7th Grade Texas History Practice Test

The main idea is political control and local rights. Texans who moved into Mexican Texas wanted to govern themselves more than the central Mexican government allowed. When the Mexican government, under Santa Anna, shifted toward central authority and began enforcing laws that restricted immigration from the United States, limited slavery in practice, and increased taxes and military presence in Texas, the settlers felt their local autonomy, economic interests, and way of life were being threatened. Those tensions—fights over how Texas should be governed, who made the laws, and how much control Texans should have over their communities—sparked the rebellion. Other factors like economic hardship, alliances with France, or Native uprisings played much smaller roles in causing the conflict.