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Stephen Austin meets with Mexican President Santa Anna
-1821
-Stephen Austin led the first of several groups of American settlers to a fertile area along Brazos River
- Austin succeeded in procuring the repeal of the law of April 6, 1830, prohibiting natives of the United States from immigrating hither as colonists. -
Battle of the Alamo
-February 23 - March 6
-Texans drove the Mexican forces from the Alamo (abandoned mission and fort)
-187 U.S. defenders died, including frontiersmen Jim Bowie (who designed the razor sharp Bowie knife), and Davy Crocket. -
Battle of San Jacinto
-Texans, led by Sam Houston defeated Santa Anna at this battle
-Texans killed 630 of Santa Anna's soldiers in 18 minutes and caputred Santa Anna -
Treaty of Velasco grants Texas Independence
-Santa Anna signed both a public treaty and a secret treaty, but neither treaty was ratified by the Mexican government
-The documents were not even called "treaties" until so characterized by U.S. President James K. Polk in his justifications for war some ten years later -
U.S. annexes Texas
-Texas became the 28th state
-The annexing of Texas quickly lead to the Mexican-American War -
General Taylor marches troops across Rio Grande
-Composed of nearly 4,000 troops, Taylor's army marched 174 miles in twenty days, along a route from Corpus Christi to the bank of the Rio Grande opposite Matamoros.
-The army was organized into an advance guard and three brigades for purposes of marching, convenience of camp, supply, and mutual support in case of hostilities. -
U.S. declares war on Mexico
-The Mexican-American War was a land dispute over Texas, New Mexico and Baja California.
-The Americans claimed the Texas-Mexico border to be at the Rio Grande. The Mexicans claimed the Texas-Mexico border to be at the Nueces River. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends war with Mexico
-Mexico agreed to the Rio Grande border for Texas and ceded New Mexico and California to the United States.
-The United States agreed to pay $15 mil- lion for the Mexican cession, which included present-day California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, most of Arizona, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming -
Gasden Purchase
-President Franklin Pierce would authorize his emissary James Gadsden to pay Mexico an additional $10 million for another piece of territory south of the Gila River
-Along with the settlement of Oregon and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the Gadsden Purchase established the current borders of the lower 48 states -
Slidell's Rejection
-Polk the Purposeful” sent a Spanish-speaking emissary, John Slidell, to Mexico to purchase California and New Mexico and to gain approval of the Rio Grande as the Texas border.
-Mexican officials refused to recieve him, so Polkthen issued orders for General Zachary Taylor to march to the Rio Grande and blockade the river. Mexicans viewed this action as a violation of their rights.
