Once upon a time there was a man named Moses Austin. Moses Austin had a dream to start a U.S. colony in Spanish Texas.

Moses Austin

Unfortunately Moses Austin died soon after he was granted a piece of land from Spain. So his son Stephen Austin took over his father's dream.

Stephen Austin

Stephen Austin arrived in Texas right as Mexico was gaining independence from Spain. Mexican officials agreed to let Stephen keep his colony in Texas.

But there were certain conditions for Stephen's colony to keep their land. They had to become Mexican citizens and join the Roman Catholic Church.

Complaints began to arise among the American settlers. They complained about documents being in Spanish, taking orders from Mexican officials, and especially the outlaw of slavery in Mexico in 1829.

Eventually Mexico closed off any further U.S. immigration into Texas. This caused the Texans to get angry. When Stephen Austin was released from jail in 1835 the Texans rose up and revolted.

In Febuary of 1836 a large amount of Santa Anna's army marched to San Antonio, Texas. There were 180 defenders against 1,500 Mexican troops.

There were many well known fighters defending the Alamo such as Davy Crockett, William Travis, and James Bowie. They were all killed by Santa Anna's army.