The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 37, July 1933 - April, 1934 Page: 1

THE
SOUTHWESTERN HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
VOL. XXXVII JULY, 1933 No. 1
The publication committee and the editors disclaim responsibility for views expressed
by contributors to THE QUARTERLY
A CRITICAL STUDY OF THE SIEGE OF THE ALAMO
AND OF THE PERSONNEL OF ITS DEFENDERS
AMELIA WILLIAMS
CHAPTER II
SANTA ANNA'S INVASION OF TEXAS, AND HIS INVESTMENT AND FINAL
ASSAULT OF THE ALAMO
1. The Conditions in Mexico in 1836
When Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna' was elected president of
Mexico in 1833, he was a leader of the Federalist party and was
supposed to be in favor of even radical reforms. But what the
man really wanted was power, rank and wealth for himself. He
soon saw that these things lay in the hands of the church and of
the central government, so he stripped off his mask of republican-
ism, and by a coup d'etat contrived to bring about the Plan de
Cuernavaca which declared against proscriptive laws, religious
reforms, and toleration of Masonic sects,2 and pronounced all laws
void which were contrary to these views.3 This plainly meant that
Santa Anna wished to become dictator and that the reactionaries
2See Chapter III for a biographical sketch of Santa Anna.
'Clarence R. Wharton, El Presidente, Santa Anna, 24-25. Wharton
says, "Santa Anna was himself a Yorkish Rite Mason, although he dis-
avowed affiliation with any secret order. It is known, however, that
he gave the distress signal of the Masonic order when he was brought
in as a prisoner at San Jacinto in 1836, and it is a tradition in Texas
that this signal, given to John A. Wharton who organized the first
Masonic lodge in Texas, saved Santa Anna's life.
'George Lockhart Rives, The United States and Mexico, I, 228.