Santa Anna Case Study

In Santa Anna’s life, he did many things to make his country great and happy.The reason I choose Santa Anna was because he was important to the texas revolution because of his actions in the Alamo and at Goliad.

Santa Anna was elected President of Mexico in 1833. In 1834 he repealed the constitution and established himself as a dictator, which played a major factor in the Texas Revolution. With the constitution repealed, the Texians did not have the same benefits as they did when they first settled in Mexico. Under the oppressive rule of Santa Anna, the Texians began to rebel (Callcott, 2010).

In the video “Remember the Alamo", Santa Anna was believed to be a skilled general and a hero of Mexico’s fight for Independence from Spain. Santa Anna became president in 1833 implicating federalism but only for a short time. He later changed and suspended the Constitution of 1834 seeing federalist autonomy as a threat to the stability of Mexico and his own grip on power. He very quickly shifted from being a federalist to a centralist to a dictator. Those like Travis that had once stood behind Santa Anna, are now right in front of his guns. Santa Anna guns would then be turned to Tejanos (Texans of Mexican birth), whom were horrified that Constitution would be voided by the president.

Have you ever worked really hard to obtain something, but have had it taken away from you as soon as you get it? How did you feel? You probably weren’t happy about it. This is basically how the Mexicans felt when the U.S declared war on them. In 1821 Mexico had declared its independance from Spain. As soon as Mexico declared independance they invited American settlers into the province of Texas so that Mexico could boost economy and population. For Mexico, it turned out horrible because the Americans believed in basically everything opposite to what the Mexicans believed in. In 1836 after a few battles at places such as the Alamo, the people of Texas won their independance from Mexico. Then when James Polk was elected president of the United

Sam Houston played a monumental role in sparking the Texas revolution. He believed that independence from Mexico was necessary saying that “war inevitable” and “urging volunteers to come to the aid of their Anglo brethren” (p. 60). Also, Houston’s role as commander-in-chief of the army was very important in winning the war for Texas Independence. After the capture of Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto, many of the soldiers in the Texas Army wanted to execute him on the spot. But because of Sam Houston’s level head, he knew that “his prisoner was the key to removing all Mexicans soldiers from Texas without further bloodshed”, and “Jacinto became his password to Texas heroism forever” (p. 85-87). Furthermore, Houston’s leadership as the president of the Republic of Texas “kept the republic alive until it became a part of his mother country” (p. 198).

The dictator of Mexico, General Santa Anna, set the control of military to prevent the Texans' revolution. About 100 Texans defended their settlements at the Alamo. The unforgettable moment of Texans' inspired quote, 'Remember the Alamo!' made a large impact on Mexican soldiers in the Alamo. The vision of battle of San Jacinto was full of painful bloody violence. It overwhelmed the Mexicans.

As a military and political figure, Houston’s decisions were not popular at times. Elected as commander in chief of the Texas Army, while most preferred a direct confrontation with Santa Anna’s army, Houston knowing the limited size, funding and lack of training of the Texas Army, preferred what seemed to be a plan of retreat on the surface but actually was a plan of patience and timing for the right place and the right time to attack. Small victories by Santa Anna’s army inflamed Anglo Texans who began questioning Houston’s technique to the point even President David Burnet began questioning as well. However, victory was Houston’s as the opportunity presented itself for a prepared Texas Army to strike an

Knowing that the Texans were not obeying Mexico’s laws, the Mexican President sent Antonio López de Santa Anna to fight and stop the revolting Texans. “Santa Anna gained his earliest military experience fighting for the Spanish army

On February 15 and 16, 1836, General Santa Anna and his men crossed the Rio Grande to put down the uprising and prevent Texas from becoming its own state. The Mexican Army successfully won multiple skirmishes and battles, to include the Alamo and Goliad (Hardin, 2004).

The battle for Texas’ independence was a hard battle. Many lives were taken, home destroyed, and families were torn apart. Texas residents wanted to break away from Mexico and become a self-governing republic inside of Mexico because they did not like Santa Anna’s laws. Mexico did not allow slave immigration, so Texas wanted to be a part of the United States that allowed slavery. But the main reason was that Mexico would not change or consider any government ideas that the Anglos and Mexicans had for Texas, and resulted in Santa Anna ruling and making all the laws and decisions. Santa Anna also overthrew the Mexican government and made himself the Mexican dictator. Stephen Austin came to try and settle the trouble caused by the suggestion of Texas’ constitution, but instead Santa Anna imprisoned him for a year.

Even though Travis did not succeed due to the overwhelming number of Santa Ana’s army which Travis and the troops paid with their lives Travis’s letter did however struck a core in many of the volunteers and the US army, which Sam Houston led to victory over Santa Anna in April 21 1836, in the Battle of San Jacinto. Travis’s letter had a vast impact that shaped the destiny of America and the world with the defeat of Santa Anna since the Republic of Texas

General Sam Houston did not see San Antonio as an area worth holding because most of the Anglo settlements were in the eastern section of the region. Because of the General Houston sent Jim Bowie to San Antonio with orders to destroy the Alamo and return with the rebels and their weapons. Bowie along with William B. Travis disregarded the general’s orders and took refuge

Based on all four documents I think that the Texans were not justified in declaring independence. I believe this for many reasons. Some reasons were that, the documents that we read were mostly biased towards their own country. Another reason is that they were all stubborn and tried to use conflict and cheating to get their way, for America it was to gain more land for expansion and for Mexico it was to get the Americans to leave them alone.

Some might argue saying that after Texas gained it independence, Mexico’s government should not have acted like an older ‘bully’, when America going to war with Mexico was a better representation of an older bull because Mexico was a new nation, America was not. Though it was the ‘natural flow of events’ for Mexican land to be taken for the good of America, better actions could have been taken in order for that to

The arrival of support troops for Santa Anna’s army lead to the question for Houston as to whether or not the Texas forces should attack on the day of the arrival (Anderson and Wooster, 2016). The encampment of both forces from one another, directly across from each other, had led to the assumption that both the Mexican forces and the Texas forces would fight on April 22 (Pedro, 1921). Yet, Houston understood that the arrival of exhausted troops might provide an advantage to his own men, calling on his officers, Houston asked them if they should fight that day, April 21 (Taylor, 1935). Houston’s officers took a vote with a significant majority agreeing that it would be best to wait for the following day, April 22 (Taylor, 1935). Although a vote was taken, many of the volunteers in Houston’s army were tired of waiting and took their own vote as to whether or not to attack; they agreed that they should (Taylor, 1935). Houston agreed with the soldiers and decided to attack that day (Taylor, 1935).