Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
in the system learned to defend themselves against physical attack, the failure of the Span-
ish colonial system itself was a major factor in the missions' eventual undoing.
Newly independent Mexico administratively grouped Texas with the Mexican state of Coahuila. To the
north, Mexico included much of what is now Southwestern USA.
Mexican Independence
Concurrent with the American, French and Spanish squabbling over North America at the
end of the 18th century, a growing movement in Mexico sought freedom from Spain.
Sporadic fighting took place from 1810 until 1821, when Spain agreed to Mexican inde-
pendence. An opportunistic soldier, Antonio López de Santa Anna, eventually helped es-
tablish a Mexican Republic, of which he was elected president in 1833.
Americans Horn In
Before 1820, settlers moving to Texas from the USA were mainly relocated Native Amer-
icans, who were being forcibly removed from newly acquired US territories in the south-
east.
The first large group of Anglo-American settlers in Texas arrived as the result of a deal
brokered by Moses Austin. He negotiated for the Spanish government to allow him and
300 families from the USA to move into central Texas but he died before the move could
begin. His son, Stephen Fuller Austin, who is credited in Texas folklore as the 'Father of
Texas,' carried out his father's plans in 1821, immediately attracting more than 5000
Americans and creating a bustling trade with Mexico.
The word 'Texian' was coined to describe the region's residents, who were beginning to
form a separate identity. By 1830, with more than 30,000 settlers in the Texas territory, the
situation was becoming, well, revolting. In that year, a Mexican decree banned further
American settlement and limited the importation of slaves. Around that time political un-
rest in Mexico led to the imposition of martial law and banning of weapons in many Mex-
ican territories, including Texas.
