SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT IN MEXICO WHEN TEXAS PROCLAIMED ITS INDEPENDENCE - HISTORY - 2025

The system of government in Mexico when Texas proclaimed its independence was known as the Centralist Republic, being organized under a unitary state regime (with a single center of political power that extended throughout the state).

The continuing dispute between conservatives and liberals, political chaos, and the many disagreements with some reforms made by the liberal government motivated actions for the conservatives to dissolve the federal system.

Although the Centralist Republic was formally established in 1836, the federal constitution of 1824 had already been annulled a year earlier. This system operated for approximately eleven years, more specifically from 1836 to 1846.

The seven constitutional laws: previous step to the problem of the Mexican government and Texas

On December 30, 1836, the Seven Constitutional Laws were decreed that legitimized the new government, which had already proclaimed its Constitutional Bases on October 23 of the previous year.

These laws were:

1-This law talks about the rights and duties of citizens. Where the duty to profess the country's religion stands out, in this case the Catholic one.

2-The Supreme Conservative Power is established, made up of 5 members elected every two years. The Supreme Conservative Power could disqualify any of the other powers of the republic (Legislative, Executive or Judicial).

3-A Congress made up of senators and deputies is established, who held the positions for a period of 6 and 4 years respectively and were elected by members of the government.

4-This law talks about the process where the executive branch was elected. The Supreme Court, the Senate, and the Ministerial Board nominated 9 candidates (3 for each institution) and the deputies elected the President and Vice President from among themselves. With this law 4 ministries are also created: Interior, Foreign Relations, Finance and War.

5-With the same previous election process, this law is established to elect the Supreme Court of Justice, it should not be confused with the Supreme Conservative Power.

6-The federated states are replaced by departments. The governors of these departments were chosen by the president.

7-This law was a security measure that prohibited returning to the previous system for a period of six years. In addition, although Congress was given the ability to solve constitutional problems or reforms, these could not be practiced after six years after the new Constitution was promulgated.

Arrival of Anglo-Saxon settlers in Texas

It was precisely the establishment of the centralist regime that caused the revolution that would lead to the independence of Texas. Texan English speakers were affected by the agreements they had with Mexico due to the fall of the Federal Republic.

To understand a little better the reasons that led to the revolution and the independence of Texas, we must go back to colonial times, before Mexico became independent from Spain.

Due to the great economic problems that the United States had at that time, a banker named Moses Austin arrived in the Missouri territory in 1819 to develop a project that would attract Americans to that region. Thus, Austin asks Spain for permits to allow him to settle American settlers in those territories.

At the end of 1820, Austin received the Spanish concession and later died, for which his son Stephen Austin was in charge of starting the colonization process.

Beginning of the Texas conflict with Mexico

In 1921 and after a long dispute of eleven years, Mexico managed to become independent from Spain. That same year the Americans began to arrive by land and sea to Texas territory, however the agreements were not recognized by the new Mexican government.

Stephen Austin traveled to Mexico City and after several years of negotiation he managed to get the agreements accepted.

For these new agreements to be possible, Austin had to give in to certain points (the colonists had to convert to the Catholic religion, obtain Mexican nationality and change their name to its Spanish equivalent) and in return each colonist received 16 km².

As time passed, the population in the territory grew and the United States became interested in the state. In 1927 he offered a million dollars for Texas and later increased the offer to five million, but both times Mexico rejected them.

Although Mexico rejected the US offers, more and more immigrants were arriving and not all of them legal, so the government prohibited new colonies or more people from arriving. In addition, new taxes were added to all this.

If to all it is added that there were resentments because of the prohibition of slavery or that there was no freedom of worship, the colonists began to profess real suspicion and discomfort towards the Mexican government.

In 1835, in the state of Zacatecas a rebellion began against the centralist government that ended up being repressed and leaving many civilians massacred as a result. This led to more uprisings against the government and Stephen Austin was jailed on suspicion of inciting one.

The province of Texas was already outraged because in addition to what happened in Zacatecas and the imprisonment of Austin, who ended up being released due to lack of evidence, a settler was killed by a Mexican soldier.

Finally, as the relations between the government, under then-president Antonio López de Santa Anna, and the Texas province were not the best, the latter decided to take up arms to proclaim their independence.

Texas victory and independence

From left to right: Antonio López de Santa Anna, Stephen Austin, Samuel Houston, proper names of Texas Independence

The Texas rebellion was commanded by General Samuel Houston. Although the Texans won very few battles, several of them were important and took several important places such as San Antonio or the Bay of the Holy Spirit that were later recovered by Santa Anna.

General Houston had a portion of his troops go to fulfill assignments in Goliad and Alamo.

This caused Santa Anna to take advantage of the numerical disadvantage the army was in and defeated both troops. However, he ended up being defeated at San Jacinto by General Houston and the part of the army that had stayed with him.

Being a prisoner of war, Santa Anna is finally forced to sign the Treaty of Velasco (named after the place where it was signed) where, in exchange for his release, the independence of Texas was recognized.

References

1. Barker, EC (1910). Stephen F. Austin and the independence of Texas.. In EC Barker, The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, (pp. 13 (4), 257-284.).
2. Brack, GM (1975). Mexico views manifest destiny, 1821-1846: an essay on the origins of the Mexican War. University of New Mexico Press.
3. Costeloe, MP (2002). The Central Republic in Mexico, 1835-1846: 'Hombres de Bien'in the Age of Santa Anna. Cambridge University Press.
4. De la Peña, JE (2010). With Santa Anna in Texas: A personal narrative of the revolution. Texas A&M University Press.
5. Green, SC (1987). he Mexican Republic: the first decade, 1823-1832.. University of Pittsburgh Pre.
6. Schroeder, JH (1985). Annexation or Independence: The Texas Issue in American Politics. In JH Schroeder, The Southwestern Historical Quarterly (pp. 89 (2), 137-164.).
7. Winston, JE (1912). Kentucky and the Independence of Texas. In JE Winston, The Southwestern Historical Quarterly (pp. 16 (1), 27-62.).