Section 4, Continued

Name ______Class ______Date ______

Section 4, continued

/ Main Ideas
1.Under Santa Anna, the Mexican government began to tighten its control of Texas.
2.Frustrated, some Texans began to call for war.
Key Terms and People
Martín Perfecto de Cos military commander of Texas
faction a group

Section Summary

mexico tightens control

In 1834 Santa Anna declared that Mexico was not ready to be a republic and began to strengthen the central government’s power. This was a violation of his pledge to restore the federal Constitution of 1824, the reason many Texans had supported him.

Santa Anna did honor some requests from the Convention of 1833. He legalized immigration from the United States and removed some customs duties. In January 1835 he sent more troops to Texas.

In the spring of 1835 Captain Antonio Tenorio began collecting customs duties at Anahuac, where taxes had not been collected since 1832. This angered Texans who believed they were paying more than people at other ports. William Travis and several supporters sailed to Anahuac, where they demanded Tenorio’s surrender. When he refused, Travis ordered an attack. Tenorio surrendered.

Upon hearing of this, General Martín Perfecto de Cos, the military commander of Texas, ordered the arrest of Travis and several others. He also ordered more troops to Texas.

debating war and peace

General Cos planned to put any prisoners on trial in a military court. This concerned many Texans, who believed that they had the right to trial by jury. The arrival of more troops further upset Texans.

Texans began debating how to respond to the problems with the Mexican government. One faction, or group, argued that Texans should remain calm. Another group argued for military action. The Tejanos of Texas had their own debates. Most Tejanos opposed Santa Anna’s centralist policies. But some Tejanos were equally frustrated with the Anglos who were less concerned about Mexico and more concerned about furthering their own interests.

While the debates continued, Stephen F. Austin returned from his imprisonment in Mexico City. Although he had gone to Mexico to work for peace, he now urged Texans to prepare for war.

CHALLENGE ACTIVITY

Critical Thinking: Evaluating Why do you think Austin changed his view on the conflict with the Mexican government?

DIRECTIONS On the line provided before each statement, write T if a statement is true and F if a statement is false. If the statement is false, write a corrected statement on the line after the false statement.

_____1.Santa Anna honored some of the requests of the Convention of 1832.

______

_____2.Captain Tenorio began collecting customs duties at Anahuac in 1835.

______

_____3.William Travis demanded the surrender of Santa Anna.

______

_____4.One faction of Texans wanted to keep peaceful relations with the government.

______

_____5.Stephen F. Austin urged Texans to prepare for war.

______

1Guided Reading Workbook