I would dispute that slavery was a major impetus to Texas Independence, but I still agree with you in principal. I'm proud of Texas and even our independence fighters, but I cringe at the mention of our war for independence which is about as shameful as our joining the Confederacy. I'll take the bad with the good, but I won't pretend we were fighting for freedom.
FFB, Google Texas Revolution Slaves and check out the results. I remember this being one of the reasons mentioned when I last took Texas history. Sorry, it's been too long to remember what textbook it was from or if it was just our teacher's own viewpoints. However, he definitely was no liberal, so I wouldn't doubt what he said.
In the 1820s, Stephen Austin won the Mexican government's approval to bring American families into the sparsely settled Tejas (Texas) region. Vast land grants would be awarded to the settlers if Austin could sponsor 300 families and assure the officials that the newcomers would: * Be loyal to the Mexican government * Learn the Spanish language * Convert to Roman Catholicism. Only the earliest Texans paid much attention to these requirements and the vast distance from the Mexican central government left the settlers free to follow their own inclinations. This area's great attraction was the fertile soil, ideal for cotton production. By the early 1830s, transplanted Americans, many of them slave owners, outnumbered the Tejanos; the Mexican government soon understood that it had committed a great error by encouraging the migration of U.S. citizens. At first, the settlers were content to live under Mexican rule, but several events helped to incline Texan minds toward independence: 1. In 1831, Mexico abolished slavery, following the lead of most western nations. This loss of unpaid labor, if actually enforced in Tejas, would have been a severe blow to the region's emerging cotton economy. It also reminded many transplanted citizens of the tolerant official view of slavery held by the United States. 2. The Mexican government, recognizing its diminished control in Tejas, abolished immigration. The residents there, who had friends and relatives in the United States, were outraged. 3. As a further means to loosen the ties between the U.S. and Tejas, Mexico enacted heavy duties on the importation of foreign goods. 4. In 1833, General Antonio López de Santa Anna came to power in Mexico, pledging to consolidate power and strengthen national unity. The rise of a Mexican nationalist was viewed with alarm in the north, where the Texans preferred to continue their near autonomy. Unrest became rebellion on October 2, 1835 when Mexican forces tried to take possession of the town cannon in Gonzales, east of San Antonio. The locals prevailed in this incident and, in other early encounters, the rebels pushed the paltry Mexican forces out of the area. In December 1835, a group of disgruntled settlers took control of the Alamo, an old mission in San Antonio. Santa Anna moved his army of several thousand men into the area and decided to make an example of the insurgents. Only a few dozen fellow settlers arrived from other areas in Texas to reinforce their compatriots in the Alamo. The defenders, hoping to be rescued by Samuel Houston’s forces, refused to surrender. The siege of the Alamo lasted two weeks and ended in hand-to-hand fighting on March 6, 1836. More than 180 defenders lost their lives, including such notables as William Travis, James Bowie and Davy Crockett; losses among the Mexican forces were estimated at 600. On Santa Anna’s orders, all prisoners were executed; the only survivors were a woman, her infant child and a slave, who were directed to take word of the Mexican victory to other Texan rebels. Later in March, a second momentous event occurred. Santa Anna's army managed to force the surrender of 342 Texans near Goliad. After some initial wavering, Santa Anna ordered the execution of all of the prisoners. The two massacres, the Alamo and Goliad, served to bring bickering Texans together in opposition to Santa Anna. On April 21, 1836 the Mexicans were surprised by an inferior Texan force and completely routed in the Battle of San Jacinto. Many Mexican prisoners were executed in retaliation for previous Mexican acts. Santa Anna was captured, but released when he agreed to Texan independence and the establishment of the border at the Rio Grande. Santa Anna quickly repudiated his concessions. link (sausage)
I'm gonna have to locate my Texas History Textbooks. There was nary a word about anything to do with slavery. I still find it highly suspect, considering we agreed to annexation by the U.S. a few years after our independence. Regardless, Slavery was, at best, only a small catalyst to our independence.
I live in Houston now.....but if you think Texas is a prettier state, you have obviously never been to NJ...trust me.
The issue of Texas wanting to leave Mexico because of slaves was discussed in my modern latin america class last Thursday.
Maybe grouping texas and saying it was ugly wasn't fair.....the places i have been in Texas are ugly....Houston mostly...San Antonio....Austin is a little better.
The natural beauty in South Padre Island alone, around Spring Break, is greater than anything in Jersey.
never been west of austin..ive been to the beaches....nothing special (granted, some of the jersey shore isnt anything special either)...never been to piney woods.....but the northeast in general is just so much prettier
And you've obviously not been that far outside the outskirts of Houston. And I should've looked at what other people had written.
Hard to really make that comparison if you've only seen 1/10th of the state. Texas is ugly like an entire continent is ugly. There is so much of a difference between one part and another that if you can't find something you like here, it probably doesn't exist.
If this is what modern history courses are teaching, then that's a shame. Looks like Today's book writers are focusing on a minimal part of our history to our detriment. Texas' Independence was not about slavery. Whoever is teaching or writing that should be ashamed.
true...i havent been all over texas.....i changed what i said....the places i have been arent very pretty
