10.1 Political Unrest in Texas

The Fredonian Rebellion

• There was a caravan that left Mexico City

• The mission was to investigate conditions in East Texas

• A conflict had erupted one year before over land and contracts

The Fredonian Rebellion

• Many people living there did not have the contracts to prove the land they were on was theirs

• Haden Edwards, a business man from Kentucky, received an empresario contract to settle 800 families near Nacogdoches

Haden Edwards

The Fredonian Rebellion

• Many settlers complained because they were being forced to leave

• The government cancelled Edwards’s contract

The Fredonian Rebellion:It Didn’t End There

• Hayden’s brother, Benjamin, took action.

• He and some settlers claimed a part of East Texas and named it the Republic of Fredonia.

The Fredonian Rebellion

• They met in the Old Stone Fort

• These people adopted the Fredonian Declaration of Independence

• Many Texans opposed this rebellion.

• Most Texans (both U.S. settlers and Tejanos) opposed the rebellion

• Stephen F. Austin called out the militia

• When the rebels heard the troops were coming, many fled

• Edwards later returned to Nacogdoches where he died in 1849

Stephen F. Austin called out the

militia

RIP Haden Edwards

Mier y Teran’s Report

• The rebellion was a minor event but attracted lots of attention

• Mexican officials sent General Manuel de Mier y Teran to investigate conditions in Texas General Manuel

Mier y Teran

• The tour began in Laredo, went to San Antonio, and finally San Felipe de Austin.

• Here he met Stephen F. Austin

• They discussed many issues and Austin pledged his loyalty to Mexico

The Tour Continues…• Mier y Teran arrived

in Nacogdoches• He noticed the

Mexican influence decreased as he moved north and east.

• U.S. settlers numbered Mexican settlers 10 : 1

• U.S. influence was growing stronger by the day

Mier y Teran Report

• Teran warns the president of Mexico about what he observed.

• He made several recommendations:

• 1. Trade between Mexico and Texas should increase

• 2. More soldiers should be sent to Texas.

• 3. Mexico should encourage European and

Mexican settlement.

• Before responding to the proposals Mexico made a bold move

• 1829- Mexican President Vicente Guerrero issued a decree ending slavery in Mexico.

• Texan slaveholders protested the Guerrero Decree. Texas gained an exemption from this decree.

President Vicente Ramon Guerrero

• In response to Teran’s report, Mexico passed the Law of April 6, 1830

• Banned U.S. immigration to Texas

• Made it illegal to bring slaves to Texas

• Suspended unfulfilled empresario contracts

• In doing this the government hoped to issue new contracts bringing in only Mexican and Catholic Europeans

• Began taxing all U.S. imports to Texas

• Mexican officials hoped the law would strengthen Mexico’s control on Texas, but it only angered many Texans

Law of April 6, 1830

• Many U.S. settlers were angered because the new law meant their families could not come to Texas

• Austin tried to work with Mexican officials and get his colonists to comply with the law, but realized relations with the Mexican government had been damaged

• Tejanos who supported U.S. immigration also opposed the law of April 6, 1830

• When it went into effect, they had a meeting

• Members were Erasmo Seguin, Jose Antonio Navarro, and Juan Seguin- this group was known as the ayuntamiento of San Antonio

• In the meeting, the men made note of the advantages of having U.S. immigration to Texas