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Texas Independence (?) from Mexico
Chapter 13,
pgs. 293-296
XVI. Gone to Texas
• In 1821 Mexicans won their independence:– A new regime in Mexico City concluded 1823
agreements for granting a huge tract of land to Stephen Austin• Promising he would bring 300 American families to
Texas• Immigrants were to be Roman Catholics• And settlements were to become properly
Mexicanized• These two stipulations were largely ignored
XVI. Gone to Texas(cont.)
• Texan Americans:• Numbered about 30,000 by 1835 (see Makers of
America: Mexican or Texican?” pp. 296-297)• Most were law-abiding and God-fearing, but some of
them had left the “States” ahead of the sheriff• “G.T.T.” (Gone to Texas) became descriptive slang• Among them were Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie• A latecomer was an ex-governor of Tennessee, Sam
Houston • The pioneer individualists who came to Texas were
not to easy to push around
p266
XVI. Gone to Texas(cont.)
• Friction increased between Mexicans and Texans over issues:
• Slavery, immigration, and local rights• Slavery was a particularly touchy topic• Mexico emancipated its slaves in 1830 and prohibited
further importation of slaves into Texas, as well as further colonization by troublesome Americans• The Texans refused to honor these decrees• They kept their slaves in bondage, and new American
settlers kept bringing more slaves into Texas
XVI. Gone to Texas(cont.)
• Stephen Austen went to Mexico City in 1833 to negotiate these differences– Dictator Santa Anna clapped him in jail for eight
months– The explosion came to an end in 1835, when
Santa Anna: • wiped out all local rights• started to raise an army to suppress the upstart Texas
XVII. The Lone Star Rebellion
• In 1836 Texas declared its independence:– Unfurled their Long Star flag – Named Sam Houston commander in chief– Santa Anna with 6000 men swept into Texas• He trapped 200 Texans at the Alamo in San Antonio,
wiping them out in thirteen days• Later a band of 400 surrounded and defeated them,
throwing down their arms at Goliad, were butchered as “pirates”
XVII. The Lone Star Rebellion(cont.)
• Results:– All these operations delayed the Mexican
advance and galvanized American opposition• Slain heroes like Jim Bowie and David Crockett
became legendary in death• Texan war cries: “Remember the Alamo!”
“Remember Goliad,” and “Death to Santa Anna”• Scores of vengeful Americans seized their rifles and
rushed to the aid of relatives, friends, and compatriots
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XVII. The Lone Star Rebellion(cont.)
• General Sam Houston’s small army retreated to the east:
• Luring Santa Anna to San Jacinto, near the site of the city that bears Houston’s name (see Map 13.3)• Mexicans were 13,000 men, and the Texans 900• On April 21, 1836, Houston, taking advantage of the
Mexican siesta, wiped out the pursuing forces and captured Santa Anna• Facing 30 bowie knives, he was speedily induced to
sign two treaties
XVII. The Lone Star Rebellion(cont.)
• Terms of the treaty:– Santa Anna agreed to withdraw Mexican troops– And to recognize the Rio Grande as the extreme
southwestern boundary of Texas– When Santa Anna was released, he repudiated
the agreement as illegal because it had been extorted under duress; resigns in disgrace
– The Mexican Government does not recognize treaty and considers Texas as a rebellious province
XVII. The Lone Star Rebellion(cont.)
– Americans overwhelmingly favorable to Texans, openly nullified the existing legislation
– In 1837, President Jackson extended recognition to the Lone Star Republic, led by his old comrade-in-arms against the Indians, Sam Houston
– Many Texans wanted both recognition of their independence and outright union with the United States
XVII. The Long Star Rebellion(cont.)
• Texas petitioned for annexation in 1837:– BUT USA was held back by the slavery issue– Many Texans were slaveholders and admitting
Texas to the Union inescapably meant enlarging American slavery
– Northerners feared that Texas (as one state or multiple states) would upset the delicate compromise of admitting equal number of slave and non-slave state
Mexican American War 1846-1848
Chapter 17,
pgs. 400-414
Texas as an Independent Country– Faced threats from Mexico….• refused to recognize Texas’s independence• regarded the “Lone Star Republic” as a province in
revolt to be reconquered in the future• threatened USA with war if it intervened
– Request for annexation into US snubbed – Absence US annexations, it sought alliances with
other foreign powers• In 1839 and 1840, the Texans concluded a treaty with
France, Holland, and Belgium.
