13. Actively opposed by the “Father of Texas” Stephen F. Austin, the Republic of Fredonia was a premature attempt by Americans to claim Texas for their own in 1826
Purchasing a vast tract of land and the right to colonize it, upon arriving in Texas Empresario Haden Edwards immediately encountered opposition from locals already inhabiting the area. Forcibly removing residents and reselling their land, Edwards eventually provoked the Mexican government sufficiently that it revoked his grant and ordered him to depart. Responding violently, Edwards gathered his militia and marched on the town of Nacogdoches in December 1826. Seizing the Old Stone Fort, Edwards and his followers proclaimed his former colony to be the independent Republic of Fredonia on December 21.
Sending emissaries to the neighboring colony run by Stephen Austin, Edwards was instead denounced by the future “Father of Texas”. Announcing that “infatuated madmen at Nacogdoches have declared independence”, Austin alternatively rallied almost three hundred militiamen and marched on Nacogdoches alongside Mexican soldiers to restore order. Forced to flee back to the United States in the face of overwhelming odds, the short-lived republic was cast down on January 23, 1827. Following the failed secession, the Mexican government increased its military presence and prohibited American migration to the region in an attempt to hold onto its possession, but would nevertheless ultimately succumb to the Texas Revolution in 1836.