Texas Revolution: The State that Became a Country that Became a State

"The region of Mexico was taken as a colony of Spain in the 16th century and held until the Mexican War of Independence (1810-1821). After winning independence, however, Mexico's economy was in ruins, and it struggled to form a working government. The northern territory of Coahuila y Tejas faced constant threats from Apache and Comanche raids and, consequently, was sparsely populated. In an effort to revive the economy and win popular support for the government, Anglo-Americans were invited to settle in the region."

"These new arrivals, it was thought, would provide a buffer between Mexican citizens to the south and the Native Americans to the north. They would also produce crops that would help the economy through sales and taxes. As Mexico was a Spanish-speaking, Catholic country, the only conditions the Anglo-Americans had to meet were to convert to Catholicism and learn Spanish when becoming Mexican citizens; these were ignored by the settlers, who were primarily English-speaking Protestants."

The Texas Revolution (1835–1836) was a conflict between Anglo and Tejano residents of Coahuila y Tejas and the Mexican central government over state and individual rights. The uprising was one of many rebellions in the Mexican Federalist War against the Centralist Republic led by Antonio López de Santa Anna and became the most consequential for U.S.–Mexico relations. The revolt produced the Republic of Texas in 1836, U.S. annexation in 1845, and the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). Mexico had recently won independence from Spain, faced economic ruin, and invited Anglo-American settlers who often failed to assimilate culturally and religiously.

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