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On January 17, 1821, Moses Austin recieved permission from the Spanish government to settle a colony of Americans in Texas. There were two reasons for this permission being granted, both military in nature. A band of American colonists in Texas might create a buffer between the Spanish settlements and the Indians, and the right sort of North Americans, loyal to the Crown would hardly be revolutionaries. The right sort being landowners and slaveholders who would have an immense stake in the land.
    On the way back to his home in Missouri, Austin had to cross some of the wildest country on the entire frontier. He ran out of food; he was robbed; he caught cold, and his health broke. He reached home just in time to die. Nevertheless, he had a Royal Comission to settle 300 families in Texas and he begged his son, Stephen F. Austin, to carry on in his place.
    Stephen did carry on. He entered into discussions with the Spanish authorities and soon had a clear understanding on two matters; the American colonists were to be substantial, law-abiding people but they would not be required to be Roman Catholics. By the fall of 1821, Austin had already recieved some applicants for his colony and more were arriving every day. The price of foreign citizenship was no obstacle to those wanting land in Texas.
    Trouble started almost immediately. During the summer of 1821, while searching for a site for the colony, Austin recieved word that Mexico was now free from Spain. In March of 1822, while in the middle of organizing his colony, Austin recieved word that his commission had been revoked and the Mexican government was in the process of preparing a new colonization law for Texas and California. Austin was forced to proceed immediately to the capitol in order to protect the colony. Things were very chaotic there and Austin was forced to stay in the capitol for a year, during which his colony almost failed.
    There were more problems. There was a large body of Americans in the Southwest that were expanisionists, they wanted Texas and all of the land to the Pacific for the United States. At the same time, almost all educated Mexicans hated, distrusted, and feared the growing power of the United States. The Americans were proud of their pioneering spirit and failed to understand the effect it had on the Mexican mind, which was all too aware that the United States had more than doubled its land area between 1800 and 1820 by the acquisition of the Lousiana Purchase and Florida. Though these territories had been purchased there was always an underlying threat of violence if peaceful negotiations failed. The entire expanision of the United States during its early years had come at the expense of the Spanish-speaking world.
    Neither side really understood the other and this lead to enormous problems. The Americans assumed they were more vigorous and certainly superior to the Mexicans and that the western lands were useless to the Mexicans who had been unable to settle them. The Mexicans found their pride assaulted by such an assumption and the fact that their northern empire was vulnerable made them fearful and suspicious. No matter what the American's proposed, it was assumed to be part of a Yanqui plot.
    The colonists didn't make things any better. They refused to be assimilated into the Mexican culture. They wouldn't learn to speak Spanish. They wouldn't even call public officials by their Spanish titles. They made peace with the Comanches, who recognized the two ethnic groups as different entities and continued to raid Mexican settlements. In late 1826 there was an attempt to establish the "Republic of Fredonia". After a short struggle, the Fredonians were forced to flee to the United States.
    By this time there was some concern among Mexican officials about the American danger. In 1830 a decree was issued that forbade further colonization of Mexican territories by citizens of adjacent countries, i.e. the United States. It also prevented any foreigner from entering Texas from the north unless he had a passport from a Mexican consular agent in his own country. Importation of slaves was prohibited. Though not an official part of the decree several other moves to strengthen the Mexican hold on Texas were recommended. Among them were suggestions to settle Mexican convicts in Texas, to encourage colonists from nations that differed widely from the Anglo-Saxon, to collect customs and supervise trade so that Texas had to trade with Mexico instead of the United States, to place Texas under the control of the central government, and to dispatch government spies to the province.
    The colonists were used to being self-governing. The sudden increase on government regulation, accompanied by an increased military presence, put many in mind of the conditions the United States had revolted against just 60 years ago. Furthermore, many of the late-comers to Texas were deprived of the opportunity to own land. What was even worse was that they were cut off from their families, who had remained behind in the United States waiting for word that a place in the colony had been secured for them. A lot of non-landowners, such as lawyers and merchants suddenly found themselves either out of work or with a greatly reduced business. This lead to many colonists gather to complain about Mexican rule, a move which alarmed the Mexicans.
    Trouble flared in late 1831 when the new territorial governor reopened settlement under the colonization laws of 1825 to Americans who were already in Texas by 1830. With his permission a number of late-comers were granted land titles and formed the town of Liberty, near the military garrison at Anahuac.
