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N0KFQ > TODAY 02.03.16 17:15l 101 Lines 5129 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 86473_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Mar 2
Path: IW8PGT<IV3ONZ<IZ3LSV<IR1UAW<IQ5KG<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ
Sent: 160302/1515Z 86473@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.65
1836
Texas declares independence
During the Texas Revolution, a convention of American Texans
meets at Washington-on-the-Brazos and declares the independence
of Texas from Mexico. The delegates chose David Burnet as
provisional president and confirmed Sam Houston as the commander
in chief of all Texan forces. The Texans also adopted a
constitution that protected the free practice of slavery, which
had been prohibited by Mexican law. Meanwhile, in San Antonio,
Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna's siege of the Alamo
continued, and the fort's 185 or so American defenders waited for
the final Mexican assault.
In 1820, Moses Austin, a U.S. citizen, asked the Spanish
government in Mexico for permission to settle in sparsely
populated Texas. Land was granted, but Austin died soon
thereafter, so his son, Stephen F. Austin, took over the project.
In 1821, Mexico gained independence from Spain, and Austin
negotiated a contract with the new Mexican government that
allowed him to lead some 300 families to the Brazos River. Under
the terms of the agreement, the settlers were to be Catholics,
but Austin mainly brought Protestants from the southern United
States. Other U.S. settlers arrived in succeeding years, and the
Americans soon outnumbered the resident Mexicans. In 1826, a
conflict between Mexican and American settlers led to the
Freedonia Rebellion, and in 1830 the Mexican government took
measures to stop the influx of Americans. In 1833, Austin, who
sought statehood for Texas in the Mexican federation, was
imprisoned after calling on settlers to declare it without the
consent of the Mexican congress. He was released in 1835.
In 1834, Santa Anna, a soldier and politician, became dictator of
Mexico and sought to crush rebellions in Texas and other areas.
In October 1835, Anglo residents of Gonzales, 50 miles east of
San Antonio, responded to Santa Anna's demand that they return a
cannon loaned for defense against Indian attack by discharging it
against the Mexican troops sent to reclaim it. The Mexicans were
routed in what is regarded as the first battle of the Texas
Revolution. The American settlers set up a provisional state
government, and a Texan army under Sam Houston won a series of
minor battles in the fall of 1835.
In December, Texas volunteers commanded by Ben Milam drove
Mexican troops out of San Antonio and settled in around the
Alamo, a mission compound adapted to military purposes around
1800. In January 1836, Santa Anna concentrated a force of several
thousand men south of the Rio Grande, and Sam Houston ordered the
Alamo abandoned. Colonel James Bowie, who arrived at the Alamo on
January 19, realized that the fort's captured cannons could not
be removed before Santa Anna's arrival, so he remained entrenched
with his men. By delaying Santa Anna's forces, he also reasoned,
Houston would have more time to raise an army large enough to
repulse the Mexicans. On February 2, Bowie and his 30 or so men
were joined by a small cavalry company under Colonel William
Travis, bringing the total number of Alamo defenders to about
140. One week later, the frontiersman Davy Crockett arrived in
command of 14 Tennessee Mounted Volunteers.
On February 23, Santa Anna and some 3,000 Mexican troops besieged
the Alamo, and the former mission was bombarded with cannon and
rifle fire for 12 days. On February 24, in the chaos of the
siege, Colonel Travis smuggled out a letter that read: "To the
People of Texas and All Americans in the World_. I shall never
surrender or retreat_. Victory or Death!" On March 1, the last
Texan reinforcements from nearby Gonzales broke through the
enemy's lines and into the Alamo, bringing the total defenders to
approximately 185. On March 2, Texas' revolutionary government
formally declared its independence from Mexico.
In the early morning of March 6, Santa Anna ordered his troops to
storm the Alamo. Travis' artillery decimated the first and then
the second Mexican charge, but in just over an hour the Texans
were overwhelmed, and the Alamo was taken. Santa Anna had ordered
that no prisoners be taken, and all the Texan and American
defenders were killed in brutal hand-to-hand fighting. The only
survivors of the Alamo were a handful of civilians, mostly women
and children. Several hundred of Santa Anna's men died during the
siege and storming of the Alamo.
Six weeks later, a large Texan army under Sam Houston surprised
Santa Anna's army at San Jacinto. Shouting "Remember the Alamo!"
the Texans defeated the Mexicans and captured Santa Anna. The
Mexican dictator was forced to recognize Texas' independence and
withdrew his forces south of the Ryo Grande.
Texas sought annexation by the United States, but both Mexico and
antislavery forces in the United States opposed its admission
into the Union. For nearly a decade, Texas existed as an
independent republic, and Houston was Texas' first elected
president. In 1845, Texas joined the Union as the 28th state,
leading to the outbreak of the Mexican-American War.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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