Texas as a Republic:
An Independent Texas
Essential Questions
What issues did Texas face as they faced
transitioned from a colony to an
independent nation?
What conditions led to the Texans being
annexed by the United States?
Establishing the Republic
• Burnet was Ad Interim president for 6 months
• In July 1836, Burnet called for an election for
permanent government officers
– Stephen F. Austin, Henry Smith, and Sam Houston all
were interested in being president of the Republic of
Texas
• Sam Houston: 5119 votes (San Jacinto victory made
him a hero)
• Henry Smith: 743 votes
• Stephen F. Austin: 587 votes
Establishing the Republic, con’t
• On same ballot, 3277 Texans voted to be
immediately annexed by the US
• 91 people voted against annexation
Shoulder Partner….
Why did the people of Texas think
immediate annexation would be
the best solution to the problems
the Republic of Texas was facing?
Problems in the New Republic
• Republic of Texas first election
– Sam Houston=President
Mirabeau Lamar
– Mirabeau B. Lamar=Vice President
Sam Houston
• Problems
1. Mexico refused to recognize that Texas was
independent country
2. Sam Houston needed to convince other nations (like
US) that Texas was own country
3. Financial problems
•
Debts Texas Revolution and no money to repay them
4. Indians
• Resented people invading their land
• Threatened war
Talk to your table group…
What could have been some of
the solutions to the problems?
• Solutions
– Sam Houston thought best solution was to be
annexed by US
– Limited government spending
– Set up Cabinet to help him and provide stability
• SFA=Secretary of State
• Henry Smith=Secretary of the Treasury
• Thomas J. Rusk=Secretary of War
Death of SFA
• Died at 43
• Sam Houston declared 30 Day period of
Mourning to honor him
A New Capital
• 1st=Columbia, TX (declared by David Burnet)
• 2nd=Houston, TX
– Built by John and Augustus Allen
– Named in Honor of Sam Houston
– Remained capitol during Sam Houston’s 1st time as
President of the Republic
– Bad conditions there
• Hot, humid, rainy, muddy streets, diseases (mosquitos)
John and Augustus Allen
Map of Early
Houston
First Attempt at Annexation
• Most Texans wanted to be annexed by US
• Most came from US—like how things were done there
• Most thought US would be glad to take Texas so US could expand
westward
• Problem: slavery; took almost 10 years for Texas to be annexed
• Group of Texans worked on bill to pass through US Congress to try to
get Texas annexed
– Former US President John Quincy Adams blocked bill=slavery
– Sam Houston finally had annexation request withdrawn
didn’t want Texas to be embarrassed
by not getting annexed
Financial Woes
• Sam Houston became President of Republic
– Texas had debt of one million
– Texas needed revenue (money…income of a
government_
• Started taxing people
• Texas issued Promissory Notes
– People bought them from Texas with promise that Texas would
pay them back (like a bond)
– Called Star Money
– Most people wouldn’t accept/buy them…afraid Texas couldn’t
pay them back
Trouble in the Army
• Mexican government refused to accept Treaties of Velasco
• Much tension between Mexico and Texas
• Felix Huston
– Commander of Texas Army
– Wanted to renew war with Mexico
Felix Huston
• Sam Houston wanted to prevent war
– Replaced Huston with Albert Sydney Johnston
– Duel
– But, Huston remained in command
• Sent all but 600 soldiers home on leave and
they never were called back to duty…
government couldn’t pay them
Albert Sydney Johnston
Houston’s Native Texan Policy
• Indians resented Anglos moving into their land
• Texas Congress refused to ratify treaty Houston
made with Cherokees during TX Revolution
– Peace=land title for Cherokees
– Not honored
• Indians fought back
• Sam Houston got help from Texas Rangers
• Sam Houston wanted to work with Indians
– Got no support from Texans…wanted Indians gone
Election of 1838
• Republic of Texas Constitution set terms
– President = in office for only 2 years; could not
serve 2 terms in a row
– Sam Houston could not run for president again
– Mirabeau B. Lamar elected
• Lamar and Houston did not agree on many things
Section 2
A Different Vision for Texas
Lamar’s Plan for the Republic
• Lamar: 2nd president of Republic of Texas
• Very different from Sam Houston…both strong leaders
• Houston: didn’t spend much money; promoted annexation,
wanted peace with Mexico and Indians
• Lamar
–
–
–
–
OK with another war with Mexico
Wanted all Indians out of Texas
Borrowed money for military expeditions
Wanted Texas to remain independent and expand
Clashes with Native Texans
• Cherokees
– Lamar ordered Cherokee Chief Bowles
out of TX; he refused
– Called in military—fight, Bowles killed, Cherokees forced into OK
• Comanches
– After a few skirmishes, Comanches met with Texans in 1840 and
promised to release Anglo captives…only released one girl,
Matilda Lockhart…looked like she had been tortured
– Texans furious…wouldn’t let Comanches leaders leave until all
captives released
– Leaders tried to leave…were attacked and some killed
• Attack known as Council
House Fight
http://www.forttours.com/pages/chiefbowles.asp
• When Comanches got news of Council House
Fight, got really mad and killed all Texas captives
• Also Comanches raided towns of Linnville and
Victoria
• Felix Huston and men fought back; lots of Indians
killed
– Battle of Plum Creek
– Resulted in bad feelings between Texans and
Comanches
Council House
Fight
Battle of Plum
Creek
Relations with Mexico
