Mexican Texas
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Mexican Texas is the name given by Texas history scholars to the period between 1821 and 1836, when Texas was part of Mexico, as a part of the state of Coahuila y Tejas. The period begins with Mexico's victory over Spain in its war of independence in 1821 and ended with Texas's declaration of independence from Mexico in 1836, forming the Republic of Texas.
Before the outbreak of the Mexican War of Independence in 1810, Texas was a part of the Spanish colony of New Spain. Texas was then part of Mexico (as a part of the state of Coahuila y Tejas). The Rio Grande and South Texas areas had a history of independence movements by the local Mexican and especially Anglo-Mexican population, on account of unitary and perceived dictatorial and unconstitutional practices by the central Mexican government. Northern and East Texas, meanwhile, remained largely in the hands of Native American tribes, some of whom were hostile to Mexican rule.
In the years following the Louisiana Purchase and the acquisition of New Orleans by the United States, settlers from the U.S. ("Anglos") had begun to move westward into Mexican territory based on Spanish land grants. Some of these settlers were active filibusters, who sought the long-term annexation of the area to the U.S. Many brought their African-American slaves with them and purchased slaves after immigrating to Mexico [1]. The Mexican government had an uneasy relationship with these early settlers, in part because of the settlers being largely Protestant in officially Catholic Mexico, and because of attitudes of racial superiority and manifest destiny that they brought with them into the country.
In the 1820s, seeking additional settlers as a means of stabilizing the area, Mexico reached an agreement with Stephen F. Austin reauthorizing his Spanish land grants. That allowed several hundred "Anglo" families to move into the region. As word of mouth about rich lands in Texas spread across the United States, thousands of additional settlers flooded into Texas, many of whom were not interested in being ruled by the government of Mexico. In 1829, when Mexico abolished slavery nationwide, the immigrants from the U.S. were exempted in some colonies or evaded governmental efforts to enforce the national abolition of slavery in the territory. Theoretically, many slaves in Mexico at this time were indentured servants. This was coupled with complaints about the tightening political and economic control over the territory by the central government in Mexico City, leading to the Texas Revolution.
It should also be noted that Texas did not leave Mexico over slavery, which was fomally abolished in Mexico in 1829. It left due to the Mexican Constitution of 1824 being abolished in 1835 and a centralized government replacing the former federal structure. The Mexican states of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas would also withdraw themselves from Mexico and would form their own federal republic called the Republic of the Rio Grande with Laredo as the capital, which is in the present day State of Texas. The Mexican state of Yucatán also seceeded and formed the Republic of Yucatán. And Texas withdrew from Mexico forming the Republic of Texas. Several other states also went into open rebellion as well. Texas, however, was the only Mexican state to be successful in separating itself from Mexico.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Laws and Decrees of Coahuila and Texas from Gammel's Laws of Texas, Vol. I. hosted by the Portal to Texas History.
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