    The military governor was outraged. Under his authority the the military, lead by a Captain Bradburn, arrested the land officials responsible for issuing the titles. Bradburn exceeded his orders by abolishing the community, completely ignored the local civil authority, and redistributed the land grants himself. He treated all civilians, Mexican and Anglo alike, with contempt. He was especially despised by the settlers who considered him a racial traitor because he was a Kentuckian by birth.
    Abolishing Liberty resulted in a public complaint. Bradburn answered by ordering all ports except Anahuac to be closed. A group of colonists gathered at Brazoria on December 31, 1831 and vowed not to submit to such tyranny. Although Bradburn reopened the ports, relations between him and the local citizenry deteriorated rapidly.
    In May of 1832, Bradburn suddenly declared martial law along ten leagues of the coast and arrested several civilians. The prisoners were jailed in a brick kiln; no charges were filed; and Bradburn refused to turn them over to the civil authorities. This angered many of the colonists and actual insurrection began.
    The rebellion was short lived, however, as things were settled through peaceful negotiations but not before blood was shed during an attack on the fort at Velasco by an group of colonists. Though Texas seemed poised to break into open rebellion against Mexico, the final crisis was delayed. Stephen Austin made a last attempt at preserving the peace while, at the same time, Mexican troops were withdrawn to deal with another revolution in Mexico.
    In January of 1832, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna Perez de Lebron denounced the existing government. It was the first step in Mexico's, by now institutionalized, process of revolt. First came the denouncement, then a detailed list of greivances, and then the revolutionaries proposals for a new government.
    Santa Anna's plan called for the restoration of the Constitution of 1824, benefits for the common people, and justice for all races. This was an extremely liberal position at the time and the people of Texas supported him. By the summer most of the army garrisons in Texas had declared for Santa Anna. This allows Austin to pass off the attack on Velasco as a demonstration for Santa Anna.
    Santa Anna won his revolution and then stepped down so that Valentin Gomez Farias could become President. What everyone failed to realize at the time was that Santa Anna was merely biding his time, observing how things went, and determining what the real power structure in Mexico was.
    Meanwhile the Anglo colonists had failed to understand the true state of affairs in Mexico. They decided to press for more liberal government in Texas and to secure what most Texans felt were their inalienable rights. It should be noted that few of the colonists had any plans of making rebellion or war. They had no dark aims against the Mexican nation, but they did expect to live in Texas as Americans, with all the North American individual privileges and rights. Most Mexicans failed to understand this or, understanding, rejected.
    For this reason the next set of moves made by the Anglo settlers were completely misunderstood. On October 1, 1832, a group of Texan delegates gathered to draft resolutions to the Federal government. These resolutions asked for more land grants, for more districts to be created for self-government, that the colonies be exempt from customs and duties for three more years, that customs officials be appointed by local authorities, and that land be set aside for schools. The convention also drew up plans for organizing all Texas militias and for defending against Indians. It was also asked that the Decree of 1830 be repealed and the region be seperated from Coahuila and granted full sovereignty as a state.
    Stephen Austin was chosen to deliver these resolutions to the new President. What the colonists didn't understand was that to the Mexicans this convention and set of resolutions looked exactly like the normal process for beginning a revolt. To make matters worse, the capitol city was in chaos due to an outbreak of cholera in addition to the normal turmoil and confusion following a change of leadership. Frustrated by delays, Austin made the mistake of sending a message back to Texas advising them to take the lead in peacefully beginning preparations for a government seperate from Coahuila. In January of 1834, Austin was arrested for treason.
    In April of 1834, Santa Anna took over the government at the capital. He repudiated liberalism publicly and dissolved the new republican Congress. He dismissed all cabinet members, save one, and dissolved all local legislatures and self-governing bodies in the nation. A new and subservient Congress legalized all of Santa Anna's acts. Finally, in October, 1835, the Constitution of 1824 was officially repealed. Something very similar to the old Spanish system of centralist government replaced it.
    When the truth of the new regime reached Texas, the war party again came to life. This lead to an escalated military presence in Texas. Which increased the settlers rebelliousness. Thus things rapidly escalated until rebellion broke out in late 1835. By the end of the year, the settlers had actually managed to push all Mexican troops out of Texas.
    Then on January 20, 1836, General Santa Anna rode into Saltillo with an army of 6,000 men. As rebellions go, it was a relatively quick affair. The Mexican army, lead by Santa Anna, effectively crushed all resistance.
    The scattered Texas settlers were no match for the professional soldiers of the Mexican army. Santa Anna really only made three mistakes during the war but they were to cost him Texas.
