Road To Independence

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Road To Independence

• Revolution Begins
• p. 204 - 208

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A Mexican Army Arrives in Texas

• It seemed to officials back in the Mexican
  capital and in Texas that radicals were becoming
  disloyal.
• General Cos arrived in Texas with additional
  troops.
• Settlers were concerned about the troops and
  formed committees of safety in case of threat by
  the federal soldiers.
• Committees of Correspondence, local groups
  sharing political and military information,
  sprang up to keep the colonists informed.

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Gonzales The Lexington of Texas

• The Battle of Lexington

The first shots starting the American Revolution
were fired at Lexington, Massachusetts. On April
18, 1775, British General Thomas Gage sent 700
soldiers to destroy guns and ammunition the
colonists had stored in the town of Concord, just
outside of Boston.
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Gonzales The Lexington of Texas

• Colonel Ugartechea, the Mexican commander at San
  Antonio, ordered the people of Gonzales to
  surrender their small brass cannon.
• The local official refused so Ugartechea ordered
  about 100 soldiers to take the cannon by force.
• The people of Gonzales buried the cannon until
  reinforcements arrived.

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Gonzales The Lexington of Texas

• They dug up the cannon, and decorated it with a
  white flag saying, Come and Take It.

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Gonzales The Lexington of Texas

• The Battle of Gonzales was brief and only 1
  casualty.
• The news of the clash spread quickly throughout
  Texas.
• General Cos regarded the actions at Gonzales as
  the outbreak of war.

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Gonzales The Lexington of Texas

• Choose one of the following
• Create a flag like the one at the Battle of
  Gonzales
• Create a cartoon illustration to represent the
  Battle of Gonzales

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On to San Antonio

• One week after the fighting at Gonzales, a force
  of about 120 Texans took the garrison at Goliad
  by surprise.
• After battling for about 30 minutes, the Mexican
  troops surrendered.
• Texans felt the defeating the Mexicans would be
  easy and planned to march to San Antonio to fight
  General Cos.
• To find a good defensive position outside San
  Antonio, Stephen F. Austin sent a search party of
  90 men led by Jim Bowie and James Fannin.

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On to San Antonio

• The scouting party was attacked by 400 Mexican
  soldiers at the Mission Concepción but was able
  to hold them off with their
• more accurate rifles.
• This clear victory boosted the morale of the
  Texas rebel army.
• Stephen F. Austin took command of 400 Texans,
  known as the Army of the People.
• Austin decided to lay siege to San Antonio and
  hoped Cos would run out of supplies and be forced
  to surrender quickly.

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POP QUIZ!

• What did Austin hope would be the outcome of the
  siege?

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Peace Party Prevails at the Consultation

• While some Texans camped near San Antonio, other
  Texans met in San Felipe at a Consultation on
  November 3, 1835.
• The meeting had been moved from
  Washington-on-the-Brazos to San Felipe because it
  had a printing press.
• War Party delegates that favored an immediate
  declaration of independence from Mexico.
• Peace Party agreed Texans should oppose Santa
  Anna, but objected to an immediate declaration of
  independence.

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Peace Party Prevails at the Consultation

• A motion calling for immediate independence was
  defeated.
• The next day, the Consultation adopted a
  statement known as the Declaration of the People
  of Texas in General Convention Assembled.
• Texans declared themselves to be loyal citizens
  of Mexico
• Pledged to support the Mexican Constitution of
  1824
• Declared that they had taken up arms only to
  defend themselves and to oppose the rule of Santa
  Anna.
• Urged all Mexican citizens to join their struggle
  for democratic government and offered land to
  volunteers.

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A Provisional Government Begins

• After adopting the Declaration of the People, the
  Consultation created a provisional, or temporary,
  government.
• It consisted of a governor, lieutenant governor,
  and a general council with one representative
  from each of the locally governed areas known as
  municipalities.
• The powers of the governor and council were
  vaguely defined, which eventually leads to
  conflict.
• The Consultation adopted a plan for the creation
  of a regular army of full-time, paid soldiers.

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A Provisional Government Begins

• Sam Houston was chosen to be the commander of the
  regular army, but was not given authority over
  the volunteer army still camped at San Antonio.
• Stephen F. Austin, William H. Wharton, and Branch
  T. Archer were chosen as commissioners to
  represent Texas in the United States. They were
  told to obtain troops, supplies and money to
  finance the expected war and to aid in struggle
  against Santa Anna.

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