By Keli Holt
The wars for Mexican independence from Spain lasted 11 years (1810-1821). Mexican rebels had seized the opportunity to declare independence while Spain, and indeed all of Europe, was preoccupied with the French emperor, Napoleon, and his wars of conquest. Initially, the Mexican Revolution was fueled by outraged peasants. They were fed up with almost 300 years of Spanish economic and political repression, which culminated in the “Grito de Delores” (the Cry of Dolores).
The rebels demanded not only independence for Mexico but also the redistribution of land and racial equality. Multiple peasant armies fought and were defeated during the 11 years of war. The peasant armies came close but could never completely defeat the combined forces of the Spanish and their Royalist allies. The Mexican Royalists were a combination of Mexicans who were of Spanish ancestry and conservatives who wanted to ensure the supremacy of the Catholic Church. Ultimately, it was the conservatives, led by former Royalist officer Agustin de Iturbide, who allied with Mexican rebel leader Vicente Guerrero, forcing the bankrupt Spanish to accept Mexican independence.
In 1821, Mexico became a short-lived constitutional monarchy. It evolved quickly into a republic by 1823, under the leaders Santa Anna and Guadalupe Victoria. In 1829, Santa Anna gained increased prominence when, as a military officer, he helped defeat a Spanish attempt to reconquer Mexico at the Battle of Tampico. By 1833, Santa Anna was the president of Mexico, trying to create a strong centralized state.
After almost 25 years of continuous warfare, the northern borders of Mexico – what are now the American states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California – had devolved into violence. Powerful nomadic Native nations like the Navajo, Apache, and Comanche had taken advantage of the chaos to raid these areas with relative impunity. The Comanche were especially successful raiders, and many historians refer to this time period as the Comanche-Mexican Wars. One of the most pressing tasks for Mexico City and Santa Anna was thus to pacify its northern borders.
When Spain ruled Mexico, all foreign trade was outlawed. These draconian, mercantilist policies kept Spain’s northernmost provinces impoverished. Few Spanish, and after 1821, Mexican settlers thus made their way to the modern states of New Mexico, Texas or California. Before Mexico could try and persuade its own citizens to settle these areas, peace had to be obtained. Mexico looked to the rapidly expanding Americans to help bring peace to their common borders. The Santa Fe Trail was established at this time to facilitate trade with America.
In 1823, the American Stephen F. Austin made his way to Mexico City with a proposal. He convinced the Mexican government to give him and 300 American immigrant families a land grant to settle in Mexican Texas near the current capital of Austin. In return for the grants, these legal American settlers agreed to become Mexican citizens and to develop the land. Mexico willingly accepted Austin’s proposal to encourage prosperous settlements, which could then be taxed and used as a buffer against Native nations. Mexico even granted a temporary exception to its ban on slavery to appease its newest citizens, most of whom hailed from the American South, where slavery proliferated. Cotton plantations and the enslaved who worked them sprang up in Texas where the soil was perfect for growing cotton.
While these initial Americans settled in Texas legally under the agreement forged by Austin, thousands of illegal Americans followed them looking for cheap land. By 1835, many of the Americans living in Texas had no desire to take an oath of loyalty to Mexico and hoped for improved relations with America, which was expanding westward at a rapid clip. To impose order on Texas, Mexico City revoked its slavery exception, imposed taxes on all the new settlements, and tried to halt the illegal flow of American migrants into its territory. Santa Anna’s decisions infuriated both the legal Tejano settlers, who argued Santa Anna had reneged on their contract, as well as the illegal American squatters, many of whom were slave owners who hoped to separate Texas from Mexico.
By 1835, war seemed inevitable yet again. Santa Anna sent a force to a small town called Gonzales east of San Antonio to retrieve a Mexican cannon that was used to prevent Comanche raids. The cannon had been granted to the town just four years earlier on the precondition that the weapon be returned at the Mexican government’s request. When Gonzales refused to return the cannon, a detachment of Mexican soldiers tried to take it by force but was repulsed. The small battle became known as “the Lexington of Texas” in reference to the Battles of Lexington and Concord that began the American Revolution. The Texans even drafted a Declaration of Independence from Mexico equating Santa Anna with the British King George III.
Next issue we will explore how Santa Anna responded to the Battle of Gonzales.
