The Spanish government at the time (not yet Mexico--before independence) could not keep settlements in the Texas area because the Comanche were so brutal they kept wiping out people.
They invited Tennesseans, in the spirit of Andrew Jackson, the great Indian fighter, to come to Texas and be given vast tracks of land if they would fight and eliminate the Comanche. They were told they could bring their slaves, create plantations, be protestant, and all the other essences of American frontier life.
It was only AFTER these men, Steven Austin, Sam Houston and such, had taken the Spanish up on these offers and made their home--and waging war on the Comanche--that the Mexican government decided they were going to force these people to accede to the Mexican dictator, Santa Ana.
They stood up to the Comanche. No way would they bow to the one-legged Mexican tyrant! The rest, as they say, is history!
