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.
Stephen F. Austin
called out the
militia
RIP Haden
Edwards
• 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
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 Seguinthis 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