The Texas Revolution, also known as the Texas War of Independence, was the military conflict between the government of Mexico and Texas colonists that began October 2, 1835 and resulted in the establishment of the Republic of Texas after the final battle on April 21, 1836. Intermittent conflicts between the two nations continued into the 1840s, finally being resolved with the Mexican–American War of 1846 to 1848 after the annexation of Texas to the United States.
Long-running political and cultural clashes between the Mexican government and the settlers in Texas were exacerbated after conservative forces took control and the Siete Leyes (Seven Laws) of 1835 were approved. It displaced the federal Constitution of 1824 with the 1835 Constitution of Mexico, thereby ending the federal system and establishing a provisional centralized government in its place. The new laws were unpopular throughout Mexico, leading to secession movements and violence in several Mexican states.
Open warfare began in Texas on October 2, 1835, with the Battle of Gonzales. Early Texan Army successes at La Bahía and San Antonio (Battle of Goliad, Siege of Béxar) were soon reversed when the Mexican Army retook the territory a few months later (Battle of Coleto, Battle of the Alamo). The war ended at the Battle of San Jacinto, where the Texian army under General Sam Houston routed the Mexican forces with a surprise attack.
Read more about Texas Revolution: Background, Other Issues, Mexican Preparation, Texan Army Offensive, Aftermath
Famous quotes containing the words texas and/or revolution:
“Worn down by the hoofs of millions of half-wild Texas cattle driven along it to the railheads in Kansas, the trail was a bare, brown, dusty strip hundreds of miles long, lined with the bleaching bones of longhorns and cow ponies. Here and there a broken-down chuck wagon or a small mound marking the grave of some cowhand buried by his partners “on the lone prairie” gave evidence to the hardships of the journey.”
—For the State of Kansas, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“History in the making is a very uncertain thing. It might be better to wait till the South American republic has got through with its twenty-fifth revolution before reading much about it. When it is over, some one whose business it is, will be sure to give you in a digested form all that it concerns you to know, and save you trouble, confusion, and time. If you will follow this plan, you will be surprised to find how new and fresh your interest in what you read will become.”
—Anna C. Brackett (1836–1911)