When Americans moved to Texas in the 1820s, they were anxious to get land grants from the Mexican government. In order to get these land grants they had to agree to become Mexican citizens, learn Spanish, become Catholic, and obey Mexican law. As time passed, Americans became unhappy with the rule of the Mexicans.

In 1830, Mexico closed the border between Texas and the United States. The Mexican government was concerned too many Americans were coming to Texas. This made the Americans unhappy. The Mexicans also said no new slavery would be allowed. Americans wanted to use slaves on their land. The Mexican government also put high protective tariffs on products from the United States. They wanted the settlers to buy Mexican, not American, products. This also made the Americans unhappy. Texas was not its own state in Mexico. The Americans wanted Texas to be its own state in Mexico. The Americans also objected to some of the things they agreed to do in order to get land. They didn’t want documents to have to be in Spanish, and they didn’t want to have to become Catholic. Finally, the Mexicans started giving new land grants to Europeans.

Stephen Austin worked to resolve some of these issues with the Mexican government. The Mexicans agreed to open the border, to drop the requirement that documents had to be written in Spanish, and to allow people to practice any religion they wanted to practice. However, when Santa Anna ended the republic by ending the Constitution and becoming the dictator, the people of Texas had enough and revolted against Mexican rule.