It’s 1830, and your family has been living in Texas for three years. The farm and fields finally feel like home, but sometimes you still miss your old house in Missouri.
Then one night you hear your parents talking and wonder if you’ll have to go back there. They’re upset with the Mexican government, which rules over Texas. “First they raised our taxes,” your father says, “and now they want to keep out all Americans!” Your mother says, “It’s wrong, but what can we do?”
For more than 200 years, Spain ruled most of the Southwest region, including Mexico and Texas. In 1821, Mexico won its freedom from Spain, and after that, Texas was part of Mexico. But settlers in Texas had come from many places besides Mexico. Most were from the United States. The Mexican government wanted to keep Americans from settling in Texas. First, it raised taxes in the territory. Then, it stopped letting people come in from the United States. Many people in Texas thought these laws were unfair.
