Texas Declaration of Independence and the Priesthood

2,333 Views | 5 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by The Shank Ag
Smokedraw01
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Two parts of the Texas Declaration of Independence basically states that Santa Anna's centralization of power was only to the benefit of the army and the priesthood. I've not read anything that discusses this, so I thought I would go to the people that know the answers. What were they referring to when they made these mentions?

Thanks for any help you provide.
Liquid Wrench
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Funny, I don't remember ever hearing or seeing that discussed much, but looking at the language it is pretty fiery.

I think some of the context might lay in what I remember from Dr. Calvert's lecture comments about "Muldoon Catholics." These were early settlers, largely from the American South, who had to officially convert to Catholicism in order to hold land in the Spanish territory - but weren't really faithful converts and may have resented the requirement. Some Catholic priests supported Mexican independence from Spain and could be linked to the new Mexican government. Catholicism remained the exclusive religion in the early years of Mexico's independence from Spain. So the Texas revolutionaries may have simply equated church officials with the government they were rebelling against, along with standard complaints about the Catholic church's central hierarchy.
BQ78
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AG
Good post. Not only did they support the revolution, they led it in the person of Fr. Hidalgo.

Interesting fact I learned yesterday from Texas Highways, Goliad was orignially named La Bahia the same as the presidio but after the Mexican Revolution it was changed to Goli[h]ad as an anagram in honor of Hidalgo.
Smokedraw01
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ChiliBeans said:

Funny, I don't remember ever hearing or seeing that discussed much, but looking at the language it is pretty fiery.

I think some of the context might lay in what I remember from Dr. Calvert's lecture comments about "Muldoon Catholics." These were early settlers, largely from the American South, who had to officially convert to Catholicism in order to hold land in the Spanish territory - but weren't really faithful converts and may have resented the requirement. Some Catholic priests supported Mexican independence from Spain and could be linked to the new Mexican government. Catholicism remained the exclusive religion in the early years of Mexico's independence from Spain. So the Texas revolutionaries may have simply equated church officials with the government they were rebelling against, along with standard complaints about the Catholic church's central hierarchy.


There was a specific grievance about not being able to worship as they saw fit. The two I'm talking about specifically name the priesthood as gaining from Santa Anna's actions.

Thanks for the response.
PabloSerna
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AG
Smokedraw01 said:

ChiliBeans said:

Funny, I don't remember ever hearing or seeing that discussed much, but looking at the language it is pretty fiery.

I think some of the context might lay in what I remember from Dr. Calvert's lecture comments about "Muldoon Catholics." These were early settlers, largely from the American South, who had to officially convert to Catholicism in order to hold land in the Spanish territory - but weren't really faithful converts and may have resented the requirement. Some Catholic priests supported Mexican independence from Spain and could be linked to the new Mexican government. Catholicism remained the exclusive religion in the early years of Mexico's independence from Spain. So the Texas revolutionaries may have simply equated church officials with the government they were rebelling against, along with standard complaints about the Catholic church's central hierarchy.


There was a specific grievance about not being able to worship as they saw fit. The two I'm talking about specifically name the priesthood as gaining from Santa Anna's actions.

Thanks for the response.

My understanding was that Santa Anna was power hungry and not a friend of the Catholic Church (at least the lower class clerics like Hidalgo and Morelos) who lead the people to revolt against the upper class.

As for why Texans opposed the Catholic Church - I'm going with the Freemason aspect. Both Texans and Mexican leaders kept fighting off the Catholic Church. So I think this was more of the same.
Liquid Wrench
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Quote:

There was a specific grievance about not being able to worship as they saw fit.
Makes sense given the land ownership requirement. I think there were even special rules for the Muldoon Catholics, but you've got to get into the weeds of obscure journal research for that era. I've heard some of the Masonic stuff but don't know where to find credible sourcing.
The Shank Ag
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Smokedraw01 said:

Two parts of the Texas Declaration of Independence basically states that Santa Anna's centralization of power was only to the benefit of the army and the priesthood. I've not read anything that discusses this, so I thought I would go to the people that know the answers. What were they referring to when they made these mentions?

Thanks for any help you provide.
Not sure the answer to your question, but George C Childress, the author, was my great (insert more greats) great uncle
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