Chapter 9 Road to Independence Notes:
I. Revolution Begins—Early Battles:
a. Gonzales—“The Lexington of Texas”:
i. The first conflict was at the town of Gonzales on October 2, 1835 over the attempt to take small brass cannon from the town.
ii. The Battle of Gonzales is called “the Lexington of Texas” after the first battle of the American Revolution which was fought also over the attempt by the British to collect arms and ammunition.
iii. Colonel Ugartechea sent 100 soldiers to take the cannon by force.
iv. The Texans first hid the cannon then after Texans reinforcements arrived decorated the cannon and flew a flag that said “Come and Take It!”
v. The Texans were led by Colonel John H. Moore who forced the Mexicans to withdraw after only a few minutes of fighting.
vi. General Cos regarded the battle as the outbreak of war!
b. The Capture of Goliad:
i. On October 9, 1835, fifty Texans attacked the Mexican garrison at Goliad. (30 minutes).
ii. The garrison, outnumbered and surrounded, surrendered to the Texans.
iii. The victory at Goliad was important to the Texans because:
1. It gave Texans more confidence and encouraged more of them to join the fight.
2. The Texans captured badly needed supplies and weapons.
3. Capturing Goliad cut off the supply route between Copan on the coast and General Cos in San Antonio.
c. The March on San Antonio:
i. Volunteers poured into Gonzales and the Texans attempted to organize into the “Army of People”
ii. Stephen F. Austin arrived in camp and was chosen to be the Commander-in-Chief.
1. Austin was not a trained military leader.
2. He established order, however, and organized the 300 volunteers into companies.
3. He made plans to attack General Cos at San Antonio.
iii. The army set up camp on the outskirts of the city in late October.
d. The Grass Fight:
i. Austin and some of the Texans moved their camp to the Old Mill located about half a mile from the Mexican Camp in San Antonio.
ii. Austin then left the camp to go to the United States to seek help.
iii. Edward Burleson became the new commander of the forces at the Old Mill.
iv. On November 26, 1835, one of Burleson’s scouts, Erastus “Deaf Smith” rode into camp with the news that Mexican soldiers were bringing silver and gold to San Antonio. The Texans believed that the soldiers were bringing the silver to General Cos.
v. About 60 Texans ambushed the Mexicans but found that the bags only contained grass to feed the horses in General Cos’s Army.
vi. The Texans burned the grass and this incident became known as the “Grass Fight”.
e. Victory at San Antonio:
i. A Texan brought a captured Mexican into camp and he reported to General Burleson that the Mexican Army in San Antonio was weak and disorganized because they were suffering from a lack of supplies.
ii. Colonel Ben Milam shouted to the Texans, “Who will go with old Ben Milam into San Antonio?”
iii. 300 people answered Milam’s call to enter and capture San Antonio.
iv. The Texans attacked December 5, 1835 and for 4 days the Texans fought house to house slowly driving the Mexican Forces into the center of town.
v. Ben Milam was killed on the 3rd day and the Mexicans were driven into San Antonio de Valero or the Alamo.
vi. General Cos decided to surrender and agreed to not interfere with the Texans in their fight for the Constitution of 1824, which would establish a democratic government in Mexico.
vii. Cos lead the army out of Texas and back to Mexico.
viii. The Texans believed that the fighting was over and Texas could now become a separate state in Mexico and operate under the laws of the Constitution of 1824.
ix. Santa Anna, the dictator of Mexico, had different ideas and was gathering an army south of the Rio Grande to destroy the Texas rebellion.
II. A Convention known as the Consultation assembled on November 3, 1835 at San Felipe de Austin.
a. Debating War & Peace:
i. The War Faction delegates felt that Texas should declare its independence from Mexico.
ii. The Peace Faction wanted Texas to remain part of Mexico.
iii. When the question came to a vote, the Peace Faction won.
b. The Provisional Government was considered provisional, or a temporary government, because it would rule only until problems with Mexico were worked out. They wrote the Declaration of the People.
i. The Consultation elected government officials:
1. The Governor was Henry Smith
2. Lieutenant Governor was James Robinson
3. Commander-in-Chief of the Army was Sam Houston
4. Commissioners to go to the US to borrow money were: Stephen F. Austin, William H. Wharton, and Branch T. Archer.
ii. Governor Smith wanted immediate independence from Mexico but many members of the Council were from the Peace Faction and did not agree with Smith.
iii. Sam Houston also had problems:
1. He had no Army.
2. Texas had no power to raise an Army and no Money to pay soldiers.
iv. From December 1835 to March 1836, there was confusion in the Provisional Government of Texas.
v. A new Convention was scheduled to meet on March 1, 1836.
vi. Texans thought they had plenty of time but Santa Anna had crossed the Rio Grande in early February and headed for San Antonio.
III. The Convention of 1836 met on March 1, 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos with 59 delegates for the purpose of declaring the independence of Texas from Mexico.
a. The Declaration of Independence:
i. It was patterned after the United States’ Declaration of Independence.
ii. George Childress wrote most of the Declaration of Independence.
iii. It was adopted on March 2, 1836
iv. March 2nd is now celebrated as Texas Independence Day.
v. The vote in favor was unanimous.
vi. The Declaration stated all the complaints against the Mexican government.
1. Mexico had denied the Texans basic freedoms.
2. Santa Anna had abused his power and used force to control the Texans.
b. The Constitution of 1836:
i. After declaring Texas independent, the convention began work on a Constitution, or a plan of government.
ii. The model for this Constitution was the United States Constitution.
iii. The Texas government was to have 3 branches.
1. The Executive Branch would carry out the laws and was to be led by a President.
2. The Legislative Branch made the laws and was to be called the Congress.
3. The Judicial Branch was the Court System.
iv. The Constitution of 1836 had a Bill of Rights that were statements of Civil Rights that the government could not take away.
1. It guaranteed freedom of speech, religion and press.
2. It gave the right to a trial by jury.
c. The Ad Interim Government was a temporary government chosen by the convention until elections could be held.
i. The Officers appointed were:
1. President = David G. Burnet
2. Vice-President = Lorenzo de Zavala
ii. After hearing the Mexican Army was near, the government was moved to Harrisburg, but was forced to flee again because of Santa Anna.