Final answer:
Americans were drawn to Texas by land opportunities, facilitated by the empresario system and generous land terms offered by Mexico. Tejanos, initially allies in independence, became overshadowed by incoming American settlers who refused to integrate into Mexican society and contravened Mexican slavery laws, leading to the Texas Revolution.
Step-by-step explanation:
After the fall of the Alamo, many Americans were drawn to Texas to support their compatriots and to seek the opportunities that the vast tracts of land offered. Texas committees in cities such as New York and New Orleans actively recruited volunteers, with promises of cheap land in Texas, further fueling the colonization efforts. Early on, several companies of Tejanos, or Mexican residents of Texas, were active in the fight for independence and also defended the Alamo, though their contributions have been largely undervalued historically.
Under Moses Austin and later his son Stephen, the empresario system facilitated the settling of American colonists in Texas. Mexico, after gaining independence from Spain, desired to populate Texas and passed laws to encourage immigration, offering land at generous terms without minimum purchase requirements and with the option to pay in installments. To attract settlers and as a buffer against Native tribes and American expansion, Spain and later Mexico offered large land grants to settlers, often at prices significantly lower than those in the United States.
Despite efforts by the Mexican government to integrate Americans into Mexican society through laws mandating the use of Spanish and Catholicism, the Texans maintained their cultural identity and eventually dominated local Texas politics. The situation escalated as Americans brought hundreds of slaves with them, contravening Mexican laws that restricted slavery. By not naturalizing as Mexican citizens and ignoring the Mexican slavery laws, tensions between the Mexican government and the American settlers in Texas increased, eventually leading to the Texas Revolution.