Stephen F. Austin was selected to travel to Mexico City to present the resolutions (decisions) made at the Convention of 1833 to the Mexican officials. Upon arriving in Mexico City, Stephen F. Austin was forced to wait four months before he was able to meet with the new president, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Growing impatient, Austin decided to write a letter suggesting Texas leaders to create a new state government that would make Texas a separate Mexican state from Coahuila. His hope was to show Santa Anna that Texas was ready to become its own independent state and that they could be prosperous and follow the Constitution of 1824.

Eventually Austin met with Santa Anna. During their meeting, Santa Anna agreed to resume immigration from the United States, create a fair tax system and create a better postal system. However, Santa Anna rejected the idea of a separate statehood for Texas. This did not please Austin and returned back to Texas. On his way back home in December of 1833, Mexican officials arrested Austin as they had intercepted the letter that encouraged settlers to create their own separate state government. Mexican officials viewed this as an act of treason and threw Austin in jail. Austin spent one year in jail and was not allowed to return home until the summer of 1835 during which Santa Anna had abused his power and established himself as a dictator. On his return, Austin knew that only way to achieve Texas’ prosperity and protect it from unfair government rule was to revolt and fight for it.