Antonio was born on February 21, 1794, in Jalapa, Mexico. He was sent to a military academy at the age of 16. In his conquests, he even fought Miguel Hidalgo. Hidalgo was actually one of the original leaders of the independence movement. Throughout these battles, he distinguished himself as a great leader and fighter. Some even believe that even though he had a great career as far as ascending the ranks, it would have been even more efficient if a gambling scandal had not interfered. Despite this, Santa Anna quickly ascended the ranks in the military, so much so that he became Colonel at age 26. His reputation continued on the incline when he took a critical part in defeating a Spanish effort to reconquer their colony in 1829. He would eventually become president in 1833. There, he held power until the push for independence in Mexico came from several American forces.

Although the President of Mexico did not do much for the push in independence, he had a lot of influence in the other way. The only thing that he did that helped the push was agreeing to demands such as the immigration band. On the other hand, he had officials arrest one of the most prominent members of the strive for independence (later even known as the Father of Texas), Stephen Austin, on January 3, 1834. He also abruptly made …show more content…
Even though he had some Texan support, he ignorantly stomped over the state as a whole with a massive army, not giving anyone a chance to take his side. He would first defeat the rebels and execute this plan at the Battle of the Alamo and Goliad, too. He then divided his strong force, which proved to be a costly blunder. This allowed Sam Houston to defeat him at the Battle of San Jacinto. He was then forced by Houston to sign papers that stated not only that he was defeated, but also that he recognized the Republic of