation. Mexico City was chosen as the site of the national capital. The nation was divided regionally into 18 states, each with its own governor and legislature. Because it failed to meet the requirements for statehood (most notably, a lack of the required population), Texas was designated the Department of Texas and placed within the new state of Coahuila y Tejas. Native-born Texans (Tejanos) were outraged and quickly began calling for separate statehood for Texas. Many Tejano elites supported Anglo colonization because increasing Texas’ population seemed to be the surest path to statehood. The new colonists took up the cause for Texas statehood within the Mexican Federal Republic. On April 6, 1830 the Mexican government attempted to stop the flow of immigration by issuing a prohibition on the settlement of emigrants from the United States. The result only added fuel to the fire of revolution in Texas.
In 1833, a former military governor named Antonio López de Santa Anna rose to power and was elected president as a Federalist. The following year, Santa Anna switched his allegiance to the Centralists. Retaining his position as Mexico’s president, a newly assembled Congress of Centralist supporters provided him extralegal powers in order to combat growing Federalist opposition in states like Zacatecas, Yucatan, and Coahuila y Texas. He became absolute ruler of Mexico.
In Béxar, a company of Mexican soldiers were sent on a mission to retrieve a small cannon loaned by the Mexican government to the town of Gonzales for protection against hostile Comanches. Commanded by Francisco Castañeda, the column encountered resistance from the colonists who refused to give it up. They taunted the soldiers with the call to “Come and Take It!” On October 2, 1835, the colonists fired on Castañeda’s men, igniting the Texas Revolution.
The new Republic of Mexico would prove to be just as incompetent as the Spanish at solving the problems of settling and governing Texas. The main cause of the trouble remained the sparse settlement of the region. After a hundred years of Spanish settlement, only three permanent communities of any size had emerged: Nacogdoches, Presidio La Bahía (Goliad), and San Antonio de Béxar. In fact, the population of Texas had decreased between 1810 to 1820 from the devastation caused by the long struggle for independence.
Desperate to turn the situation around, the leaders of the new country saw the immigrants coming from the United States as a way to bolster Texas’ dwindling population. The government granted contracts to agents called empresarios. It would be the duty of these men to select hopeful candidates, and to ensure that only law-abiding men and women were allowed to settle in Texas. One of the first to plan large scale settlement of Texas was Moses Austin, a Connecticut businessman. Austin died in 1820 just as his plans were being approved. His son, Stephen F. Austin, carried on his work and became the first empresario of Texas.
Although the system at first was relatively successful, the vast number of Americans wanting to move to Texas quickly overwhelmed the Mexican territory. From 1823 to 1828, the immigrant population had grown from only 500 to over 30,000. This would cause future problems between the settlers and the Mexican government.
In 1824, Mexico adopted a new constitution that created a federal style government for the new nation. Mexico City was chosen as the site of the national capital. The nation was divided regionally into 18 states, each with its own governor and legislature. Because it failed to meet the requirements for statehood (most notably, a lack of the required population), Texas was designated the Department of Texas and placed within the new state of Coahuila y Tejas. Native-born Texans (Tejanos) were outraged and quickly began calling for separate statehood for Texas. Many Tejano elites supported Anglo colonization because increasing Texas’ population seemed to be the surest path to statehood. The new colonists took up the cause for Texas statehood within the Mexican Federal Republic. On April 6, 1830 the Mexican government attempted to stop the flow of immigration by issuing a prohibition on the settlement of emigrants from the United States. The result only added fuel to the fire of revolution in Texas.
In 1833, a former military governor named Antonio López de Santa Anna rose to power and was elected president as a Federalist. The following year, Santa Anna switched his allegiance to the Centralists. Retaining his position as Mexico’s president, a newly assembled Congress of Centralist supporters provided him extralegal powers in order to combat growing Federalist opposition in states like Zacatecas, Yucatan, and Coahuila y Texas. He became absolute ruler of Mexico.
In Béxar, a company of Mexican soldiers were sent on a mission to retrieve a small cannon loaned by the Mexican government to the town of Gonzales for protection against hostile Comanches. Commanded by Francisco Castañeda, the column encountered resistance from the colonists who refused to give it up. They taunted the soldiers with the call to “Come and Take It!” On October 2, 1835, the colonists fired on Castañeda’s men, igniting the Texas Revolution.