Phil Kearns, Brett McCutcheon and Ricky Fabrizio Period 2 3/31/11

The Lone Star Rebellion

In the early 1800s the people living in America were still spreading westward over the land to gain more territory. One state that was eventually inhabited by U.S citizens was modern day Texas. At the time Texas was controlled by Mexico, but Mexico let American settlers settle in that land. When Mexico felt the American settlers had too much control in Texas, it started fighting between these two powers, thus sparked the Lone Star Rebellion. The Lone Star Rebellion started with a conflict between the Texans and Mexicans, which proceeded with a series of several battles. The Texan rebels prevailed and became a separate nation until they joined the U.S. later on. By the early 1830s so many Americans had become established in the region of Texas that the Mexican government began to pass laws to limit U.S. immigration. Since most of the U.S immigrants were slave owners who migrated over from the other U.S states, Mexico passed laws abolishing the spread of African-American Slavery as well. It seemed as though the American inhabitants in Texas abandoned these laws hoping that since there was an overpowering amount of Americans in Texas, it would soon become part of the U.S nation. This theory did not go over well with the Mexican government, in turn leading to the first battles of the Lone Star Rebellion. (ABC Clio).

As a result of all this conflict between the Mexicans and the Texans resulted in much more controversy and violence. This conflict fueled future battles and bloodshed between the two. One of the first events that happened during the war between the Mexicans and the Texans was the Goliad Massacre. The Goliad Massacre was a very bloody and nasty event. Since Santa Ana was heading towards the mainland of Texas, he sent his general Jose Urrea to head up along the coast line. Jose first encountered with the small town of San Patricio. The Texan rebels were caught totally of guard and 50 were murdered by Urreas troops and only 4 survived. Urrea then went to Refugio where there was even more rebels, however this time the Texans knew Urrea was coming. Even though they new ahead of time, they were still slow to evacuate. James Fannin helped his the citizens of Refugio by sending his troops from Goliad for assistance. However Fannins 180 troops were either captured or killed. Back in Goliad one of the leaders of the Texas revolution, Sam Houston ordered Fannin to head north and send his remaining 350 troops to the Alamo. Fannin completed neither of his tasks and moved out his troops later than planned. This let Jose Urrea and his troops catch up to Fannin, and eventually surround them. Urrea killed 60 of Fannins men and captured the remaining 200. When this news reached Santa Ana, he became furious because he didnt want to keep any prisoners. Urrea was then ordered to kill the remaining prisoners. Another crucial event towards Texas freedom was the Alamo. The battle of the Alamo in San Antonio is probably the most recognized part of the history of Texas. The battle of the Alamo first started when Santa Ana came into San Antonio with 2,000 men. His first plan was to capture the Alamo. When Santa Ana finally arrived to the Alamo, the Texans and Tejano allies were discouraged by the massive size of his army, because they only numbered

around 200 men. Famous leaders of the Alamo like William Travis, Davy Crocket and thought they would be getting more reinforcements, however Fannin and his troops were enable to successfully evacuate from Goliad. The only extra troops they were left with were some 30 Tejano volunteers. Santa Ana and the Texan rebels fought gruesomely for 13 straight days. However on the last days Santa Ana and his troops finally breached the Alamo walls and were able to kill any survivors. Even though the Texans lost, they were able to kill 600 of Santa Anas men and also helped give time to Sam Houston so he could form a counterattack. The final battle before Texas independence was the battle of San Jacinto. Sam Houston knew he need a military win, or else Texas would have become part of Mexico once again. However Sam Houston set up an elaborate plan. Near the San Jacinto River was a giant plain with trees on the opposite side of the river. Houstons plan was to hide all of his men in the trees and wait until Santa Ana and his troops went into the open field. When Santa Ana reached the giant plain, his 1500 men were pounced on by Houstons 750 men. At first it looked like another loss for the Texans until they retreated. Then Houston came up with a great plan and decided to send three spiess to destroy the bridge over the San Jacinto River, leaving Santa Ana cornered. As soon as the bridge was destroyed, Houston took complete advantage of it. That morning the Texan rebels killed 700 men and another 730 were captured, including Santa Ana. (Lone Star Junction) (thealamo.org). After the final capture of Santa Ana, he was then up for some negotiations. As months of discussion went by, Sam Houston and the Texan leaders finally concluded their negotiations with Santa Ana. The final agreement was that Texas would now be recognized as an independent country or the Republic of Texas. Also that Mexico and the

Republic of Texas would have peace between on another, which lead to the signings of the Treaties of Velasco. However this newly formed Texan government and nation would not last very long at all. The Republic of Texas first ten years as a separate nation was extremely shaky. They had a really hard time starting their economy and keeping their government organized. After one year a Texan congressmen asked if they could be admitted into the union because of the entire struggle in the new country, however their offer was declined. Eight years later, after the Republic of Texas was still continuously struggling, U.S. congress finally offered them to become part of the union. The offer came into play when the south wanted them to become a state so they could make Texas another slave-state. Once the Republic of Texas agreed to Congress terms, they became the 28th state of the union. However later on, while they were a state, the north and south created an increasing amount of tension because Texas didnt become a slave-state. In the previous paragraphs, it mainly talked about three crucial points of the Lone Star Rebellion. The first one was the conflict between the people living in Texas and the Mexicans, which eventually caused the Lone Star Rebellion. Next it talked about the battles that preceded the conflict. These main battles were the Goliad Massacre, the battle of the Alamo and the battle of San Jacinto. Finally it stated how Texas gained their independence. However they were only their own country for nine years because they wanted to become a U.S. state, which they eventually did. (ABC Clio) (Lone Star Junction).

Bibliography
"Battle of San Jacinto (21 April 1836)." Lone Star Junction: A Texas and Texas History Resource. Web. 31 Mar. 2011. <http://www.lsjunction.com/events/jacinto.htm>. "Goliad Massacre." Lone Star Junction: A Texas and Texas History Resource. Web. 31 Mar. 2011. <http://www.lsjunction.com/events/goliad_m.htm>. "Texas Revolution." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 31 Mar. 2011. The Alamo. Web. 31 Mar. 2011. <http://www.thealamo.org/battle/battle.php>. "Treaties of Velasco." Lone Star Junction: A Texas and Texas History Resource. Web. 31 Mar. 2011. <http://www.lsjunction.com/docs/velasco.htm>. "Stephen F. Austin: Texas independence address (1836)." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 31 Mar. 2011.