Causes Of Colonization Of Texas

In 1820, Spain had opened up the territory of Texas to American colonization because it was unable to persuade its own citizens to settle the remote and fairly unpopulated land. The following year, however, Mexico gained independence from Spain. Mexico Continued Spain’s colonization plan after its independence in 1821. American colonization of Texas took place from 1821 until 1835. They were attracted here for three reasons; the first being cheap, inexpensive land. Undeveloped land in the United States cost $1.25 per acre, while undeveloped land in Mexican-Texas cost only $0.04 cents an acre. The second reason was that, through the 1820s, most people believe the U.S. would buy Eastern Texas. Many believed this region of Texas was part …show more content…
Mexico, being a Catholic nation, required all of its immigrants to be Catholic as well. This caused problems because most of the American immigrants were Protestant. Later the 1825 Coahuila and Texas State Colonization Law changed this to where immigrants only need be Christian and abide by the laws, but there were still discrepancies between the two groups. Mexico also detested slavery. However, eager for American immigrants, they turned the other cheek in Texas. But when the Mexican president emancipated all slaves in 1829, it threatened American immigrants. They quickly found a loophole by making their slaves sign indentured servant contracts, binding them for ninety-nine years. Then later they secured an exemption from the law for Texas. After years of somewhat mutual living in Texas, the differences in the two groups, and the conflicts they caused proved to be too overwhelming. In 1835 Texas and Mexico go to war, and by 1836 Texas won its independence and became known as the Republic of Texas. In 1845, Texas then applied for annexation and was introduced as a new state into the Union of the United States of …show more content…
Polk then sends a declaration of war to Congress. The events leading to the war, and the war itself, was a huge issue in Congress and divided it in two. After much debate the bill passes in both houses of Congress, barely, and the United States declares war with Mexico. Both Mexico and the U.S. had advantages and disadvantages during the war. Mexico’s military was much larger than the United States’ and was battle-hardened because they had to fend off Spain and France, and stop rebellions. However, they were undersupplied, underpaid, and politically divided. The U.S. military was small at first, but when it called for volunteers it increased by two-hundred seventy-five percent. It also had better technology because of industrialization, and the American railroad system allowed faster transportation to the