Texas and the Mexican War of Independence

By the early 1800s, Spain was facing serious political and economic problems. In 1808, Napoleon invaded Spain and forced King Ferdinand VII from the throne. The crisis weakened Spain’s government and raised questions throughout its American colonies about who had the right to govern.

In New Spain, which included present-day Mexico and Texas, long-standing social and economic tensions also contributed to demands for change. Political power was largely controlled by officials connected to Spain, while many people born in the Americas had less influence. Indigenous peoples, mestizos, and other communities also faced economic hardship and unequal treatment.

In 1810, Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla called for resistance to Spanish rule. His Grito de Dolores, or Cry of Dolores, helped begin the Mexican War of Independence. Large numbers of people joined the rebellion.

Spanish royalist forces eventually defeated Hidalgo’s army. Hidalgo was captured and executed in 1811, but his death did not end the independence movement.

After Hidalgo’s death, José María Morelos y Pavón became one of the movement’s most important leaders. Morelos was also a Catholic priest, but he was an experienced military and political leader.

In 1813, Morelos helped organize a congress that formally declared Mexico independent from Spain. He also presented Sentiments of the Nation, a document describing his ideas for an independent government and society. In 1814, the independence movement adopted the Constitution of Apatzingán.

Royalist forces eventually defeated Morelos. He was captured in 1815 and executed by Spanish authorities later that year.

After his death, the independence movement became more divided. Smaller groups continued fighting Spanish forces in different parts of Mexico, but for several years they were unable to defeat Spanish rule.

The struggle for Mexican independence also reached Texas.

José Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara was a supporter of independence from Nuevo Santander, a province along the lower Rio Grande. Hidalgo sent Gutiérrez to seek support for the independence movement. Gutiérrez eventually traveled to the United States, where he sought money, supplies, and volunteers.

In Louisiana, Gutiérrez joined Augustus William Magee, a former U.S. Army officer. Together they organized what became known as the Gutiérrez-Magee expedition. Their forces included Tejanos, Mexican republicans, Anglo Americans, Indigenous fighters, and others who opposed Spanish control for different reasons.

The expedition entered Spanish Texas in 1812. Its forces captured Nacogdoches and continued west, eventually taking San Antonio in 1813.

The rebels established a temporary government and declared the State of Texas under the Republic of Mexico, independent of Spain. Gutiérrez became the leader of the new government for a short time.

The new republic did not last long. Disagreements developed among its leaders, and Gutiérrez was removed from power. José Álvarez de Toledo took command of the republican forces.

Spanish authorities were determined to regain control of Texas. General Joaquín de Arredondo led a royalist army north toward San Antonio.

On August 18, 1813, republican and royalist forces met south of San Antonio in the Battle of Medina. Toledo’s republican army included Tejanos, Anglo Americans, Indigenous fighters, and former Spanish royalists.

The battle ended in a major royalist victory. Many republican soldiers were killed during the fighting or captured afterward. Only a small number escaped.

The defeat ended the Gutiérrez-Magee expedition and destroyed the temporary republican government in Texas. Spanish authorities regained control of the region.

Although the rebellion failed, the Battle of Medina showed that the struggle against Spanish rule was not limited to central Mexico. Texas had become part of the wider conflict over the future of New Spain.

The independence struggle continued after the deaths of Hidalgo and Morelos.

Another major change came in 1820, when a political uprising in Spain forced King Ferdinand VII to restore the Spanish Constitution of 1812. The change alarmed some powerful people in Mexico who feared that the new political system would threaten their position.

Agustín de Iturbide, a royalist military officer who had previously fought independence forces, reached an agreement with independence leader Vicente Guerrero.

In 1821, they supported the Plan of Iguala. The plan called for Mexico to become independent, remain Catholic, and establish a constitutional monarchy. It also called for greater political equality between Spaniards born in Spain and those born in Mexico.

Support for independence grew rapidly.

Later that year, Iturbide and Juan O’Donojú, the highest-ranking Spanish political official in New Spain, signed the Treaty of Córdoba. The agreement recognized the plan for an independent Mexican constitutional monarchy. Although the Spanish government later rejected the treaty, Spanish colonial authority in Mexico collapsed, and Mexico became effectively independent in 1821.

Texas, which had been part of Spanish territory for generations, now became part of independent Mexico.