This session talked about the Mexican revolution from Spain, and the Mexican states' revolution, including Texas, from the central government of Mexico; and about the quixotic role of Santa Ana. (It is possible that I have some of the dates wrong in what follows.)
On January 14, 1831 the last living leader of the Mexican revolution of 1810, Vicente Guerrero, was executed by firing squad by Mexico. Santa was responsible for the execution of all four of the independence leaders, leaving himself as the sole remaining original leader.
Santa Ana called himself the Napoleon of the West and reminded people that he fought more battles than George Washington and Napoleon put together.
Santa Ana lead a coup de etat in 1832.
In 1833 Santa Ana is elected President but finds the role boring and uninteresting and turns over control to his vice president, Gomez Farias. Santa Ana retires to his ranch.
Gomez Farias:
- reduces the size of the army;
- makes soldiers subject to civilian laws;
- says the Church can only be involved in religious matters, not politics
- secularizes education
- closes the University of Mexico (99% of the faculty were clerics)
- severs authority of the Vatican over Mexico
- establishes himself as head of the Church in Mexico
- releases priests and nuns from their vows
- takes over Franciscan monasteries in California
Santa Ana puts down revolts leaving Texas as the last holdout.
Texas population in 1700 (not counting Indians) is about 3,000 people. In the 1800's Spain invites immigrants from the north to settle in Texas to strengthen Spain's claim to the territory,m but there are constraints on who can immigrate and be a citizen. Families must be Catholic and promise to abide by Spanish/Mexican law, and all public actions must be conducted in Spanish.
Moses Austin, Stephen Austin's father, comes to Texas. Moses was already a Spanish citizen because Spain considered Oregon to be part of New Spain. Austin brings 300 families to Texas. Land is very cheap and a wife doubles the amount of land a settler can buy at the cheap price. An additional 160 acres per child can be bought for the ten cents per acre. For every slave another 80 acres can be bought. These prices are 1/10 or less of the price in other areas of the south.
By 1824 there are 30,000-35,000 Anglos in Texas and only 7,500 Mexicans.
Santa Ana raises and army and marches from Mexico City to Texas. By March 1836 he is in San Antonio and captures the Alamo. On March 5, 1836 he decides that the siege of the Alamo will turn into an attack and allowing no survivors.
But the battle of Goliad was a more tragic massacre. The Texian leader at Goliad was Colonel James Fannin and an army of 400 men, Fannin tries to negotiate with Mexican General Urrea to avoid a massacre. But Santa Ana invokes a law that any enemy of Mexico found with weapons should be executed immediately and orders Urrea's lieutenant (Portilla) to execute all of them. THey were lined up and massacred on march 27, 1836. Following the massacre at Goliad there was no way that the Texians could agree to remain part of Mexico.
This was followed by the battle of San Jacinto where Santa Ana is taken prisoner by Houston's army. Santa Ana, as President of Mexico, signs two treaties, one public, one secret. The public treaty ceases military action, withdraws south of the Rio Grande, commits to never fight Texians again, and will receive envoys from Texas leading to Texas' independence.
Santa Ana is sent to D.C where he is put on a ship and returned to Veracruz. But the next year, in 1837, the French navy blockades Veracruz and the French army is ordered to invade in what is known as the "pastry war". Santa Ana raises an army and repels them.
