The Westward Movement: Texas And The Mexican War (1966)

[Applause] No one quite knows where it got its name, but from the earliest times, the Rio Grand was destined to become a great river in the history of North America. Along its banks, two great nations, the United States and Mexico, would one day fight for possession of a major portion of the American continent. In 1821, the United States occupied the lands east of the Sabine River. The lands west of the Sabine belonged to Mexico. Between the Sabine and the Rio Grand Rivers lay the wilderness of Texas. Mexico had just won her independence from Spain and was eager to develop this vast frontier. The few Mexican settlers that did live in Texas were content with their easy pace of life. They were slow to develop the land. To stimulate settlement, the Mexican government opened Texas in 1821 to colonization by Americans. [Music] Some came from the East and Midwest, but more came from the Old South, seeking new cotton lands. This was the continuation of an American tidal wave that had swept westward from the Atlantic and was destined to engulf the continent. These were hard-pitten frontiersmen looking, as Americans always were, for better land to farm and fresh opportunities for expansion. Planters came to Texas, bringing their slaves from the worn out lands of the Old South, searching for profits to be made growing cotton on the rich soil of the Southwest. With the coming of the Americans into Mexican Texas, two great but differing ways of life were to test whether or not they could live side byside on the same portion of the American continent. Mexico offered land in Texas on generous terms. The Mexican government issued colony grants to men they called empressarios. One of these empressarios was a young Missuran named Steven Austin. Now gentlemen, in signing for your land, I must remind you that you are agreeing to certain conditions of the Mexican government here. First, that you must improve and cultivate the land. Now, the Mexican government wants to open up this frontier, and they will gladly wave your taxes in gratitude. Wonderful. Good. Wonderful. Secondly, you are now Mexican citizens and you must profess the Roman Catholic faith. I joined Lucifer himself for sure, Texas. I mean, you may just have to, Jeff. And finally, Mexican law forbids the practice of slavery. Oh, no. Wait a minute. No slaves. Who mind the cotton then? How are we going to cultivate the dag burn land without blacks? We had enough of that slave loving talking that our property ain't. There ain't nobody going to tell me nothing. Favor, please, senors. Adjustments can be made. I promise you, in the name of the liberty and freedom we all cherish, my government will protect your rights. The Americans agreed to become Mexican citizens. But can a man's signature change what he really is? So Texas began to grow by the efforts of Austin's colonists and the settlers on other grants issued by the Mexican government. The Spanish settlements had long been hemmed in by Indian raiders, but Americans who'd grown up on the frontier could meet this problem. [Music] Texas saw more changes in the next few years than there had been under a century of Spanish development. [Music] This was rich land, similar in soil and climate to the older cotton kingdom. Texas became an extension of the old south. As in the south, slavery was more than a problem. It was an economic [Music] institution. Over the next decade, the wave of settlers became a flood. For the Americanos, writing a letter home meant to the United States, not to Mexico. Don't pay no heed to talk about the Mexicans interfering with slavery, our religion and all. We never see a Mexican here. One yard next. And good riddance. We'll be needing the whole country just to take care of our own that's moving down. So it goes, Mr. Secretary. Seems like half the nation has caught Texas fever. By another year or two, Texas will be as American as the flag there. Except for one detail you overlooked. What's that? We can give up our claim to the Rear Grand at the time of the Louisiana purchase. Then a new purchase might be in order. The United States are obviously destined to expand and not just to the Rio Grand, but to the Pacific Ocean as well. In Mexico City, the receipt of Yankee offers to purchase Texas only reopened old stores soarses. Well, here it is in writing. The United States has the impertness to offer us a million dollars for our Texas holies. Hello, American are never satisfied. Opening Texas to them was like inviting a bull into the pond. These loyal American colonists, their unrest could spread like prairie fire. But why are they so discontented? Have we not given them much much encouragement? Rich lands, special favors like relief from taxes. Closing your eyes while they practice slavery. Texas is setting a bad example for the other provinces and must be brought to reign at once. Tell me, Mi Hen, do you think we can control this charging bull to the north? If we fly the lash in time, then I suggest me henal that we find out what is happening up there and re-evaluate our policy accordingly. I have just a man for the job. I will send him to Texas immediately. Bueno. So in 1827, General Manuel Mieran rode north on what was called a goodwill mission. The signs of Yankee influence which he saw disturbed him. As one covers the distance to Nakadoces, he will note that Mexican influence is proportionately diminished until it is almost