Formation In 1821, the
Mexican War of Independence severed the control that
Spain had exercised on its North American territories, and the new country of
Mexico was formed from much of the lands that had comprised
New Spain. In the early days of the country, there was much disagreement over whether Mexico should be a
federal republic or a
constitutional monarchy. In 1824,
a new constitution restructured the country as a federal republic with nineteen states and four territories. The poorest state in the Mexican federation, Coahuila y Tejas covered the boundaries of Spanish Texas but did not include the area around
El Paso, which belonged to the state of
Chihuahua and the area of
Laredo, which became part of
Tamaulipas.
Erasmo Seguin, Texas's representative to Congress during the constitutional deliberations, originally advocated for Texas to become a federal territory. He knew that Texas's small population and insufficient resources made the region ill-prepared to be an independent state, and that the federal government had an obligation to assist territories. Because Coahuila was more populous than Texas, he feared that in a combined state Coahuila would wield greater power in decision making. The representative from Coahuila,
Miguel Ramos Arizpe, was likewise concerned that his region was ill-equipped to become an independent state. Ramos Arizpe was unwilling to join with other nearby states, as Coahuila compared unfavorably to those states in either population or economy and would thus be a weaker partner. To convince the Texans to join forces with Coahuila, Ramos Arizpe wrote to the
ayuntamiento in Bexar to warn the political leaders that a territory would lose its ownership of public lands to the federal government. State governments retained ownership of public land. This was enough to persuade the Texans to drop their opposition to the merger.
Immigration and slavery The federal government had little money to spare for the military, so settlers were empowered to create their own militias to help control hostile
native tribes. The border region of Texas faced frequent raids by
Apache and
Comanche tribes. In the hopes that an influx of settlers could control the raids, the government liberalized its immigration policies, and settlers from the
United States were permitted to move to Mexico. States were responsible for implementing the
General Colonization Law. Officials in Saltillo, the capital of Coahuila y Tejas, were soon besieged by foreign land speculators who wanted to claim land in Texas. The state enacted its own colonization law in 1825. Approximately 3,420 land grant applications were submitted by immigrants and naturalized citizens, many of them
Anglo-Americans. Only one of the twenty-four
empresarios,
Martín De León settled citizens from within Mexico; the others came primarily from the United States. From the time Mexico became independent from Spain, there was public support for abolishing slavery. Fears of an economic crisis if all of the slaves were simultaneously freed led to a gradual emancipation policy. In 1823, Mexico forbade the sale or purchase of slaves, and required that the children of slaves be freed when they reached fourteen. In 1827, the legislature of Coahuila y Tejas banned the admission of additional slaves into the state and granted freedom at birth to all children born to a slave. Two years later, slavery was officially prohibited in Mexico. By 1830, the state was ordered to comply in full with the emancipation law. Many colonists converted their slaves to
indentured servants with 99-year terms, a practice which the state also banned in 1832.
Tensions As the number of Americans living in Texas blossomed, Mexican authorities became apprehensive that the United States might wish to annex the area, possibly using force. On April 6, 1830, the Mexican government passed a series of laws restricting immigration from the United States into Texas. The laws also cancelled all unfilled
empresario contracts and called for the first enforcement of customs duties. The small rebellion coincided with a revolt led by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna against the centralist policies of Mexican president
Anastasio Bustamante. Texans aligned themselves with Santa Anna's federalist policies. Settlers in Texas continued to press for changes in Mexican law. In 1833, they requested separate statehood, going so far as to draft a proposed state constitution. Shortly thereafter, civil war erupted as the federal government moved away from federalism and towards a more centralized government. As fighting erupted, residents in Saltillo declared that Monclova had been illegally made the state capital and selected a new governor. Texans in Saltillo recommended establishing a provisional government in Bexar during the unrest to strengthen the autonomy of Texas.
Juan Seguin, political chief of Bexar, called for a town meeting to create a government but was forced to postpone it when Mexican troops advanced in the direction of Texas. In 1835, it could be seen that Texas had become separated within itself, with natives and venturers looking to gain control over pieces of available land. There was an attempt to put a stop to this separation by legislation, using special orders to restrict the issuing of land titles. With so much resistance, the legislature of Coahuila y Tejas didn’t have much of a foothold. They decided to look towards Congress to handle these problems, which were dealt with by the issuing of the general land law. The federalists, including
Agustín Viesca, the governor of Coahuila y Tejas, were afraid that Santa Anna would march against Coahuila after subduing the rebels in
Zacatecas, so they disbanded the state legislature on May 21, 1835, and authorized the governor to set up an office in a different part of the state. Viesca was arrested as he traveled to San Antonio. When Viesca escaped and reached Texas, no one recognized him as governor. Settlers in Texas revolted the same month, and, at the conclusion of the
Texas Revolution in April 1836, Texas had become self-established as the independent
Republic of Texas. ==Government==