American History Assignment

Chapter 14

Manifest Destiny (Spanish America) The heart of Spain’s American empire was Mexico City. The University of Mexico is the oldest university in north America. It had been accepting students since 1553, a full 85 years earlier than Harvard. Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821. Texas In 1821 Moses Austin, an American received a grant from the Spanish government to establish a colony. After his death his son, Stephen F. Austin took over. They settled families in Texas with permission from Mexican authorities. 90 percent of the arrivals came from the south. Many wanted to grow cotton and brought slaves. There was tension between the Mexicans and Americans. In 1829 Mexico abolished slavery, but looked the other way when Texas slave owners broke the law. The Mexican governor eventually started banning Americans from moving to Texas, but the Americans came anyway. The President of Mexico was Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana. He had a Mexican army march into Texas to show his authority. A Texas army captured the Mexican army and this started a rebellion.

Texas’ independence was declared on March 2, 1836. The Texas constitution was similar to the U.S. Constitution. Sam Houston was the Commander of the Texas forces. In October 1836, Houston became President of Texas and wanted to bring Texas into the American Union. In 1845 Congress admitted Texas as a slave state.