Texas Revolution: The Lowell System

The Mexican American War was a very controversial event. The Americans believed in their “Manifest Destiny” which prompted them to annex the territory of Texas which, in turn, initiated the war on April 25, 1846. Texas was annexed to the Union as a slave state on December 29, 1845. This upset all of the Free states along with the Mexicans but the Southerners were in favor of the war because it gave them more strength when fighting for slavery. While there were many different beliefs about the Mexican-American War throughout the United States, these beliefs generally were the same within a region.

Ever since the Manifest Destiny became the United States’ holy goal, Texas had always been in the sight of the United State, for the location and size of the territory were extremely attractive for the expansion. In addition, the state offered the Rio Grande River which promised great trade in the future. These factors made Texas a key component in fulfilling the sacred duty, so when news spread that Texas became independent, there was no time wasted from the United States in integrating them into the union. Even before Texas gained their independence, the United States had become intertwined with the culture of Texas by having hundreds of American citizens immigrating into the territory and spreading American values across the land. As many historians have said “Throughout the United States, especially in the South, support for Texas was warm and widespread. Men, money, and

Texans revolted against their Mexican government to seek for independence. This caused the Texas annexation and revolution.

The second basic cause of the war was the Texas War of Independence and the subsequent annexation of that area to the United States. Not all American westward migration was unwelcome. In the 1820's and 1830's, Mexico, newly independent from Spain, needed settlers in the underpopulated northern parts of the country. An invitation was issued for people who would take an oath of allegiance to Mexico and convert to Catholicism, the state religion. Thousands of Americans took up the offer and moved, often with slaves, to the Mexican province of Texas. Soon however, many of the new "Texicans" or "Texians" were unhappy with the way the government in Mexico City tried to run the province. In 1835, Texas revolted, and after several bloody battles, the Mexican President, Santa Anna, was forced to sign the Treaty of Velasco in 1836 . This treaty gave Texas its independence, but many Mexicans refused to accept the legality of this document, as Santa Anna was a prisoner of the Texans at the time. The Republic of Texas and Mexico continued to engage in border fights and many people in the United States openly sympathized with the U.S.-born Texans in this conflict. As a result of the savage frontier fighting, the American public developed a very negative stereotype against the Mexican people and government. Partly due to the continued hostilities with Mexico, Texas decided to join with the United States,

The war with Mexico abruptly started with the annexation of Texas. Though the land was originally Mexico’s, the U.S had taken part of the territory in the belief of Manifest Destiny. America thought of it as god’s

Incidentally, a few years later the discussion of the annexation of Texas to the United States had begun, but required years of debate before the final decision came in December of 1845 where Texas joined the Union as a slave state. This issue of slavery caused much of the debate in whether or not to accept Texas into the Union as doing so may have further disrupted the status quo by upsetting the political balance in Congress and in the country. All the while, Mexico remained another source of concern as people thought the annexation of Texas would cause some sort of trouble with them. Despite all of this, Texas was eventually annexed with its own new state government and constitution to go along with it. Although it had already been defeated by Texas in their revolt, Mexico remained angry at the annexation of Texas and began the Mexican-American War spanning all of 2 years, from 1846 to 1848 bested by the American army. This resulted in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, establishing the Rio Grande as the United States-Mexican border. Along with the establishing of set borders, Mexico accepted the United States annexation of Texas and it agreed to sell California and the rest of the territory north of the Rio Grande to the U.S.

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.

In 1835, a small number of settlers in the territory of Texas, rebelled against the newly established government of Mexico. While they claimed that the government in Mexico had unlawfully usurped authority, establishing a tyrannical dictatorship, there were serious economic and social issues that sparked the conflict. But what is most interesting about the Texas Revolution is the relatively small numbers of soldiers involved. The Texians, as the settlers called themselves, numbered in the hundreds, while the Mexican forces never numbered more than a few thousand. Despite their numerical inferiority, the tactics of the Texian commander, Sam Houston, proved to be successful and Texas won provisional independence.

In 1846 throughout 1848, a war to conquer land from Mexico were orders held by James K. Polk. An unjust war is about to occur, In 1846 Texas becomes Independent from Mexico and the United States. To begin with, Mexico approves for the Americans to settle onto Texas with one condition to not bring slaves along with them. During this time period, slavery was one of the most important political concerns and they opposed slavery. The Americans didn’t hold the values of anti-slavery, during this time they valued Manifest Density strongly. Accepting some restrictions from Mexico placed was nothing compared to its own destiny to occur from preventing America to stretch outward towards the Pacific Ocean. The main conflict started with the annexation of Texas, a dispute on the nation’s border, the Mexicans consider the Nueces river to be the border of Texas as for Americans that wasn’t enough land so they consider, Rio Grande the border. A way to aim to

So, what was the Texas Revolution? During the reign of Antonio López de Santa Anna, colonists in the Mexican province of Texas rebelled against the increasingly centralized Mexican government. While ulterior motives were unclear, a primary goal among the Tejanos and Anglos in the area was the Independence from the “tyrannical government” of Mexico. This revolution led to the formation of the Republic of Texas. Furthermore, allowing Texas to be annexed into the United States of America at a later date.

The southern desire to expand slavery was a major cause of the Mexican-American War, but there were other causes as well. The war started on April 25, 1846, and ended on February 2, 1848, with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. In that treaty, Mexico ceded Texas with the Rio Grande boundary, New Mexico, and California to the United States. The desire to expand slavery in the south was perhaps the largest cause of the Mexican-American War, because southerners were in favor of Manifest Destiny and believed that the expansion of slavery was necessary to keep the slave trade alive in the U.S. Internal political conflicts were another cause of the Mexican-American War. Also, the fear that Texas could be claimed by Britain or France or that it would be uncontrollable if independent was another cause of the war. The

Texas Revolution, a rebellion in late 1835 and early 1836 by residents of Texas, then a part of northern Mexico, against the Mexican government and military. The rebellion led to the establishment of the independent Republic of Texas. The short-lived republic was annexed by the United States as a state in 1845. These events were among the causes of the Mexican War between the United States and Mexico, after which Mexico relinquished all claims to Texas and much of the present-day southwestern United States.

After the Midwest had been substantially developed, the national focus turned toward the far west. The territory of Texas, controlled by the Spanish, was settled by Americans, who eventually undertook the Texas Rebellion in efforts to win independence. When the United States admitted Texas to the Union in 1845, the Mexican government was outraged, and from 1846 to 1848, the two nation's squared off in the Mexican War. With a resounding victory, the United States gained control of Texas, New Mexico, and California. The Oregon territory was annexed in 1846 as well, and the US controlled the land all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

The recorded history of Texas begins with the arrival of the first Spanish conquistadors. Attracted by the rich lands for cotton, plantations, and ranching, tens of thousands of immigrants arrived from the U.S. In 1845, Texas joined the United States becoming the 28th state. Located in the south central part of the country. The language is dominated by English but Spanish is spoken there as well.

This treaty granted Texas independence from Mexico. Regardless of this, Mexico and Texas still fought over border lines which brewed negative stereotype of the Mexicans from Americans. Later, Texas joined the United States, and this idea angered Mexico. Border disputes forced both countries to send their troops to enforce the border lines, a standoff followed. A clash between the armies in 1846 led to the commencement of the war.