The Fredonian Rebellion was a brief and unsuccessful uprising in Texas. In the fall of 1826 Haden Edwards and his brother, Benjamin, came to Texas to become empresarios, or land agents. The Edwards brothers had been wealthy land speculators, a person who buys land with the hope of selling it for a larger profit. They received their land contract for the Nacogdoches area. When the brothers arrived in Nacogdoches they found settlers and Native Americans living there some with land titles and others with no land titles because early on, the Spanish and then the Mexican government's neglected this part of Texas since it was located so far from the capital, Mexico City. The Edwards brothers demanded that Native Americans leave, and that Tejano settlers buy the land from them or leave as well. The Mexican government saw this as a heavy-handed policy and sided with the settlers as they wanted to keep the land populated. The brothers were angered and began to take matters into their own hands. Mexico then decide to revoke the Edwards contract because of this and Haden responded by declaring his colony as an independent nation, creating the Republic of Fredonia on December 21, 1826. Mexican officials and Stephen F. Austin heard of this rebellion and immediately sent troops to Texas to shut it down. When the troops arrived, the Edwards brothers had fled Nacogdoches. The Republic of Fredonia was short-lived ending January 23, 1827. Although there was no bloodshed or major conflicts, this event changed the political interaction between the Anglo settlers and the Mexican government.