The
story of an independent republic, declared and fought over during the
span of ten months in 1840, begins years before that in the political
and social turmoil that embroiled Mexico and its vast geographical domain.
Repudiated by Mexican historians and validated in the writings of Texian
and American journalists and travelers, the Republic of the Rio Grande's
very existence, like almost everything else in the border
region, is a cause for contradictory opinions. Coming out of a valiant
and victorious struggle for independence in 1821 against the 300-year
rule of the great Spanish empire, Mexico eventually adopted the republican
constitution of 1824, which favored a federalist form of government.
Almost immediately, the young nation was set upon with attempts at reconquest
by Spain, as well as by an independence movement in its northern province
of Texas. Indeed, the Texan separatist faction based their secession
on the change
from the federalist form of government in Mexico to a centralist one
in 1836. This move from a states' rights government to one dictated
and funded from the capital in Mexico City, led to numerous revolts
in Yucatán , Zacatecas, and eventually the northern states of Tamaulipas,
Nuevo Leon, and Coahuila. Seeing an opening for its won expansion, France
also embarked on a blockade of Mexican seaports.
The
story of an independent republic, declared and fought over during the
span of ten months in 1840, begins years before that in the political
and social turmoil that embroiled Mexico and its vast geographical domain.
Repudiated by Mexican historians and validated in the writings of Texian
and American journalists and travelers, the Republic of the Rio Grande's
very existence, like almost everything else in the border
region, is a cause for contradictory opinions. Coming out of a valiant
and victorious struggle for independence in 1821 against the 300-year
rule of the great Spanish empire, Mexico eventually adopted the republican
constitution of 1824, which favored a federalist form of government.
Almost immediately, the young nation was set upon with attempts at reconquest
by Spain, as well as by an independence movement in its northern province
of Texas. Indeed, the Texan separatist faction based their secession
on the change
from the federalist form of government in Mexico to a centralist one
in 1836. This move from a states' rights government to one dictated
and funded from the capital in Mexico City, led to numerous revolts
in Yucatán , Zacatecas, and eventually the northern states of Tamaulipas,
Nuevo Leon, and Coahuila. Seeing an opening for its won expansion, France
also embarked on a blockade of Mexican seaports.
