The Road to Texas Independence

After winning independence from Spain, Mexico soon faced a challenge from Texas, one of
its northern territories. Many of the new arrivals to Texas were from the United States, and
still owed allegiance to their original homeland. In this play, find out how the settlers’
frustration caused separation from Mexico.

READERS
NARRATOR 1 GENERAL MIER Y TERAN ANDREW PONTON
NARRATOR 2 WILLIAM B. TRAVIS GENERAL HOUSTON
NARRATOR 3 STEPHEN F. AUSTIN JIM BOWIE
NARRATOR 4 GENERAL UGARTECHA

NARRATOR 1: The land we call Texas had passed from the native Texans to the
Spaniards. However, when Mexico desired independence from Spain, Texas found
herself under the control of Mexico.

NARRATOR 2: Mexico declared independence in 1821 and began settling affairs in its
northern territories.

NARRATOR 3: The growing number of Anglos in Texas Mexican officials, who feared
losing Texas to the United States.

NARRATOR 4: Mexico sent General Manuel Mier y Teran to survey the political situation
in Texas.

GENERAL MIER Y TERAN: My job was to

determine if Texas would remain loyal to
Mexico for many years or pull away and
join the United States.

NARRATOR 1: The general’s report

warned of great differences in the
cultures of Mexico and Texas.

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GENERAL MIER Y TERAN: The Texan Anglos have many ideas that differ from our own.
They believe liberty is their birthright. They are independent thinkers and they dislike
Mexico’s political whims.

NARRATOR 2: The general warned that Texas could throw the entire nation into
revolution.

NARRATOR 3: In response, Mexico passed the Law of April 6, 1830. The law attempted
to make Texas more like Mexico.

NARRATOR 4: However, Texans were angered because the law levied import duties and
forbade further immigration from the United States.

GENERAL MIER Y TERAN: My efforts to enforce the Law of April 6, 1830 led to charged
conflicts over import duties in Anahuac and Velasco on the Texas coast.

WILLIAM B. TRAVIS: I was arrested at Anahuac in 1832 for suspected intrigue. That
made the Texians so mad that 150 people came to demand my release.

NARRATOR 1: Many Texans blamed President Bustamante’s regime for the trouble.

NARRATOR 2: Turtle Bayou Resolutions were a peaceful

effort to complain about Bustamante’s rule and to declare
support for General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, his
opponent.

NARRATOR 3: After Santa Anna took office in 1833, the

Texans drafted a list of requests, including renewed
President Antonio Lopez immigration from the United States, exemption from the
de Santa Anna tariff, and Mexican statehood.

NARRATOR 4: They appointed Stephen F. Austin to carry the documents to Mexico City
to gain the president’s approval.

STEPHEN F. AUSTIN: I was well-respected by the Texans. I had used patience, fairness,
and honesty when dealing with the settlers.

NARRATOR 1: Upon arriving in Mexico City, Austin was stalled for three months. When
Santa Anna returned from leave, he reversed his position, causing Austin to become
impatient.

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STEPHEN F. AUSTIN: I wrote a daring letter to the council of San Antonio stating that
Texas should begin to form a state government.

NARRATOR 2: Unfortunately, Austin’s letter was intercepted, leading to his

imprisonment in Mexico City.

STEPHEN F. AUSTIN: My health deteriorated, and my outlook toward Mexico changed

drastically during those years. I urge the people of Texas to hold a consultation and
decide on a course of action.

NARRATOR 3: In September 1835, after two years in Mexico City, Austin unexpectedly
returned to Texas.

STEPHEN F. AUSTIN: I do not want to start a war, but I believe that Texas can no longer
continue to tolerate rule by Mexico.

NARRATOR 4: People listened to Austin and heeded his words. The settlers were
shocked to find out how Mexico had treated the “Father of Texas.”

NARRATOR 1: While a consultation was being called to determine the appropriate

course, sparks of revolution were beginning to appear.

NARRATOR 2: General Ugartecha was a Mexican general stationed in San Antonio.

GENERAL UGARTECHA: By presidential order, recalled a small cannon in Gonzales back

to San Antonio. The cannon was for defending the town against Indian attacks.

NARRATOR 3: Andrew Ponton was alcalde (mayor) of Gonzales.

ANDREW PONTON: My townspeople believed that Mexico was trying to disarm us! I had
the cannon buried in a peach orchard so the general’s men could not find it.

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NARRATOR 4: When volunteers arrived from
other towns, they unburied the cannon and
daringly flew a flag on it that said, “Come and
Take It.”

ANDREW PONTON: The volunteers also

captured the general’s men then freed
them so they could return to San
Antonio.

GENERAL UGARTECHA: AAAARGH! This

letter from Andrew Ponton says they
will not give up the cannon! Why are
these Texans so stubborn?

NARRATOR 1: When the general sent more troops to capture the cannon, the Texans
refused to allow them across the river so they camped on a hill seven miles away.

NARRATOR 2: The Texans attacked again, causing the Mexicans to flee. They had won
the first battle of the revolution!

NARRATOR 3: In the next two weeks, the Texans captured weapons and ammunition at
the Battle of Goliad and held off a Mexican army led by General Cos at the Battle of
Concepcion.

NARRATOR 4: The Texans began to think they were winning against the Mexican armies,
but General Santa Anna was preparing an army of thousands south of the Rio Grande
River.

NARRATOR 1: A group of Texans surrounded San Antonio and forced the surrender of
General Cos. A weak force led by Colonel J.C. Neill remained to defend the Alamo.

NARRATOR 2: The other volunteers traveled south of the Rio Grande River and captured
Matamoros, a Mexican city.

GENERAL HOUSTON: I was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Texas army in

November 1835, but not everyone wanted to follow me! I later recalled the irony of the
situation….

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 I was a general without an army,
serving under a pretended
government that had no head and no
loyal subjects to obey its commands.

NARRATOR 3: Houston wanted the Texas armies to fall back to Gonzales and Goliad, but
Colonel Neill convinced Bowie and his volunteers to stay and defend the Alamo.

GENERAL HOUSTON: I sent Jim Bowie and 30 volunteers to blow up and desert the
Alamo then fall back to Gonzales, but do you think they followed my orders??

JIM BOWIE: Colonel Neill convinced my volunteers to stay and defend the Alamo, and
they persuaded me, too. We had no transportation for two heavy cannons.

NARRATOR 4: In a letter to Governor Smith, Bowie explained why he decided to stay

and defend the Alamo.

NARRATOR 4: Though Jim Bowie and many others felt confident that the Alamo should
be defended, they sorely misjudged the breadth of the tragedy that would happen only
two months later.

NARRATORS 1, 2, 3 & 4: TEXAS WAS ON THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE!!!!