    Perhaps the biggest mistake occured in San Antonio. A force of approximately 150 defenders had seized control of the Alamo, an old mission-fortress. Among these men were such famous individuals as Davy Crockett and James Bowie, inventor of the Bowie knife. Most of these men were Americans. Only a handful of ethnic Mexicans who had joined the Revolution were Texan.
    Bowie was in command of the force which was composed largely of frontiersman hunters and trappers. These were strong willed individuals used to operating on their own and it took a strong and well-respected individual to control them and get them to work together. Bowie was all that and more.
    Bowie had decided that the salvation of Texas depended on keeping the Mexican forces out of the Bexar region. To that end he came to the solemn resolution that he and his men would die before giving up the Alamo. Santa Anna was determined that all who had taken part in the rebellion were to be executed or exiled. Those who had not rebelled were to be removed from the interior. To this end he could not pass the Alamo by.
    Santa Anna actually took the defenders of the Alamo by surprise. They and Bowie and his second-in-command, William Travis, had barely gotten their men inside before the Mexican cavalry rode into San Antonio on February 23, 1836.
    What was to follow was to serve as a shining example of human courage and valor. A force of 150 men stood against 6,000 and they held. For a fortnight they delayed Santa Anna in his advance. They could have escaped. The Mexican net around the Alamo wasn't very tight. James Butler Bonham made trip after trip to the outside, carrying requests for help, begging Fannin at Goliad to move his army west.
    There was no help, except thirty-two Texans who gathered at Gonzales. They rode to the Alamo and fought their way inside, when they knew no other help would come. They came to fight and die for the cause of liberty. At the very end, Bonham turned his horse around and rode back to San Antonio. He was told it was useless to throw away his life. He replied that Travis deserved to know the answer to his appeals, spat upon the ground, and rode west.
    At the Alamo, Bowie was bedridden with pneumonia and Travis was now in command. He had determined that 1,000 men were needed to properly defend the Alamo but he had only 150. He placed his men as best he could. Davy Crockett recieved the most dangerous stretch of wall, something he considered a singular honor.
    The final assault began on March 6, 1836. Attacked in the early dawn, both history and legend record that Travis gave only one coherent order to his awakened men: "The Mexicans are upon us -- give 'em Hell!" The defenders fought, and died, as paladins. Each defending his own stretch of wall. Each surrounded by a circle of dead and wounded when he fell.
    The final count of the dead is unsure. Santa Anna wrote back to Mexico that 600 Americans had been killed but only 70 Mexicans had been mortally wounded. Other Mexicans claimed there must have been at least 1,500 men defending the Alamo. But Alcalde Ruiz of San Antonio recorded that the number of Texan bodies burned under his supervision was exactly 182. He also records that there were 1,600 Mexican dead and another 500 wounded too badly to go on with Santa Anna.
    In the years that followed, many legends have sprung up about the battle. Though historians agree it never happened, one story claims that Travis drew a line in the dirt and asked those who would stay and fight to the death to cross it. In at least one movie version Bowie demands to be carried across the line because he is too sick to leave his bed. We may never know the full truth of what happened inside the Alamo. The only Texan survivors were an Anglo woman, a black, and several Mexican women and children who were spared by Santa Anna's orders.
    What is known is that Santa Anna won the battle but lost the war at the Alamo. It is fairly safe to say that he lost at least 1,000 troops to fewer than 200 defenders. Many of the troops he lost were from the Battalion of Toluca, the assault shock troops. His other battalions suffered losses of 25 percent. It was a crushing blow to his army's morale. At the same time, the battle had provided a stirring symbol to the Texans that strengthened their resolve. More importantly, it bought Sam Houston enough time to raise an army.
    The next mistake was at the mission-fort of Goliad. Santa Anna was unable to move after the battle of the Alamo until the army had time to recoup. In the meantime he sent an advance force of cavalry ahead. At Goliad, the Texan commander, Fannin, made a series of tactical blunders. His forces were caught out in the open plains, away from water and a defensible position. The Mexican commander offered Fannin the chance to surrender honorably, noting that the Mexican government did not execute prisoners, even pirates, who appealed for clemency. Fannin was told that he and his men would be given the "honors of war", i.e. allowed to return to their homes as long as they agreed to fight no more. Fanin surrendered.
