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The Alamo Messenger
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Greetings and welcome to the November 2015 edition of The Alamo Messenger. Last month we looked at the end of the Mexican Wars of Independence and the documents that established an independent Mexico. We also began exploring the colonization of Texas by Moses and Stephen Austin. This month we take a more in depth look at early colonization efforts, as well as the first Mexican government.
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The 1st Mexican Empire of Agustín de Iturbide, 1822-1823
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Mexico achieved its independence from Spain in 1821 with the adoption of the Plan de Iguala. Although the country had rejected Spanish control, it did not abandon the idea of monarchy. Colonel Agustín de Iturbide's plan took advantage of the unrest in Spain that threatened the Spanish king by offering Ferdinand VII the opportunity to move to Mexico City and rule over the new nation. In the case that Ferdinand VII declined to relinquish the Spanish throne and relocate to Mexico, the plan stipulated that another member of the Bourbon royal family be selected to serve in his stead. A thirty-six member junta and a five-man regency would govern during the time necessary to locate and install a monarch on the Mexican throne. Keep Reading
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This month's artifact is a portrait of Jose Francisco Ruiz, signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. It was painted circa 1840. Ruiz was a very influential figure in the history of San Antonio and Texas. He was a military leader, a politicia  n, the first school master in San Antonio and a patriot of the cause of Texas Independence. This painting is part of the Alamo Collection about the Ruiz family, other influential San Antonio families and their connection to the Alamo.
Photo and text by Ernesto Rodriguez, III, Alamo Associate Curator.
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Baron de Bastrop
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In 1820, Moses Austin ran into his old friend, Baron de Bastrop, while in San Antonio to ask for permission to colonize Spanish Texas. Who was this man with the fictitious title of nobility and why was he instrumental in the colonization of Texas? Keep Reading
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Colonization of Texas in Imperial Mexico
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At the same time that the Spanish empire was facing an internal threat from Mexican revolutionaries, it was facing an external threat from land hungry Americans, many of whom, thanks to the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, believed that Texas was theirs for the taking. Despite the Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819, in which Spain ceded control of Florida to the United States in exchange for an agreement that set the border between American owned Louisiana and Spanish owned Texas at the Sabine River, Americans were beginning to cross the border settling in and around Nacogdoches and leading filibustering expeditions. Keep Reading
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In Their Own Words: Robert Leftwich
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Robert Leftwich was one of a number of investors who made up the Texas Association, a company organized for the purpose of obtaining a land grant in Mexico. Like many Americans, Leftwich had been left bankrupt by the collapse of the US economy following the Panic of 1819, and the Association and Texas offered a chance to change his financial circumstances for the better. In 1822, Leftwich, and his associate Andrew Erwin, traveled from Nashville, TN to Mexico City to petition the Mexican government on behalf of the Association. In Mexico City they joined the likes of Stephen F. Austin and Benjamin Milam, who were seeking grants of their own. Leftwich and Erwin actually boarded with Austin while waiting for their petitions to be approved. The laborious approval process was further complicated by the election of Agustin Iturbide as Emperor of Mexico, an event that Leftwich describes in this letter to one of the Association members back in Tennessee. Keep Reading
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This 4th grade lesson plan uses an excerpt from Stephen F. Austin's 1821 journal to teach students the importance of using primary sources in the study of history. The lesson also covers TEKS pertaining to geography, settlement patterns and the contribution of several significant Texans. Go to Lesson |
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