Houston, Austin, Santa Ana ,Davy Davy Crockett Remember the Alamo! Lots of famous people and places to cover but here's the Texas Revolution in three minutes. So to understand the revolution we must start before the revolution. In 1821. Mexico was big, really big and fresh off its own battle for independence from Spain. It had a lot of land and nobody to inhabit it. Remember Native Americans didn't count back then. Sorry! So Mexico started a program we want you to become an empresario. Empresarios were in charge of recruiting new settlers. They didn't have money. They had land, lots of land and Americans love free stuff, especially free land. Empresario Stephen F. Austin recruited the first 300 families and established the town of San Felipe de Austin as the central hub of Texas. Things were OK, but then Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna became president. And even though he was elected, he acted like a crazy dictator doing very dictatory stuff like throw out the Constitution. The Texans didn't like that and suddenly they started to think of independence. Mexico was getting suspicious and in 1835, sent troops to take back a cannon they had loaned the Texan settlers in Gonzalas. When they arrived, come and take it, they were met with a flag and a big boom. Texas had started a revolution. Texan troops were even able to push the Mexican forces out of San Antonio and took command of the Alamo. Santa Ana was muy muy mad. He sent a force of 6500 men, including himself to Texas, first stop the Alamo inside were famous Texans like Jim Bowie, William Travis and the Hero Frontiersman from Tennessee. Davy Davy Crockett. Meanwhile, over in the bustling town of Washington on the Brazos, a group of other men gathered, and on March 2nd, 1836 declared. Texas is independent four days later. Santa Anna's troops attacked the Alamo at daybreak and within an hour or so, all 180 Texans lay dead, including Davy Davy Crockett. When the news spread. Everyone freaked out. They began to retreat in what's called the runaway scrape and burned their cities to the ground so Sant Anna's troops would find no supplies A few weeks later Mexican troops captured 340 more Texan soldiers as they retreated from Goliad and on Palm Sunday they executed them all and burned their bodies in the Goliad Massacre. Texas was getting walloped, but one man had a plan. Here comes the General Sam Houston. The Texan retreat allowed him to build an army. Pretty much any man with a gun could join the fight and on a swampy patch of earth called San Jacinto Houston and his 900 men met up with Santa Ana's much larger army and in the middle of the afternoon, on April 21st, Houston launched an attack. Surprise! Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad! The Texans overwhelmed the Mexican Army and won the battle in just 18 minutes. 650 Mexicans died. And only 11 Texans. Santa Ana was captured the next day, hiding in the brush and forced to sign the Treaty of Velasco, acknowledging Texas as an independent nation. Well, the revolution was over, but Mexico never officially recognized Texas, and when Texas joined the USA in 1845, it even started the Mexican American War. But that's a whole other story. For now. Texas was independent. If you love Texas, make Davy Crockett proud history, check out our Texas History playlist with longer videos