history essay

II. Politics in Mexico

• Mexico plagued by chronic political instability

• 1821-1871- 50 Mexican presidents in office

• 1821-1848-almost all presidents overthrown

• Political factions: Centralists, Federalists,

• Mexican politics prevents consistent approach to problems with Texas Revolt and Polk administration

Mexico’s 1824 Colonization Act

• Permitted foreign immigration into Southwest

• Plan intended to populate the region

• Develop the region economically

• Link the region with interior Mexico

• “Mexicanize the region”

• Buffer against American expansionism

Provisions of the 1824 act

• Immigrants Must:

• Adopt Mexican citizenship

• Be or become Catholics

• Obey Mexican laws

• Respect Mexican culture, customs and authority

Provisions, continued

• Economic incentives included:

• No taxes for up to seven years

• Purchase land in the following amounts:

• 640 acres per male

• 320 per female

• 160 per child

• 80 per slave

The Texas Revolt

A. Permission to settle:

Starting in 1821, Spain and then an Independent Mexico had granted permission to

Catholic (North) Americans to settle the sparsely populated territory of Texas.

B. Incentives for settlement:

Soon there was a great influx of Americans settlers into Texas. The land was practically

free--only 10¢ an acre as opposed to $1.25 an acre for inferior land in the U.S. Each male

colonists over twenty-one years of age was allowed to purchase 640 acres for himself, 320

acres for his wife, 160 acres for each child and, significantly, an additional 80 acres for

each slaves that he brought with him.

The numerical dominance of the American settlers:

1827: By 1827 there were some 12,000 United States citizens living in Texas, while there

were only 7,000 Mexicans.

1835: By 1835 the immigrant population had reached 30,000, while the Mexican population

had barely passed 7,800

The Mexican response to the influx of

Americans 1. Slavery was abolished:

The first important piece of legislation designed to prevent a further weakening of Mexican

control was President Guerrero's emancipation proclamation of 1829. Because slavery as

not important anywhere else in the republic, the measure was clearly directed at Texas.

Although manumission was not immediately enforced, it was hoped that the decree itself

would make Mexico less attractive to colonists from the U.S. South and would thus arrest

immigration.

2. Forbiddance of further immigration:

The colonization law of 1830 explicitly forbade all future immigration into Texas from the

United States and called for the strengthening of Mexican garrisons, the improvement of

economic ties between Texas and the remainder of Mexico by the establishment of a new

coastal trade, and the encouragement of increased Mexican colonization.

Texas Declaration of Independence

• 1835 document declaring independence from Mexico

• Outlines grievances against the Mexican government: lack of free trade, invasion of private property, lack of due process, etc.

• Highly controversial for Mexico

• President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna declares war

October 2, 1835—The

Battle of Gonzales. The

first battle of the Texas

Revolution begins when

Santa Anna sends a

detachment of Mexican

Calvary to retrieve a

cannon. Texans drive

them back using the

cannon. The battle flag

used by the Texans

features a picture of a

cannon and the written

dare "come and take it."

The Goliad Affair: Mexican forces executed

365 Texan prisoners who had surrendered.

Several weeks after the surrender of the Alamo,

Genaral José Urrea engaged a force of Texans

under the command of Colonel James W. Fannin

at the small town of Goliad. Surrounded and

outnumbered, Fannin surrendered in the belief

that he and his men would be afforded the

recognized rights of prisoners of war. Realizing

that the tenor of the war had been set at the

Alamo, General Urrea wrote to Santa Anna

urging clemency for Fannin and the other

prisoners. Urrea then moved on to another

engagement and left the Texas prisoners in the

charge of Lieutenant Colonel Nicolás de la

Portilla. Santa Anna, however, ordered Nicolás

de la Portilla to execute the prisoners, which he

promptly did despite some moral misgiving. All

365 prisoners were executed.

The Treaty of Velasco

• Declares the independence of the Texas region from Mexico

• Highly controversial treaty due to:

• Conditions of its signing

• Boundary line at the Rio Grande

• Mexico’s refusal to ratify the agreement

Republic of Texas 1836 - 45

• Texans declare independence and seek support from the British

• Annexation causes crisis within Democratic Party. Party rallies around darkhorse James Polk who promises to annex

Mexico. Polk wins in 1845

• June 1845 Polk sends Zachary Taylor to Nueces River to protect against invasion.

III. Texas Boundary Dispute

• Article 4, The Treaty of Velasco

• Asserted the Rio Grande as Texas’ southern boundary

• Mexico believes the boundary is at the Nueces

• Maps in Mexico indicated the Nueces as the boundary in 1767, 1829, 1833, 1836

• Treaty of Limits: asserted the boundary at Nueces, Texas as Mexican territory (1831)

• President James K. Polk supports Texas claims to the R.G.

War with Mexico

• November 1845 Polk sends John Slidell with offer of $30 million for Rio Grande/New Mexico and California

• Mexico refuses to negotiate

• Polk sends Taylor and his forces South of Rio Grande/conflict occurs and Polk has Congress declare war

May 13, 1846

US Soldiers 1847

Illinois Volunteers

Battles • Stephen Kearney troops take over Santa Fe march

toward California

• John C. Fremont declare independence and “Bear Flag Republic”

• A third force lands in the Gulf of Mexico and marches inland. September 14, 1847 U.S. flag is

raised over the “Halls of Montezuma” (Mexico

City)

US Mexico War Battles

Battle of California

Battle Lines to Central Mexico

San Patricio Battalion

• By 1840s significant portion of Army Catholics from Germany and Ireland

• Mexican propaganda attempted to rally Volunteers against Protestant Tyranny

• Irish American John Riley leads the St. Patrick’s Company in revolt against US army joins Santa Anna to defend Mexico City

• Scott orders court martial and execution later amended • At the fall of Chapultepec Castle with the raising of the flag

deserters executed

Chapultepec Castle

The Fall of San Cosme Gate

Niños Héroes

Niños Héroes Memorial

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

• Debate in Congress over what to do with territory

• Decide too many foreign elements to attempt to assimilate

• Signed February 2, 1848

• Mexico cedes California, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and Colorado

Treaty of Guadeloupe Hidalgo

ARTICLE VIII

Mexicans now established in territories previously belonging to

Mexico, and which to remain for the future within

the limits of the United States, as defined by the present treaty,

shall be free to continue where they now reside,

or to remove at any time to the Mexican Republic, retaining the

property which they possess in the said

territories, or disposing thereof, and removing the proceeds

wherever they please, without their being subjected,

on this account, to any contribution, tax, or charge whatever.