nothing. The ratio of Mexicans to foreigners is 1 to 10. The colonists are of another people, more progressive and better informed than the Mexican inhabitants. but also more shrewd and unruly. Honorable and dishonorable alike, they travel with their political constitutions in their pockets, demanding the privileges, authority, and officers which such a constitution guarantees. I am warning you to take timely measures. Texas could throw the whole nation into revolution. [Music] Tran's report on Texas resulted in Mexico's adoption of the laws of 1830, a harsh edict which closed the doors to Texas and withdrew many of the colonists privileges. Come on, man. Read it out. What does it say? Good old man can't read your scratching no more. Looks as bad as we heard. The grants of the war have been cancelled. No more Americans can come in. American. You mean to stop slavery? What about the taxes enforced? Tax collectors are on their way. Troops to back them up. Maybe Austin can talk some sense to him. They'll wipe out everything that's been done. Means a fight. The relations between Mexico and her Texas colony began to deteriorate. The Americans who were used to governing themselves chafed under the Spanish system of government by decree and regarded the arrival of Mexican troops as military occupation by a foreign power. The Mexican government regarded protests by the Texans as acts of [Music] treason. Meanwhile, to make matters worse, all of Mexico fell under the heel of a military tyrant. the dictator Santa Ana. Unable to protest and unwilling to accept Santa Ana's tyranny, the Texans planned rebellion. In 1835, the Texas Revolution began. Texans scored early victories against Mexican garrisons. However, Santa Ana led an army across the Rio Grand and headed northward to crush the [Music] rebellion. At the Alamo, San Patricio, Rafuio, Victoria, Golad, the Texans were defeated at every turn. Remnants of the Texan army were driven eastward in panic. Then under the brilliant leadership of Sam Houston, the Texas forces rallied and trapped an overconfident Santa Ana. At Santa, in 20 minutes of fierce fighting, Texas won her bid for independence. The new Republic of Texas was born. For the next 10 years, the Rio Grand became a disputed boundary under constant threat from Mexico. The weary victors of Sanosinto applied at once for admission to the United States. But the practice of slavery in Texas had aroused strong opposition in the north. For the next decade, political debate over the annexation of Texas would make headlines across [Music] [Applause] America. Texas is slave land. If she is annexed, we in the free states must secede from the Union. Now, as I was saying, slavery is not an issue here. While the Texans are our blood kins, their slaves and other property are entitled to our fullest protection. The controversy over whether to admit Texas furthered the split between free and slave states in the United States Congress. Also, inevitably, the question of war with Mexico was raised. Will we go to war over Texas? Gentlemen, Mexico has warned that the mere fact of annexation will be regarded by her as a declaration of war without any further formality. In 1844, the election of President Pope was a resounding popular endorsement of westward expansion. It opened the way for the annexation of Texas. Say what you will, the United States has a manifest destiny to expand all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Texas must become a part of the United States. Slavery and Mexico notwithstanding. In 1845, despite northern opposition to slavery and the possibility of war with Mexico, the United States Congress formally admitted Texas as the 28th state in the Union. Now, it seemed that war with Mexico was [Applause] inevitable. John Slidell was sent to Mexico City to attempt to forstall a showdown over Texas and if possible, purchase California in the bargain. The Mexicans refused to negotiate for land they considered their own. In 1846, United States troops occupied the disputed lands along the Rio Grand. Mexican troops took up the challenge of the American occupation of the Rio Grand. In April 1846, the Mexican War began. We blockaded Mexico's coasts and attacked her in the north. Kernney captured Santa Fe and marched west to support American settlers who'd raised our flag over the Mexican communities in California. And when victories in the north failed to discourage the Mexicans, we landed at Veraracruz to aim a campaign at the heart of Mexico. [Music] [Music] In September of 1847, only a quarter of a century after American colonists had first come to Texas, US forces were in Mexico City as conquerors. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war and redrew our Mexican boundary from the Rio Grand to California. We paid Mexico $15 million for most of what is now the Pacific Southwest. But there was another price to be paid for our games. [Music] Howdy, son. Hey, you're a fine one. You're about the same age as my young. No complto. A heritage of ill feeling must now be counted as part of the cost of our war with Mexico. An ambitious young nation had attained its goal of thrusting westward to the Pacific. The United States stretched from sea to sea, but was hopelessly split through the middle. The conflict over slavery had only been aggravated by the annexation of Texas. It would spread now to the new territories of the west and finally to the battlefields of the civil war. [Music]