Imagine you are a settler living in Gonzales in October of 1835. You witness Mexican soldiers approaching your town demanding the return of a cannon previously given to you to protect yourself against the Indians. You have two options: 1) fight to keep the cannon knowing that if you decide to join the others and fight, there might be casualties (dead settlers). Or 2) you can try to convince the other settlers to give back the cannon peacefully in order to avoid dying or having other people die, and possibly avoiding war.