| In
the early days of American colonization, the Spanish and
Mexican authorities allowed travelers and goods to land
duty-free to encourage the economic development of Texas.
| 
Trouble breaks out
at Anahuac, May 1832
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Militia journal describing
the schooner Brazoria and the action at
Velasco, June 1832
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Samuel Williams on
the need for loyalty to Mexico, July 1832
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In addition to its importance
to American settlers, the Texas coast was also vital to
Mexican hopes of retaining control of the province. It
was a twelve-day march over dry, harsh terrain from Monclova,
Mexico, to San Antonio in Texas. Most Mexican military
authorities believed such a march would be hazardous in
almost any season, and their plans relied on using ships
to transport troops and supplies to Texas in the event
of an uprising among the Americans.
William Wharton calling
for reinforcements at Brazoria, July 1832
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In 1830, Mexico instituted
a ban on further American immigration to Texas. To enforce
the ban and to begin the collection of duties, Mexico
established army garrisons at Velasco, near Brazoria,
and at Anahuac, near Galveston. Americans protested the
new laws through official channels, and some took the
law into their own hands, simply overpowering Mexican
waterfront guards to load and unload their ships without
having to pay the port charges. The thinly staffed garrisons
were no match for the angry and well-armed Texans. A number
of Americans who later became prominent in the Texas Revolution,
most notably William B. Travis, first came to notice during
the so-called Anahuac Disturbances in 1831 and 1832.
At Velasco, Americans mounted
an armed attack to seize two cannons at the Mexican garrison.
Ten Texans and five Mexicans were killed in the fighting
before the Mexicans were forced to surrender when their
ammunition ran out. After the bloodshed, Mexico relaxed
its efforts to collect customs along the Texas coast for
the next several years.
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