Texas as an Independent Country
– Britain was interested in an independent Texas• Texas would serve as a check for Americans moving
South, possibly into British territory • British abolitionists were busily intriguing for a
foothold in Texas • British manufacturers perceived the Texas plains for
great cotton-producing in the future relieving Britain of chronic dependence on American fiber.
VI. The Belated Texas Nuptials
– Texas became a leading issue in the 1844 presidential campaign:• The foes of expansion assailed annexation• Southern hotheads cried, “Texas or Disunion”• The pro-expansion Democrats under James K. Polk
finally triumphed over the Whigs• Lame duck president Tyler interpreted the narrow
Democratic victory as a “mandate” to acquire Texas.• Tyler deserves credit for shepherding Texas into the
fold.
VI. The Belated Texas Nuptials(cont.)
• Tyler despaired of securing the needed 2/3 vote for a treaty in the Senate• He arranged for annexation by a joint resolution• After a spirited debate, the resolution passed in 1845
and Texas was formally invited to become the 28th star on the American flag• Mexico angrily charged that the Americans had
despoiled it of Texas• Mexico left the Texans dangling by denying their right
to dispose of themselves as they chose
VI. The Belated Texas Nuptials(cont.)
– By 1845 the Lone Star Republic had become a danger spot:• Inviting foreign intrigue that menaced the American
people• The continued existence of Texas as an independent
nation threatened to involve the United States in wars• The United States can hardly be accused of haste in
achieving annexation.
X. Misunderstandings with Mexico
– Faraway California was another interest for Polk:• Diverse population: Spanish Mexicans, Indians, “some
foreigners” and Americans• Given time these transplant Americans might bring
California into the Union• Polk was eager to buy from Mexico• But the United States had some $3 million claim to
American citizens and their property• A more serious contention was Texas• Deadlock with Mexico over Texas’s boundaries.
Map 17-4 p375
X. Misunderstandings with Mexico(cont.)
• Texas wanted the Rio Grande River boundary but Mexico only wanted the Nueces River boundary• Polk was careful to keep American troops out of the
no-man’s-land
– California continued to cause Polk anxiety:• Rumors—British wanted to buy or seize California• A grab the Americans could not tolerate under the
Monroe Doctrine• Polk dispatched John Slidell to Mexico City (1845):
– To offer $25 million for California and territory to the east– Mexico would not even permit Slidell to present his case
p369
XI. American Blood on American (?) Soil
• Polk was ready to take action:– January 13, 1846 he ordered 4000 men:• Under General Zachary Taylor to march from Nueces
River to the Rio Grande hoping for a clash• When nothing happened he informed his cabinet
(May 9, 1846) that he proposed to declare war– Unpaid claims– Slidell’s rejection
• New of bloodshed arrived on the same night• Mexican troops crossed the Rio Grande and met
Taylor.
p372
XI. American Blood on American (?) Soil (cont.)
– Polk sent a vigorous war message to Congress:• Congress overwhelmingly voted for war• In his message to Congress, Polk was making history
—not writing it• Spot resolution—by Abraham Lincoln demanding
information as to the precise “spot” on American soil where American blood had been shed.
– Did Polk provoke war?• California was imperative in his program• Mexico would not see it at any price
XI. American Blood on American (?) Soil (cont.)
• Polk wanted California by any means, so he pushed the quarrel to a bloody showdown• Both sides were spoiling for a fight• Both sides were fired by moral indignation• The Mexican people could fight with the flaming
sword of righteousness• Many earnest Americans sincerely believed that
Mexico was the aggressor.
