Mexico and Texas - 1834
In 1821, Spanish authorities gave Moses Austin, a bankrupt 59-year- old Missourian, a large Texas land tract to sell to American pioneers. Spain welcomed the Americans for two reasons--to provide a buffer against illegal U.S. settlers, who were already creating problems in east Texas, and to help develop the land, since only 3500 native Mexicans had settled in Texas. At the time, Texas was part of a larger Mexican state known as Coahuila y Tejas.
By 1830, there were 16,000 Americans in Texas, four times the number of native Mexicans. But people of Hispanic heritage formed a majority of the population in Coahuila y Tejas as a whole.
In the middle of 1835, scattered rebellions against Mexican rule erupted in Texas. In April 1836, Texas won its independence after capturing the Mexican leader, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, at the Battle of San Jacinto. Nine years later, in 1845, Congress annexed Texas, making it the nation's 28th state.
