Texas played an important role in the relationship of the United States and Mexico during the 1830s and 40s. Which of these do you think was most significant event in that relationship and why?
1) The settlement of Texas by 7,000 settlers from the United States in the 1820s.
2) Demands by American settlers and local Tejano elites, led by Stephen Austin, for greater independence from the government of Mexico.
3) The illegal use of slaves by American settlers in Texas, against the law of Mexico, which had abolished slavery.
4) The Mexican troops sent by Mexico’s ruler, General Santa Anna, to demonstrate the the authority of the Mexican government in Texas in 1836, which killed 187 American and Tejano seeking protection at a mission church at the Alamo.
5) The request by Sam Houston for United States’ recognition of the Republic of Texas in 1837, which was not given.
6) The cotton boom in Texas with an influx of United States settlers and slaves, swelling the population of Texas to 150,000 by 1845.
7) The U.S. occupation of disputed territory between Texas and Mexico, ordered by President Polk in 1846, after the government of Mexico refused to negotiate a sale price for the land.
8) The annexation of Texas territory by the United States as part of a treaty with Mexico to end the war in 1848.
