Treaties of Velasco

After the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836, General Antonio López de Santa Anna was captured by Texan forces. The Republic of Texas had won a major military victory, but the war was not automatically over. Mexican troops were still in Texas, and the new Republic needed a way to end the fighting.

On May 14, 1836, Santa Anna and President David G. Burnet of the Republic of Texas signed two agreements known as the Treaties of Velasco. One agreement was made public. The other was kept secret.

The public treaty contained ten articles. Its main purpose was to end the immediate fighting and arrange the withdrawal of Mexican forces from Texas.

Under the agreement:

• Santa Anna promised not to take up arms against Texas during the war.

• Fighting between Texan and Mexican forces was to stop.

• Mexican troops were to withdraw from Texas.

• The Mexican army was not to take private property during its retreat without the owner’s permission and payment.

• Property taken during the campaign was to be returned.

• Texan and Mexican troops were to avoid further conflict as the Mexican army withdrew.

• Prisoners from both sides were to be exchanged and treated humanely.

• Santa Anna was eventually to be returned to Mexico.

The agreement helped bring an end to major fighting in Texas, and Mexican forces began withdrawing.

The secret agreement dealt with issues that went beyond stopping the fighting.

Texas officials agreed that Santa Anna would be released and returned to Mexico. In exchange, Santa Anna promised to work for Mexican recognition of Texas as an independent nation. He also agreed to support negotiations between Texas and Mexico.

The secret agreement also stated that the boundary between Texas and Mexico would be the Rio Grande.

However, Santa Anna could not guarantee that the Mexican government would accept these terms. Although he had been Mexico’s president and military leader, he signed the agreements while he was a prisoner of Texas.

Problems appeared almost immediately. Some Texans strongly opposed releasing Santa Anna because they blamed him for the deaths at the Alamo and Goliad. Members of the Texas army prevented the government from sending him back to Mexico as originally planned.

The Mexican government also refused to accept the Treaties of Velasco. Mexican leaders argued that Santa Anna had signed them while he was a prisoner and therefore did not have the authority to give away Mexican territory or recognize Texas independence.

As a result, the treaties did not create a lasting peace agreement between Texas and Mexico. Mexico continued to consider Texas part of its territory and did not recognize the Republic of Texas as independent.

The location of the border also remained disputed. Texas claimed the Rio Grande as its southern and western boundary, while Mexico rejected that claim. The dispute continued after Texas joined the United States and was not finally settled until the end of the U.S.-Mexican War in 1848.

The Treaties of Velasco therefore had mixed results. They helped end the immediate military campaign in Texas and contributed to the withdrawal of Mexican troops, but they did not secure Mexican recognition of Texas independence or permanently settle the boundary between Texas and Mexico.