Mexican Texas

Mexican Texas is the historiographical name used to refer to the era of Texan history between 1821 and 1836, when it was part of Mexico. Mexico gained independence in 1821 after winning its war against Spain, which began in 1810. Initially, Mexican Texas operated similarly to Spanish Texas. Ratification of the 1824 Constitution of Mexico created a federal structure, and what is now Texas was joined with the province of Coahuila to form the state of Coahuila y Tejas.

By 1821, approximately 3,500 settlers were concentrated in San Antonio and La Bahia; settlers were overwhelmingly outnumbered by indigenous tribes despite official efforts. To increase settlement and development, Mexico enacted the General Colonization Law in 1824, which enabled all heads of household, regardless of race, religion or immigrant status, to acquire land in Mexico.

The first empresarial grant had been made under Spanish control to Stephen F. Austin, whose settlers, known as the Old Three Hundred, settled along the Brazos River in 1822. The grant was later ratified by the Mexican government, which also authorized additional, similar concessions for colonization. Twenty-three other empresarios brought settlers to the state, the majority coming from the American South, while only one colony was settled by Mexican nationals, and two by European immigrants.

Under the 1824 Constitution of Mexico, Texas was denied independent statehood and merged into the new state Coahuila y Tejas. The legislature passed the Law of April 6, 1830, which prohibited further immigration by U.S. citizens. The government established several new presidios in the region to monitor immigration and customs practices. Settlers held their first political convention in 1832 to demand that U.S. citizens be allowed to immigrate to Tejas. At the convention of 1833, settlers proposed that Texas become a separate Mexican state. Mexico's new President Antonio López de Santa Anna transformed Mexico's constitution from a federation of states into a centralist dictatorship, forcing the region's settlers to choose between despotism or revolution.

The first violent incident occurred on June 26, 1832, at the Battle of Velasco. On March 2, 1836, Texans declared their independence from Mexico forming the Republic of Texas. Mexico refused to recognize Texas as a new country. The Texas Revolution ended on April 21, 1836, when Santa Anna was taken prisoner by Texan forces following the Battle of San Jacinto.