On this day in 1835, the growing tensions between Mexico and Texas erupt into violence when Mexican soldiers attempt to disarm the people of Gonzales, sparking the Texan war for independence.
Texas--or Tejas as the Mexicans called it--had technically been a part of the Spanish empire since the 17th century. However, even as late as the 1820s, there were only about 3,000 Spanish-Mexican settlers in Texas, and Mexico City's hold on the territory was tenuous at best. After winning its own independence from Spain in 1821, Mexico welcomed large numbers of Anglo-American immigrants into Texas in the hopes they would become loyal Mexican citizens and keep the territory from falling into the hands of the United States. During the next decade men like Stephen Austin brought more than 25,000 people to Texas, most of them Americans. But while these emigrants legally became Mexican citizens, they continued to speak English, formed their own schools, and had closer trading ties to the United States than to Mexico.
In 1835, the president of Mexico, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, overthrew the constitution and appointed himself dictator. Recognizing that the "American" Texans were likely to use his rise to power as an excuse to secede, Santa Anna ordered the Mexican military to begin disarming the Texans whenever possible. This proved more difficult than expected, and on October 2, 1835, Mexican soldiers attempting to take a small cannon from the village of Gonzales encountered stiff resistance from a hastily assembled militia of Texans. After a brief fight, the Mexicans retreated and the Texans kept their cannon.
The determined Texans would continue to battle Santa Ana and his army for another year and a half before winning their independence and establishing the Republic of Texas.
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I was extremely busy on Friday and tried to get time to write on the blog but it never happened. On Monday the power went off at the office and I immediately thought, "Did I pay the electric bill?" Upon checking I knew I did and began checking for the problem and was able to get it fixed. It was rather simple but it startled one of the girls at the office. But now, all is well!
I worked on an email with the update on our dealings with the Rhino Times yesterday and it will be emailed to everyone on our email list tonight (that’s the plan anyway). I will also be mailing it out by postal delivery. Most likely, it won’t be mailed before I leave to North Carolina, but it may get mailed while I am gone.
I was also hoping to get an issue of The Torch in the mail before I left. But that’s not gonna happen. I sincerely ask for all your prayers on Friday (5th) and Monday (8th). That is when I will be meeting with the court ordered mediator and opposing counsel for a deposition.
Both of these meetings are rather foolish because I still don’t know who distributed the Knights Party Literature by placing them inside copies of The Rhino Times. As I have stated before, I am of the opinion that it was the people at the Rhino Times themselves. Of course the reason they would have done it would be to create a controversy with the hopes of increasing circulation.
Anyway, my local attorney and I will be flying to North Carolina on Thursday for a Friday morning appointment and then we have to stay until Tuesday after a late Monday appointment. If it was up to me I would have had them on Thursday and Friday or Monday and Tuesday instead of wasting a couple of days on the week-end. But it wasn’t up to me and we have to go with the flow.
Well, that’s all for now.
Hope to see you in Pulaski on the 20th. God bless!