subject: Texas As Part Of Mexico: Some History [print this page] The American state of Texas was a part of Mexico even after the Mexican War of Independence and Mexico finally became a free country. Burdened with an illegal slave trade and virtually no legislative support, the area had many issues to contend with. Over the course of a fifteen year period, things came to a head in this region, until finally a revolt was inevitable.
When Mexico became independent, there was a debate about whether it should be a republic or a monarchy. Coaguila and Texas were merged together to form one state by the new Federal government; this was done after the empire that had been in power, collapsed after only 10 months. This was due to the fact that it was very sparsely populated, and it was the poorest territory in a country with a seriously bankrupt government. Constant Native American raids on the lands of settlers garnered virtually no protection from the military.
Immigration into this new spot was highly encouraged at first; the General Colonization Law stated that any citizens or immigrants of Mexico were eligible to claim at least one square league of land, regardless of race or social class, with the expectation that they would be able to produce something which would stimulate both the local and national economies. However, residents had to be Catholics, and needed to learn Spanish - families shunned many of the rules. While citizens of the United States were eager to settle there (and initially hundreds of them did), the Mexican government became concerned about their influences and prohibited them in 1830. Texans saw this, and many other issues as unacceptable.
Another issue was that of slavery. Exported goods to Mexico were mainly from the affluent Anglos who had made the first land claims there and filled a niche. However, the country was in the process of outlawing the practice entirely. Many of the slaves in Texas had not been freed, even up until 1825, when even more policies had been put into place to guarantee their release.. The wealthy believed that if all of their slaves were freed that an economic crisis would ensue. The area was even exempted from the complete prohibition of 1829 for an extra year, but it wasn't enough. When President Guerrero gained dictatorial powers over the country's army, many of the territories' people became worried.
Finally, things came to a head. Representatives from Texas, which had now become far more populous, went to the Mexican capital in 1832 to express their complaints about how they'd been treated under the new centralist government. In their eyes, they hadn't received enough federal representation, they were being denied much-needed funding for education and the ban on U.S immigration was hurting their economy. While Mexico's leaders tried to address some of their concerns, the new president, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, revoked the entire 1824 constitution, which provoked revolts all over the place. Texans had had enough. It was time to take what they felt they deserved, and they weren't afraid to do so by force.
