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Ottr Catholic Heritage in Texas
Texans were not disloyal to Mexico, but only resentful of the arbitrary measures of Bradburn, Austin agreed to accompany him to Texas. Mexia arrived at the mouth of the Brazos with four hundred men aboard the Brig-of-\,Var Santa Anna on July 16. He immediately sent a letter to John Austin, asking him if the movement had been "directed against the integrity of the national territory," or had been the result of ad- herence to the Plan of Vera Cruz. If the second, Mexia was ready to "unite with them" and to use the forces under his command to "pro- tect their adhesion to said plan." The Turtle Bayou Resolutions now proved fortunate, for they showed beyond question that the Texan Insurgents were adherents of the Plan of Vera Cruz, and not rebels against Mexico. The group of foolhardy Texans had saved themselves from premature annihilation, but they had, by so doing, become irrevocably involved in Mexican national politics. Mexia, after being wined and dined, sailed on July 24, 1832, to Mexico, where his forces were needed for the success of the Plan de Vera Cruz. The Texans, emboldened, forced Colonel Piedras and his garrison to abandon Nacogdoches and Colonel Ruiz to withdraw to San Antonio, as already noted. 62 Law and order had collapsed The expulsion of the troops from Texas, the defiance of the tariff regu- lations, the flagrant violations of the anti-slavery restrictions, and the slow and cumbersome processes of administering justice had bred con- tempt for the government as organized. A cha,nge was essential to avoid anarchy. The colonists believed that separation from Coahuila and the organization of Texas as an independent state of the Republic would cure all their ills. The liberal Plan of Vera Cruz, sponsored by Santa Anna, seemed to offer them an excellent opportunity for advancing their cause for local self-government under the Constitution of 1824. In conformity with the provision of the law which had united Coahuila and Texas, they decided to call a convention. Tl,e Conventions of r832 and r833. The Ayuntamiento of San Felipe took the initiative and issued in- vitations to all the other municipalities on August 22, 1832, to send delegates to a convention which was to meet on October r. Naturally, nothing was said in the call regarding independent statehood. It declared, on the contrary, that the purpose of the meeting was to re- 62 Barker, Life of Ste,Plttm F. A11sti11, 399-403, and his Mez:ico and Tez:a.s, 113-118.
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