Chapter 13: The Rise of a Mass Democracy (1824-1840)

Gone to Texas 1819 the US gave Texas to Spain in exchange for Florida; Spain wanted to populate the virtually unpopulated area, but then Mexico won its independence 1823 the new Mexican government gave a huge tract of land to Stephen Austin for him to populate with 300 Catholic American families who were to be Mexicanized; but most of them remained American and resented the presence of Mexican soldiers and the rule of a foreign government By 1835, there were about 30,000 Texan-Americans Most Texan-Americans were law-abiding people, but some had left the States to escape the law (G.T.T.- Gone to Texas) Distinguished Texan-Americans: Davy Crockett was a famed rifleman and a tall tale story teller Jim Bowie invented the deadly Bowie knife (genuine Arkansas toothpick) Former governor of Tennessee Sam Big Drunk Houston took up residence with the Arkansas Indians after 1829 his new bride left him, but later took a pledge of temperance Increasing tension between the Mexicans and Texans: 1830 Mexico emancipated its slaves and prohibited the importation of slaves to and further settlement in Texas, but the Americans refused to obey 1833 Stephen Austin tried to negotiate with the Mexican government, but was jailed 1835 the final straw was had when Mexican dictator Santa Anna eliminated all local rights and began raising an army to suppress the rebellious Texans Early 1836 Texas declared its independence Santa Anna trapped a band of Texans under Colonel W. B. Travis at the Alamo and killed all of them after a thirteen-day siege At Goliad, Mexican soldiers butchered defeated American volunteers who had thrown down their arms Many Americans joined the fight in Texas because martyrs were made of ex. Bowie and Crockett, and war cries, ex. Remember the Alamo! General Sam Houston retreated to San Jacinto and drew Santa Anna's troops there, and April 21, 1836 suddenly attacked the Mexicans during their siesta, despite being outnumbered, and wiped out the force and captured Santa Anna Houston forced Santa Anna to sign two treaties to withdraw Mexican troops and to recognize the Rio Grande as the southwestern boundary of Texas But once released, Santa Anna rightfully repudiated the agreement as illegal because it was extorted under duress, but American pro-Texas public opinion dominated So 1837, President Andrew Jackson officially recognized Texas as independent from Mexico But the Texans also wanted union with America; 1837 petitioned for annexation, but Northerners opposed because saw it as a Southern conspiracy to gain another slave-holding state, though in reality most Texans came from the South and Southwest and owned slaves because Texas was in close proximity to their origins Moses Austin: Was determined to be Spanish in order to have cheap land and freedom from laws

The Lone Star Rebellion

Makers of

America: Mexican or Texican?

1789 went into uncharted Missouri and pledged allegiance to the king of Spain, but the 1803 Louisiana Purchase restored his American citizenship So 1820 requested that the Spanish authorities grant him land in Texas to populate with Americans The Spanish had been chasing out bands of American horse thieves and squatters from Texas, but at the same time had not attracted many Spanish settlers, so reluctantly agreed in the hopes of taking Texas from the Indians and civilizing it But 1821 Moses Austin died, so the task fell to son Stephen Austin Stephen was only three families short of the 300 family goal, and sternly allowed no drunkards, gamblers, swearers, nor idlers in his colony The original 297 families (the Old Three Hundred) were mostly cultured, Scots-Irish Southerners from the trans-Appalachian frontier who were hostile to authority Other settlers from America and Europe (Anglos) came, and by the 1830s they outnumbered the Mexicans (tejanos) ten to one So a distinctive Texican culture developed: The Texas Rangers originated from the patrols organized to attack Indian camps The word maverick, meaning a rebellious loner who does not run with the herd, came from Samuel Maverick, who let his unbranded cattle roam the prairies 1822 the huge caravan of Alabama planter Jared Groce arrived in Texas, and was the first image of the big-time Texas operator 1830s when the Mexican government tried to crack down on the Texans, the Texans, like the American Revolutionaries, first asked only for Mexican recognition of their rights as guaranteed by the 1824 Mexican constitution The Texas Revolution was more a contest between liberal and conservative ideals of government than Hispanic and Anglo-American cultures: Stephen Austin tried to Mexicanize himself and his followers, until the Mexican government became too arbitrary and authoritarian Many tejanos and Mexicans fought for Texas' independence, and several, ex. tejanos Jose Antonio Navarro and Francisco Ruiz, were signers of the Texas declaration of independence 1836 Mexican Lorenzo de Zavala was made vice president of the Texas Republic's interim government