05/14/2026
The Treaties of Velasco were two documents, signed by interim president David G. Burnet and Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna at Velasco on May 14, 1836, after defeat of the Mexican forces at the battle of San Jacinto. The public treaty was to be published immediately, and the private treaty was to be carried into ex*****on when the public treaty had been fulfilled.
The public treaty had 10 articles, including that hostilities would cease, that Santa Anna would not again take up arms against Texas, that the Mexican forces would withdraw beyond the Rio Grande, that restoration would be made of property confiscated by Mexicans, that prisoners would be exchanged on an equal basis, and that Santa Anna would be sent to Mexico as soon as possible.
The private treaty had 5 articles, including the immediate liberation of Santa Anna on condition that he use his influence to secure from Mexico acknowledgment of Texas independence. Santa Anna also promised not to take up arms against Texas, to give orders for withdrawal from Texas of Mexican troops, to have the Mexican cabinet receive a Texas mission favorably, and to work for a treaty specifying that the Texas boundary be the Rio Grande.
Mexican troops began withdrawing, but the Texas army - unaware of the private treaty - refused to let Santa Anna be sent to Mexico, which prevented the Texas government from being able to carry out the private treaty.
On May 20, the government in Mexico City declared Santa Anna's acts done as a captive void. With the Treaties of Velasco violated by both Texas and Mexico, Texas independence was not recognized by Mexico until the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848.
