I love irony. I had to post this, given all the noise today from Texas, about electrifying the wall to keep Mexicans out, and fears of an armed U.S. invasion of their state. I came across the following while editing the section of my book that recounted one of our many visits to Texas. Don’t get me wrong, my fifth great-grandmother settled Texas, my family name is listed on the wall in the Alamo Museum, The Alamo is a beautiful shrine to the Texas Revolution, but every time  I read this display quote I crack up.

Directly from the of the Museum at the Alamo:

A New Population: Spanish officials, concerned about Texas’ sparse population had decided to invite colonists from the United States to settle in Texas before Mexico declared her independence. The new Mexican government adopted the colonization plan as its own, hoping the colonists would contribute to the region’s economic prosperity. The first colonists, led by Stephen F. Austin, arrived in 1821. By 1828 there were so many immigrants from the United States in Texas that in some areas they outnumbered the Mexican population by 10 to 1. Manuel de Mier y Terán, a Mexican official sent to Texas that year, reported in alarm that Texas was becoming more American than Mexican and would be lost if the flow of settlers from the United States was not stopped. In 1830 the Mexican government, in response to Mier y Terán’s warning, closed Texas to further immigration from the United States. It also established several new forts in Texas to strengthen its presence, prohibited the importation of slaves and opened customhouses to collect taxes and stop illegal trade with the United States.

There was an additional quote at the bottom of the display, from Mier y Terán in 1828, that said “They (the American Colonists) all go about with their Constitution in their pocket demanding their rights.”

Does any one else see the irony in this bit of history?