The Struggle for Independence

After his father died in 1821, Stephen F. Austin brought American settlers to Texas under the empresario system, including permission to bring 300 families from the United States. Mexico at first encouraged immigration by colonists willing to become citizens under the Mexican Constitution of 1824, which gave power to the states, provided for an elected president and congress, and joined Texas with Coahuila while allowing that Texas might later become a separate state as its population grew. As colonists increased, Mexican concern over American influence also grew, and Mexico barred further immigration from bordering nations, imposed heavy customs duties on U.S. goods, and deepened tensions with the colonists. In 1832, William B. Travis and Patrick Jack were briefly imprisoned in Anahuac during enforcement of federal laws, leading Texians at Turtle Bayou to declare loyalty to Mexico, President Santa Anna, and the Constitution of 1824. Many Texians and Tejanos also supported Santa Anna at San Felipe and sent Austin to Mexico City to seek separate statehood for Texas, but although immigration from the United States was reopened, Santa Anna refused statehood, and Austin was later imprisoned after his letters raised suspicions of rebellion. Elected president in 1833 after promising support for the Constitution of 1824, Santa Anna later abolished it, and Texians sought peaceful remedies through consultations and conventions before disputes in Anahuac, Gonzales, and Goliad led him to send troops into Texas. One of the earliest armed clashes came at Gonzales on October 2, 1835, when colonists refused to surrender a small cannon and Mexican troops withdrew after a brief fight. In November, delegates meeting at San Felipe called on loyal Mexican citizens to join the struggle for a democratic government and support the Constitution of 1824, issued the Declaration of Causes in English and Spanish while still claiming Mexican citizenship, established a provisional government with Henry Smith as governor, and ordered Sam Houston to raise a regular army. As General Martín Perfecto de Cós moved into San Antonio to restore control, support for the 1824 constitution spread, Texians defeated the Mexican garrison in Goliad, volunteers gathered in Gonzales, and Austin, newly released from prison, was asked to command the Army of the People. The provisional government also authorized the Texian Navy on November 25, 1835, and the Independence became one of the first two vessels to blockade the coast and stop Mexican supplies and troops from reaching Texas by sea. Cós fortified the 111-year-old Alamo with strengthened outer walls, more than 15 cannon, and an interior ramp built from rubble. On November 24, 1835, Austin gave command to Edward Burleson and left for the United States to seek support, and when the volunteer army neared collapse, Colonel Benjamin Rush Milam led an assault into San Antonio beginning December 5. After intense house-to-house fighting, Milam was killed, but the Texians forced Mexican troops back into the Alamo, and after five days Cós surrendered on December 10. The volunteer army of Texians and Tejanos had defeated a much larger Mexican force, Cós agreed not to fight the Texians or supporters of the Constitution of 1824 again, James C. Neill was appointed commander of Texian forces at the Alamo, and Cós and his men were allowed to cross the Rio Grande, though he later returned with Mexican troops. These events led toward the conflict at the Alamo, which would forever change the history of Texas.

San Antonio, Texas · United States