• Lamar made things worse with Mexico
– Edwin Moore (commander of Texas Navy)
helped a revolt against Mexico…increased tension
– Issues with boundary between Mexico and Texas
became problem
• Lamar wanted boundary to extend all way up Rio Grande
and include parts of New Mexico (still part of Mexico)
• Made Mexicans mad
• Lamar sent a group of Texans to Santa Fe, New
Mexico to convince them they were Texans
• Didn’t work
• Texans didn’t have supplies to get home so
surrendered to Mexicans
• Men kept in Mexican prison for 2 years
– Became known as the Santa Fe Expedition
– Increased tensions with Mexico
A New Capital
• Lamar moved capital city…thought it needed
to be more centrally located
• Capital was along Colorado River…named
Austin (for Stephen F. Austin)
Education
• Lamar best known for contributions to public
education
• Texas Congress set aside 18,000 acres in each
county of Texas for public schools
• Also set aside 220,000 acres for 2 colleges
• Lamar called
– Father of Education
Financial Difficulties
• Value of Texas money called Redbacks went
down
– One Redback = about 12 cents at the time
• Lamar spent too much money on battles with
Indians and Santa Fe Expedition
• Public Debt =
7 million
Land Policy
• Texas government gave away about 37 million
acres of land to settlers
• Population increased to about 100,000 by
1845
• Texas sold some land to private investors
– Created the General Land Office in 1837 to handle
land titles, etc
Section 3
Houston’s Return Leads to Annexation
Sam Houston as President Again
• Sam Houston = President of Republic of Texas in
1841
– Edward Burleson = VP
– Houston still had same beliefs and policies as before
– Order of Presidents of the Republic of Texas
•
•
•
•
Sam Houston
Mirabeau Lamar
Sam Houston
Anson Jones
A Return to Houston’s Policies
• Reduced govt spending
– Eliminated Texas Navy and reduced size of TX
Army
•
•
•
•
Keep peace with Mexico
Ordered Edwin Moore to return to TX
Moore disobeyed; went to New Orleans
Houston declared Moore a pirate and gave other
countries permission to sink his ships…Moore came
home
The Mier Expedition
• Conflicts arose in Mexico…Mexicans (Generals
Vasquez and Woll ) took control of San
Antonio…ended up taking Texas hostages
• Sam Houston sent a general to pursue General
Woll and rescue the hostages
• Mexicans crossed Rio Grande (border) and Texas
soldiers couldn’t go into Mexico
• Texas soldiers were mad….didn’t want to leave
without a fight
• Decided to cross Rio Grande into Mexico anyway
• Texans demanded that citizens of Mexican city of Mier provide them with
supplies
• Mexicans captured Texans at Mier and started toward Mexico City
• Men escaped at Salado, TX…Mexicans recaptured them
• Santa Anna ordered one out of every 10 men be put to death and the rest
imprisoned for life
– Each prisoner drew a bean from a mug…black bean meant firing squad
– White bean meant prison (many died in prison; others released in 1844)
Reflection
Draw beans from a Mug
How did it feel before you drew out your bean?
How did it feel when you saw the bean you got?
Do you think the Texans felt the same way?
The Archives War
• Tension with Mexico made people want to move
capital from Austin
– Sam Houston didn’t want Austin to be capital
• Thought it too approachable and easily invaded by Mexicans
and Indians
• Lamar’s supporters in Austin resented that Sam Houston
wanted to move capital
• Sam Houston made capital Washington-on-the
Brazos
• Capital became W-O-B but state archives stayed in
Austin
• What is an Archive?
• People of Austin didn’t want archives moved
– When Sam Houston’s men had loaded up archives on a
wagon, citizens of Austin (Angelina Eberly) set off
cannon…Austin citizens chased wagons and returned
archives to Austin
– Archives then stayed in Austin throughout Houston’s
term as president
– Next President of Republic (Anson Jones) set up Austin as
his capital city
Regulator-Moderator War
• Some East Texas counties were having problems with
criminals…holdover from Neutral Ground Agreement
• Regulators=wanted to end lawlessness
– Sometimes tactics were violent
• Moderators=wanted to stop excessive use of force
• Feud started between 2 groups
• Sam Houston had to send troops into stop fights
• Even though fighting stopped, bad feelings remained
Houston’s Efforts to Gain Annexation
• Sam Houston continued to push for annexation—had
representatives (Isaac Van Zandt & J. Pickney Henderson)
in Washington DC to continue push for annexation
• A new US president (John Tyler of Virginia) and his
secretary of state agreed a treaty that would accept
Texas
• But, US Senate voted not to accept Texas…only by one
vote
• But, because it was so close, annexation of Texas was a
major topic in next US presidential election
The Elections of 1844
• 1844: Anson Jones became president of Texas
• Also, in US presidential election that year,
annexation of Texas was major topic
• James K Polk (from Tennessee) won
presidential election….indicated that most US
voters supported Texas annexation
Texas Becomes a State
• February 26, 1845: US Congress approved a Joint Resolution (law
passed by Senate and House of Representatives) to accept Texas into US
• Texas was 28th state admitted to US
• Mexico only offered to recognize Texas’ independence if Texas would
NOT become part of US
– Texas Congress voted for annexation and wrote a state Constitution
– Texas voters approved Texas Constitution
– Texas became a state in US on Dec 29, 1845
• Texas was 28th State in US in 1845