XII. The Mastering of Mexico
• Polk wanted Mexico—not war:– When war came: • he wanted to fight on a limit scale and then pull out
when he captured the prize• Santa Anna convinced Polk that he would sell out his
country, then drove his countrymen to a desperate defense of their soil
XIII. The Mastering of Mexico(cont.)
• American operation in the Southwest and California were completely successful (see Map 17.3):– Both General Stephen W. Kearny and Captain
John C. Frémont had success in the West– Frémont collated with American naval officers
and local Americans who hoisted the banner of short-lived California Bear Flag Republic.
XIII. The Mastering of Mexico(cont.)
– General Zachery Taylor fought the Mexicans in several successful battles and then reached Buena Vista:• Here he captured 20,000 troops under Santa Anna• The Mexicans were finally conquered• Zachery Taylor became the “Hero of Buena Vista.”• Now he called for a crushing blow at the enemy’s
vitals—Mexico City• Taylor, however, could not win decisively in the
semideserts of northern Mexico.
XIII. The Mastering of Mexico(cont.)
• General Winfield Scott succeeded in battling his way up to Mexico City by Sept., 1847– One of the most brilliant campaigns in American
annals:• He proved to be the most distinguished general
produced by his country between the American Revolution and the Civil War.
Map 17-3 p371
XIII. Fighting Mexico for Peace
• Scott and chief clerk of the State Department Nicholas P. Trist arranged:– For an armistice with Santa Anna• At a cost of $10,000
– Polk called Trist home, but he wrote a 65 page letter explaining why he could not come home
– Trist signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on February 2, 1848, forwarded it to Washington.
XIII. Fighting Mexico for Peace(cont.)
• The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo:• Confirmed the American title to Texas• Yielded the enormous area stretching to Oregon,
the ocean, embracing California• The total expanse was about ½ of Mexico• The United States agreed to pay $15 million for the
land and to assume the claims of its citizen against Mexico in the amount of $3,250,000
– (see “Makers of America: the Californios” pp. 412-413.)
p375
XIII. Fight Mexico for Peace(cont.)
• Polk submitted the treaty to the Senate:– The antislavery Whigs in Congress—dubbed
“Mexican Whigs” or “Conscience Whigs”— denounced the “damnable war”.
– Another peril impended:• A swelling group of expansionists were clamoring for
all of Mexico• If America had seized it, she would have been
saddled with an expensive and vexatious policing problem.
XIII. Fight Mexico for Peace(cont.)
• Victors rarely pay an indemnity:– Polk arranged to pay $18,250,000 after winning– Critics say Americans were pricked by guilty
consciences– Apologists pointed proudly to the “Anglo-Saxon
spirit of fair play”
XIV. Profit and Loss in Mexico
• As wars go, the Mexican War was a small one:– It cost 13,000 American lives, most taken by disease– The fruits of the fighting were enormous:
• America’s total expanse was increased by 1/3• It proved to be the blood-spattered schoolroom of the
Civil War• The campaigns provided priceless experience• The work of the navy was valuable in placing a blockade
around Mexican ports.
XIV. Profit and Loss in Mexico(cont.)
• The Marine Corps won new laurels and to this day sings in its stirring hymn about the “Halls of Montezuma.”• The army waged war without defeat and without a
major blunder• Opposing armies emerged with increased respect for
each other• Mexicans never forgot that their northern neighbors
tore away about ½ of their country• Marked an ugly turning point in relations between
the United States and Latin America.
XIV. Profit and Loss in Mexico(cont.)
• The war aroused the slavery issue that would not stop until the Civil War• David Wilmot of Pennsylvania introduced a fateful
amendment that stipulated that slavery should never exist in any of the territories to be wrested from Mexico.• The Wilmot Proviso never became federal law:
– It was endorsed by the legislatures of all but one of the free states
– It came to symbolize the burning issue of slavery in the territories
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