President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the president of Mexico at the time, started to move the governmental system of Mexico towards a dictatorship. This in conjunction with the annulment of the constitution of 1824 early in the year of 1835 cause compelled large numbers of federalists to revolt. Though Texas was a part of Mexico at the time, many of its residents were used to a federalist government paired with vast amounts of freedoms. One of these freedoms that these residents missed the most was freedom, and the right, to own slaves. The Texians became quite displeased with Mexico’s shift towards centralism and their abolition of slavery in 1831.
The Cry of Dolores marked the beginning of the long and bloody Mexican War of Independence, which would not conclude until 1821. Millions were killed or displaced in this long conflict. During his trial, Hidalgo seemed to understand what he had wrought and recanted his actions, perhaps foreseeing the bloodbath to come. The Cry of Dolores was the spark that ignited the tinderbox of long pent-up resentment of the Spanish in Mexico. Taxes had been raised to pay for fiascoes like the disastrous (for Spain) 1805 Battle of Trafalgar and in 1808 Napoleon invaded Spain, deposed the king and placed his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the throne.
Over time, the Mexican government became more centralized, less federalist, and eventually steered the Texans to call for independence. Early in March 1836, Texas declared its independence from Mexico; and for the next two months, bloody battles ensued. Mexico, under supreme dictator and President Santa Anna, vowed to remove the Anglo-American brigands from Mexico. Sam Houston’s small, undertrained and underequipped army of ragtag volunteers conducted a tactical retreat to gain time, manpower, and material as well as spread the Mexican army’s supply lines over one thousand miles. Houston’s goal was to conduct a campaign of his choosing and not that of the Mexican army.
This transition caused American settler's living in Texas to seize several of Santa Anna's garrisons, including the Alamo. The author states though that the questionable historical inaccuracies occur when historians and directors try and find out why the Americans decided to stay and fight for the Alamo when there was no clear chance of winning the battle. The 1960's movie suggests it was a fight for freedom for Americans, and therefore could be why the director left out the fact that the fight for defending the Alamo was led by four groups of people, including one group of Mexicans seeking to restore the Mexican Republic. In addition, the author
When Juarez returned from exile and gained the presidency of Mexico, Diaz became one of his most loyal supporters and provided the military muscle for his liberal causes (Reed). Diaz first ran for the presidency of Mexico in 1871 against his partner and mentor Benito Juarez, and Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada. The results of the election were so close that it could not be decided on votes alone and was sent to the congress to decide. Juarez’s party held the majority of seats and basically by default was awarded the presidency. This outcome greatly upset Diaz and Diaz later would show his opinion by not accepting the results and threw an unsuccessful revolt to overthrow
Along with the goal of removing Napoleon from Portugal, Brazil’s only set goal politically was to become independent. Because of Napoleon’s invasion of Spain starting in 1808, Mexico and other colonies started to become very passionate about having a revolution. On September 16, 1810, respected priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla issued the “Grito de Dolores” or Cry of Dolores which surmounted to Mexico declaring war against the Spanish government in the colonies. The ultimate goal was to be free from Spanish rule and have an independent government. Hidalgo sparked a bloody ten year war that ended over 300 years of colonial rule, thus achieving the initial intent (history.com The Struggle for Mexican Independence).
The Duke, having interest in military conquest, followed the exploits of the American Army engaged in the Mexican War. He became keenly interested in the exploits of General Scott, and according to For the common defense: A Military History of the United States from 1607 to 2012 (3rd Edition) (2012), when learning that Scott had abandoned both his supply and communication lines in the early part of August of 1847, to push towards Mexico City, stated the opinion, “Scott is lost…. he can’t take the city, and he can’t fall back upon his base.” (p. 139). Scott and his Army was however not lost, and when the campaign ended he had pulled off an amazing victory which according to For the common defense: A Military History of the United States from 1607 to 2012 (3rd Edition) (2012), gave rise to the Duke of Wellington exclaiming that Scott was “the greatest living soldier”, and “urged young English officers to study the Veracruz-Mexico City campaign”, which he considered “unsurpassed in military annals.” (p. 140). What exactly was it about this campaign that would later have military leaders and historians calling it “one of the finest in the annals of American warfare”.
William Beezley’s Judas at the Jockey Club describes multiple conflicts that took place under Mexican dictator Porfirian Diaz’s regime. It was the conflict between los de arriba (the topcats) and los de abajo (the underdogs). Mexican upper-class people wanted to modernize the state and embrace western ideologies and sports like baseball, cycling and mountaineering, vowing to transform Mexico City into a new Paris. Lower class people, on the other hand, resisted the change as it ruined old traditions but made little positive impact on their lives. The conflict was best illustrated by the Judas burning tradition, a symbolic celebration of the underdogs, which attracted the participation of the elites and the Jockey for a moment, but then left back to the lower class.
The Underdogs Throughout history when the people of an established society are upset with the government there is always pattern of reform. This was the case for the Demetrio and his band of rebels during the Mexican Revolution which began as united movement against the three decades of authoritarian leaders such as Porfirio Diaz, Francisco Madero, and finally Victoriano Huerta. However, Demetrio and his band did not set out for reform because of the same reasons. Each member of the group had a different reason that they wanted change within the Mexican government. Nevertheless, the purpose of Demetrio and his band of rebels was to get rid of authoritarian rule and make Mexico more like democratic America, but instead they lose track of what
In order for Anglo-Americans to immigrate to Mexico, they had to take an oath of loyalty to the nation, which meant being or becoming Catholic. However, Mexicans had experienced a flood of American immigrants to their country to take advantage of the opportunities they saw there, which prompted the Mexican government to pass the Law of April 6, 1830. Articles 9 and 11 of this law stated that American immigration was, at that point, outlawed. Northern immigrants would not be allowed to enter the country unless they had a passport to a specific colony that they had already been accepted into. The beginning of the Texas Revolution itself began with the Anahuac disturbances.