The Rise Of Santa Anna

In 1832 santa anna endorsed and admitted that a jalapa layer explained to him about republicanism. He remained a political illiterate all his life and was a rabid jacobin liberal and a monarchist. Santa anna served as president six times so he could run his army the way he wanted it to be runned. Santa anna tried to escape Sam houston because santa anna saw that they were losing the war. .Santa anna was captured by Sam houston when they were fighting in the war. Santa anna served many mexican governments as an officer first in Yucatan and later in Veracruz. When santa anna was is Tampico he had a small yellow fever and ridden spanish force from Cuba which had attempted to evade Mexico. Now santa anna was the hero of Tampico and he became an important figure in the chaotic world of mexican politics. The liberal congress made santa anna president and in 1833 santa anna was determined to make Valentin Gomez Farias his vice president. Santa Anna led an army into texas and after some successes santa anna’s forces were annihilated by Sam Houston at San

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 In 1834 he repealed the constitution and established himself as a dictator, which played a major factor in the Texas Revolution. With the constitution repealed, the Texians did not have the same benefits as they did when they first settled in Mexico.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.

In the December of 1835, during the Texas Revolution, the Alamo was occupied by two hundred Texan soldiers located near the present day in San Antonio. The Alamo was a church in the middle of San Antonio. William Travis and James Bowie were the commanders who were prepared to defend the Alamo from the Mexicans who wanted it back. Unfortunately, the Texan soldiers were outnumbered to secure the Alamo from General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna by thousands of his soldiers. The battle was only for thirteen days and Santa Anna slaughtered everyone except for a few such as a widowed wife named Susanna Wilkerson Dickinson, her infant daughter Angelina, and the one person who witnessed the final assault and survived named Joe. For the Texans, the battle of the Alamo is an "image of brave resistance and a rallying cry in their battle for freedom." This urged more Texans to join the military and lead the following fight to triumph against Mexico. The battle cry “Remember the Alamo!” within Texas culture was a symbol of “Patriotic sacrifice.”

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.

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).

He was a rebellious leader that wanted to help out his country. Politician Lucas Alamán said “The history of Mexico since 1822 might accurately be called the history of Santa Anna's revolutions… His name plays the major role in all the political events of the country and its destiny has become intertwined with his." This leads up to his surrendering in the Mexican American War. Santa Anna had to retreat at the Battle Of Buena Vista which was a close battle but Zachary Taylor led the army to victory. He and president Polk held pretty big losses. Santa Anna decided to go into exile while some sort of peace treaty was settled. The treaty of Guadalupe HIdalgo ended the war and we bought the states now called California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico for 15 million dollars plus another 3,250,000 dollars assumed in claims held by U.S citizens against Mexico. After the War ended with the Treaty Of Guadalupe Hidalgo, conservatives took power and invited Santa Anna to be dictator. He then sold the small piece of land south of Gila River now known as the gadsden purchase for 10 million

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.

I agree that Texas did do the right thing in allowing Santa Anna his freedom. Santa Anna was over confident because of the relatively easy successes he had enjoyed at the Alamo and Goliad missions where he had vast superiority in manpower and cannons, which he failed to take into account the strategy that Sam Houston put into play. After capturing Santa Anna, to obtain his release, Santa Anna had to sign two treaties, recognizing Texas independence and promising never to fight Texas again. By releasing Santa Anna after he guaranteed Texas independence, the Texans knew that trouble in Mexico would arise for him. The defeat at San Jacinto and the subsequent loss of Texas cost Santa Anna the presidency, for he returned to Mexico in disgrace. If

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

Mexican President Jose Herrera refused to negotiate (Stevenson 2009). After failed negotiations with Mexico, Polk ordered General Zachary Taylor to position his troops in the disputed territory, north of the Rio Grande River. Mexico, seeing this as an act of aggression struck first and killed several of Tyler’s men. After receiving word of the skirmish, President Polk petitioned congress, claiming Mexico “has invaded our territory, and shed American blood upon the American soil” (Tindall & Shi 2010, p. 401). In response, congress unanimously passed the resolution and on May 13, 1846, the United States declared war (Tindall & Shi 2010).

In January of 1836 about 145 Texans were fortified in the soft walls of the Alamo also known as Cottonwood. Some of the important people here were lieutenant Colonel William Berret Travis, Jim Bowie, and Davy Crocket. Meanwhile Santa Anna drove his troops into Texas in the dead of winter to level the Alamo. They arrived and began their siege on February 23. Fighting Ensued for about 13 days with minimum casualties. But on the 13th day of battle March 6, 1836 Santa Anna ordered a surprise attack from all sides in the dead of night. All defenders of the Alamo died that night.

It is worth noting here that the Americans were concerned about appearances, and that they did their best to provoke Mexico into a war, without having to bear the responsibility of actually starting the war. In his Personal Memoirs, Grant explained the mission of the U.S. Army in south Texas, "We were sent to provoke a fight, but it was essential that Mexico should commence it." The plan worked. The U.S. annexed Texas in February of 1846, and Polk immediately ordered Taylor to proceed to the Rio Grande. One of Taylor's patrols skirmished with a Mexican detachment and lost over twenty soldiers, including eleven dead, five wounded, and several captured. Polk immediately called for war. In his bellicose message to the U.S. Congress, the President announced that, "American blood had been shed upon American soil." He got his declaration of war.

He soon sent soldiers on ships to Mexican port of Veracruz from where they could capture Mexican capitol, Mexico City. Polk saw Taylor as a rival and replaced him by Winfield Scott, member of the Whig party. In March 1847 Scott’s forces landed at Veracruz. Within the city Brigadier General Juan Morales possessed 3,360 men as well as another 1,030 off shore at san Juan de Ulua. Outnumbered he hoped to hold the city until aid could arrive from the interior or the approaching yellow fever season began to reduce scoot’s