| 1817 |
| Francisco Xavier Mina launches a military
expedition against Mexico from Galveston Island. |
| 1818 |
The
Champs d'Asile colony is organized on the Trinity River by French
exiles, but is soon abandoned. |
| 1819 |
| San Antonio is damaged by a flood of San
Pedro Creek. |
| 1821 |
|
The Plan of Iguala assures Mexican independence. In July,
San Antonio officials swear allegiance to the new, independent
nation of Mexico.
Carrying out his father's plan, Stephen F. Austin brings
his first colonists to Texas.
|
| 1823 |
| Agustín Iturbide abdicates as Emperor
of Mexico. Mexican leaders soon begin work on a national constitution. |
| 1824 |
| Under the new constitutional government,
Coahuila y Texas becomes a single state, with the capital in
Saltillo. |
| 1825 |
| Texas becomes a department under state
government, with a political chief residing in San Antonio. |
| 1826 |
| The Republic of Fredonia is declared in
Nacogdoches; failing to obtain broad support, its organizers
flee Texas. |
| 1830 |
 Alarmed
by the growth in numbers of colonists from the United States,
the Mexican government seeks to slow immigration into Texas
from the north, while introducing more new residents from Mexico
and Europe. On April 6, a law passed by the Mexican Congress
prohibits settlement in Texas by immigrants from the United
States, and cancels all colonization contracts. Although repealed
in 1833, this article remains a sore point with the growing
immigrant population.
|
| 1832 |
|
June - The Turtle Bayou Resolutions
are adopted by colonists, accusing the Mexican government
of constitutional violations.
October - A convention meeting
at San Felipe de Austin draws up a list of grievances against
the government. San Antonio officials decline to participate,
but leading citizens of the town later protest the colonization
law.
|
| 1833 |
| A second convention at San Felipe de Austin proposes more changes
in government; Stephen F. Austin presents its resolutions in
Mexico. The government of new president Antonio Lopez de Santa
Anna responds to the complaints, reorganizing local government
and granting Texas greater representation in the state legislature. |
| 1835 |
|
October
- The refusal of Gonzales residents to return a cannon to
the Mexican army leads to an exchange of gunfire. In response,
Santa Anna sends troops under Martin Perfecto de Cos to San
Antonio. The Alamo becomes part of the defenses of the city.
October-December
Led by Austin, an army of untrained and often unruly settlers 
lay siege to the Mexican army, which held positions in the
Alamo and the plazas of the town. The Texan forces were victorious
in a skirmish near Concepción mission, and in the "Grass
Fight," but the siege dragged on into November with no
agreement on how to proceed. Called to serve as a commissioner
to the United States, Austin leaves San Antonio in November,
and opinion is divided on how to proceed until Ben Milam rallies
the force to an attack on December 5. After five days of fighting,
during which Milam is killed, the Battle of Bexar concludes
with the surrender of Mexican forces. Cos agrees to withdraw
to the south, leaving Texas under the control of the rebel
army.
|
| 1836 |
| February 3 - William Barret Travis and
a small group of reinforcements arrive at the Alamo, then under
the command of James C. Neill. |
| Next -- (1836 - 1885) |