    But the Mexican commander had reckoned without Santa Anna's determination to purge Texas of the Anglo presence. The orders came down to execute the prisoners. On March 27, Colonel Guerrier, a foreign professional with the Mexican army, came into the room where the American surgeons, who had volunteered to care for Mexican wounded, were kept. White faced, he said, "Keep still, gentlemen, you are safe; these are not my orders, nor do I execute them." Several other Americans, not knowing what was going on, were hidden and kept out of the barracks by the wife of a Mexican officer named Alvarez. The rest were divided into three columns, marched out of Goliad on three roads under heavy guard, and shot. Only a handful escaped in the confusion.
    This was a mistake because it provided a further morale boost to the Texans. Had the men been released as promised, they would have returned home with tales of a lost battle and of the futility of resistance. Instead Santa Anna created 400 martyrs to the cause of freedom. Tales of Mexican treachery inflamed the rebels even further.
    Santa Anna's third, and final, mistake was to believe he had crushed all resistance. He divided his army into five divisions. Their orders were to burn every town, plantation, farm, and dwelling in their path. The Anglo-Saxon presence was to be erased.
    Santa Anna intended to panic the settlers and he succeeded. The next few weeks in Texas were to be known as the "Runaway Scrape." The entire population of Anglo-Texas, frightened and horrified by the tales of Mexican atrocities, fled ahead of the Mexican army. Most able-bodied Texas men, and quite a few boys, had joined Sam Houston's army. Only women, children, and old men were left to deal with the terrible onslaught. In the space of days, the colony that Austin had built crumbled away.
    Santa Anna commanded a force of 700 to 800 men at this time. It was his goal to find and capture the rebel Texas government. In front of Santa Anna's forces, Sam Houston fled, refusing to fight. Hundreds of his men had left to help their fleeing families, disgusted with this strange commander who would not fight. But Houston had a plan. On April 18, one of Houston's scouts had take a Mexican courier carrying dispatches revealing Santa Anna's planned movements. Houston allowed himself to be "trapped" in a region where neither army could retreat.
    Houston turned toward the Mexican column and took a position with his back to the river and bayou. The evidence is that if he had turned away from the enemy at this time, the army would have revolted. The Texans were at a perfect pitch. They were tired but not exhausted, angry, and murderous. Their enthusiasm was worn away, but so was nervousness and fear. Houston had marched and drilled his army just enough. He was ready to fight.
    On April 20, the two sides clashed in a light skirmish that neither side tried to press home. Santa Anna was awaiting reinforcements. Why Houston didn't press the matter is unknown. On the 21st, Santa Anna was reinforced by another 400 men, bringing him up to 1,000 to 1,100 men. Houston had 918.
    Houston had planned to attack on the morning of the 22nd, but his forces were restless and in the afternoon of the 21st they voted, company by company, to engage the enemy immediately. Houston wisely gave in.
    The problem with a proper army is that it is usually predictable. Santa Anna's veterans were getting all the rest they could for the next day's battle. The afternoon, in the humid April warmth along the bayou, was devoted to siesta. Santa Anna himself had retired; most of the officers dozed under trees.
     Certain details such as the exact size of the Mexican army or approximately 1,100, at still unclear; and it is unclear how the Texas army of almost 1,000 at midafternoon of a bright, sunny day could walk across almost a mile of open grassland and take a veteran force by complete surprise. It happened. Santa Anna had made his last, and fatal, mistake in Texas.
    The battle was over quickly. The great part of the Mexican army was never able to form or fight at all. The Texans battle cries were "Remember Goliad!" "Take prisoners like the Mexicans do!" "Remeber the Alamo!" Retreating in panic, hundreds of soldiers found they way blocked by a deep ravine or bayou. A few fled into the open prairie where they were cut down by horsemen. A great mass of men pressed up against the banks of the bayou. The slaughter become methodical at this point. When the sun went down on April 21, 1936, the balance of power in Texas had turned.
    On April 22, Santa Anna was captured. He was not recognized immediately because he was wearing a private's uniform. He was only discovered because of the deference his men showed him. Santa Anna was forced to enter into negotiations with the rebels but once released he declared all agreements null and void. He refused to bargain at sword point. From that point on Mexico considered Texas to be nothing more than a rebellious province.
    Meanwhile, Texas had declared itself as the independent Republic of Texas. It petitioned the United States for membership but was turned down because America did not want war with Mexico. The United States did recognize it as in independent power as did several other countries, including France. From that point on Texas did operate as an independent Republic until 1845 when it finally gained entrance to the United States, touching off the Mexican-American war over a disagreement as to whether the border of Texas was the Rio Grande or the Nueces River.