A war of independence is commonly considered as a justified action, accumulating the struggling of one nation against another. The Texas Revolution, however, represents a peculiar exception to this patterned characteristic of these military conflicts. This event, crucial for Texas, is considered either in a negative way, accusing Texans and Americans of expansion of Mexican territory, or even passed over in silence. At the time when Texas began inhabited by Americans and Europeans at the invitation of the Spanish authorities, the Spanish themselves expelled its small Texas population, accusing it of treason during the years of 1810-1821s (Beisner, American Foreign Relations 233). At the same time, during the events of the Texas Revolution in 1836, the Texans did not banish the Mexicans who were inhabiting Texas at that time, but the Texans were fighting with the Mexican regular army for their political rights and freedoms. As a result, part of the Mexicans decided to fight for the Texans. Thus, Texas initially had been the Mexican territory, but due to the emerged political and economic controversies it went to war with Mexico and seceded into an independent state. The Texas Revolution, nonetheless, is criticized by some part of the world community, with Texas itself deprived of its state of independence. With that, the majority pays no attention to the fact that Texas once was a separate state, independent of both Mexico and the USA. For many scholarly sources, however, Mexico itself appeared to be playing the role of the oppressor against Texas, mainly due to the rebellion of Emiliano Zapata, who was the leader of the Mexican Revolution of 1910 against the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz (Emiliano Zapata Biography). It is important, therefore, to dwell on the background of the early period in Texas history to figure out the causes of this conflict.
In 1825 the legislative assemblies of Texas and Coahuila passed a law granting the settlers from the U.S. with the possibility to have allotments at a low price, wherein the payments were made by installments, and the authorities also provided tax exemption for 10 years (Law for Promoting Colonization). The number of colonists soon increased rapidly, and by the middle of the 1830s Texas had hosted more the 30 thousand of Americans, with Mexican population itself consisting of 7800 people (Richmond, The Mexican Nation, 151). In 1829, however, under President Vicente Guerrero, Mexico adopted a law abolishing slavery of Black people, which was actually a common practice among the communities of American immigrants (Richmond, The Mexican Nation, 135). By 1836, 5000 Black slaves had inhabited Texas. Besides, in 1830 the Mexican Congress of the Union banned immigration from the U.S. to the bordering Mexican states. This policy of the Mexican government displeased the people of Texas and served as a pretext to the War of Independence.
The year of 1835 faced the collision between 150 Texans under the command of John Henry Moore and the Mexican cavalry of 100 warriors near the city of Gonzales, which can be considered the beginning of the hostilities. At first, Texans did not possess a regular army, with their troops consisting solely of volunteers. A more serious hostile action occurred later in September 1835 at the Battle of Concepción, where 90 Texans under the command of Stephen Austin fought with 450 Mexicans headed by colonel Domingo Ugartechea (The Battle of Concepcion, 2015). The Texans repelled the attack of the superior Mexican forces, with only one Texan, namely Richard Andrews, killed. The Mexican casualties counted up to 76 killed soldiers. Later, in October, the group of Stephen Austin consisting of approximately 600 Texans besieged the Mexican town of San Antonio de Béxar guared by 1200 soldiers of the Mexican army (Tucker, Almanac of American Military History, 623). Austin, after a while, departed at the U.S. to enlist the support of Americans, leaving general Edward Burleson to head the siege who later made several successful attacks on the town. In December 11 the Mexican garrison surrendered, leaving the bulk of artillery and handguns to the Texans. One of the causes that contributed to the victory of the Texans rebels was the use of shotguns that fired at distant targets far more effectively than the obsolete Mexican muskets Brown Bess (Tucker, Exodus from the Alamo, 105-106).
Despite the subsequent defeats of the Texan troops that followed in 1836, it only inspired the Texans to create a regular army that was headed by Sam Houston (Dooley-Awbrey, Awbrey, Why Stop?: A Guide to Texas, 418). In April 21 the Texan and Mexican armies encountered each other in the decisive battle near San Jacinto (The Battle of San Jacinto). The majority of the Texan officers decided to defend their positions and wait for the Mexicans to attack first, but Sam Houston insisted on making the first attack on the Mexicans, and got approval from Thomas Jefferson Rusk, the Texan Minister of War. Trying to be noiseless at their best, 800 Texan soldiers approached the Mexican camp and attacked it suddenly, taking the entire Mexican army by surprise, which proved crucial for their quick defeat. Manuel Fernández Castrillón, the Mexican general, was killed trying to gather his troops for the defense against the Texans, with the rest of the Mexicans starting surrender (Fernandez Castrillon, Manuel). Soon the leftovers of the Mexican troops capitulated. The grand total of the battle lasted for 18 minutes was the complete rout of the Mexicans, whose casualties comprised 630 people killed, 208 wounded, and 730 captured; the Texans suffered 9 soldiers killed and 26 wounded (Dooley-Awbrey, Awbrey, Why Stop?: A Guide to Texas, 221).
The Texan army then appeared victorious, and succeeded in its state of independence. Despite the subsequent severe plight, lack of funds, and small population, the Republic of Texas had defended its sovereignty and existed for 9 years, though in the final analysis Texas had to become the 28th U.S. state in the end of 1845 (The Battle of San Jacinto).
Works Cited
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Beisner, Robert L. American Foreign Relations Since 1600: A Guide to the Literature. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2003. 233. Print.
Dooley-Awbrey, Betty, and Stuart Awbrey. Why Stop?: A Guide to Texas Roadside Historical Markers. 6th ed. Taylor Trade, 2013. 221, 418. Print.
"The Battle of San Jacinto." History. Web. 23 Jan. 2016. <http://www.history.com/this-day- in-history/the-battle-of-san-jacinto>.
Richmond, Douglas W. The Mexican Nation: Historical Continuity and Modern Change. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002. 135, 151. Print.
"Law for Promoting Colonization in the State of Coahuila and Texas." Texas Slavery Project. Web. 23 Jan. 2016. <http://www.texasslaveryproject.org/sources/LawsOfTexas/display.php?f=TSP0133.x ml>.
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