People that don't know much about
this state don't realize that the first
settlers here from the USA had to
agree to become mexican citizens,
and convert to Catholicism, and
learn to speak spanish as a primary
language and submit totally to
mexican authority and rule.
It's not like they just drove a
wagon here from maryland or
georgia and threw up a cabin and
plowed up a field. They had to
submit a request for a specific
land title and pay a fee and wait for
mexican government approval
before they could do doodley scoot.
Things were pretty good for most,
but some mexican government
officials were unhappy with the success
of the transplanted Americans, and
felt like the settlements were too
much like America east of the Sabine
and not enough like the mexican interior.
Santa Anna was conscripting many
of his soldiers from mexican prisons,
and many would harass the settlements
and steal from the settlers and the
officials would call the thefts
"requisitioning" of supplies that
were necessary for the troops, while
many officers pocketed the allocated
funds for the provisioning of the
troops. Lots of mexican troops were
more or less wearing rags and about
half starved.
At the time of the Texas revolution,
the mexican government and the
dictator/el presidente Santa Anna
were very corrupt and itching to go
to war and crush the settlers and
any opposition from America
This became a great republic and a
great state because of the butt busting
work that the early people put in
day in and day out.
People that say otherwise are FOS
