I just saw, for the first time, a fairly old TV movie about the historical deeds of Sam Houston. Starring Sam Elliott, the movie was titled "Gone To Texas." I have the strong impression that the writers tried hard to be accurate and even-handed in their portrayal of events.
On one side, they rebutted my own belief that all the Anglos who settled in Texas initially intended to be obedient citizens of Mexico. Houston and James Bowie were depicted discussing their _advance_ intention to take Texas away from Santa Ana's government.
But having shown they were not Gringo chauvinists, the writers _also_ made it clear that Santa Ana still _deserved_ to lose Texas. His courts denied presumption of innocence; he imprisoned dissenters, Fidel Castro style; and he had no qualms about _pretending_ to offer mercy to opponents and then killing them when they surrendered. Texans _weren't_ the only ones who wished to be rid of Santa Ana; the movie makes it plain that _many_ Mexicans hated his tyranny, which was why there _were_ Mexicans fighting on the Texan side in that revolution.
In a sidebar, the movie revealed that Sam Houston also got on well with Native Americans-- much better than Andrew Jackson did!
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