Texas Revolution - Other Issues

Other Issues

Texans were becoming increasingly disillusioned with the Mexican government. Many of the Mexican soldiers garrisoned in Texas were convicted criminals who were given the choice of prison or serving in the army in Texas. Many Texians were also unhappy with the location of their state capital, which moved periodically between Saltillo and Monclova, both of which were in southern Coahuila, some 500 miles (800 km) away; they wanted Texas to be a separate state from Coahuila (but not independent from Mexico) and to have its own capital.

The other interest of the Texans was representation of their interests in the government. They believed a closer location for the capital would help to stem corruption and facilitate other matters of government. Texans continued to lobby to overturn the laws of 1830. In April 1833, settlers called a convention to discuss proposed changes in immigration, judicial, and other political policies. The delegates also advocated separate statehood for Texas and elected Austin to carry a proposed state constitution to Mexico City. The new Mexican President, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, approved many of the proposals, but refused to agree to separate statehood; Austin was jailed when he wrote a letter advocating that Texans act unilaterally on statehood.

In 1834, because of perceived troubles within the Mexican government, Santa Anna went through a process of dissolving state legislatures, disarming state militias, and abolishing the Constitution of 1824. He also imprisoned some cotton plantation owners who refused to raise their assigned crops, which were intended to be redistributed within Mexico instead of being exported.