Sam Houston Readings
Sam Houston
President of Texas, 1836-1838 and 1841-1844
Introduction:
Sam Houston was the first elected president of the Republic of Texas. His role as
commander of the Texan army and hero of the Battle of San Jacinto helped him to
win the election of 1836. Houston was immediately confronted with several problems. First, Mexico refused
to completely recognize Texas as independent. The Republic of Texas also faced severe economic (moneyrelated) problems. Texas had debt left over from the Texas Revolution. Finally, as more settlers poured in
from the US, conflict with Native Americans grew as a result of settlers taking their land. He also worked on
selecting a capital. Houston had his hands full as the first elected president of Texas.
According to the Texas Constitution, a person couldn’t be elected two times in a row. After Lamar’s term as
president, Houston was elected to another term. His main focus was to return peace, decrease the public
debt, and prepare Texas for statehood.
Sam Houston
President of Texas, 1836-1838 and 1841-1844
Foreign Policy:
Houston knew that Texas was vulnerable (easily hurt). The United States recognized
Texas as an independent country, but Mexico did not. Texas had a small army and no
money to spend raising one, so Houston tried hard to avoid conflict with other countries, especially Mexico.
Houston recognized that although they had bested (beaten) Mexico once, they may not fare well (do well)
again. Many other Texans did not agree with Houston, and they wanted to continue war with Mexico. When
some Texan leaders in the army tried to renew conflict with Mexico, Houston dismissed a large part of the
Texan army, leaving only a force of 600 soldiers. This avoided soldiers starting a conflict with Mexico, and it
also helped to lower the Republic’s debt because they no longer had to pay the salary (paycheck) of those
soldiers. Houston decided to rely on the Texas Rangers, a special military police force, to help Texans to
protect their homes from attacks by the American Indians and the Mexican soldiers who crossed the border.
In Houston’s second term, he tried to avoid further conflict stirred up by Lamar, but Houston’s orders to the
army to stay out of Mexico were ignored, and disaster ensued (happened next). Because of the Santa Fe
Expedition (when Lamar sent Texas troops to Santa Fe), Mexico began to invade Texas. Houston sent Texas
Rangers to guard the border, and the threat was over. However, three hundred Texans remained and crossed
into Mexico, to the town of Mier, in 1842. After fighting a battle for two days, the Texans surrendered. They
were marched farther into Mexico, and some of them were executed (killed) by Santa Anna, who was the ruler
of Mexico again. The prisoners had to draw a bean from a jar of white beans and black beans. The men who
pulled out a black bean were killed.
Sam Houston
President of Texas, 1836-1838 and 1841-1844
Native Americans:
Conflict with Native Americans grew during the Republic years, as more white
settlers moved onto Native American land. Houston felt that many white settlers did
not respect the Native Americans’ claims to the land. Houston had lived with the Cherokee Indians and was
given the nickname “The Raven” by the Cherokee. Houston did not view the Native Americans as inferior
(lower rank or lower quality), but many Texans did. Houston was very angry when the Texas Legislature broke
their word to the Cherokee and took their land. Houston had negotiated a treaty with the Cherokee Chief,
Chief Bowles, which the Texas Senate would not keep. Houston tried to get Cherokees titles (official
ownership documents) to their land because he knew that white settlers did not respect Cherokee claims to
the land, despite the Cherokee having lived there for many years (since about 1820).
Houston, as well as Lamar, used the Texas Rangers to patrol (watch or guard) the territory closest to the Plains
Indians (Comanches and Apaches) and to protect white settlers living in these areas. Still, Houston expected
the settlers to live in peace with the Indians, as evidenced (proven) by the following quote in a letter to the
Texas Rangers,
“I have been informed that there are some persons on the frontier who have a disposition to bother
the Lipan Apaches. Should any property be stolen from the Indians, or injury done to them, I hope
you will have active measures taken for its restoration and for the preservation of their friendship.”
Despite Houston’s efforts to maintain peace with the Native Americans, violence still continued
during his terms as president, though less than during Lamar’s term as president.
Another conflict between different ethnic groups was the Cordova Rebellion. After the Texas
Revolution, there had been an influx (arrival of many people) of Americans into Nacogdoches,
where the population was primarily Mexican or Tejano. Some Tejanos living in Nacogdoches
remained loyal to Mexico. One loyalist was Vicente Cordova. He, along with some Native
Americans who were loyal to Mexico, began to organize almost 400 people along the Angelina
River. There was a skirmish (small battle) between the rebels and citizens of Nacogdoches. This
led to Anglos having more distrust of Mexicans or Tejanos and Native Americans, and Lamar
later decided that Native Americans would need to be removed from Texas.
Sam Houston
President of Texas, 1836-1838 and 1841-1844
Annexation by the US:
To be annexed means to be taken in by a larger country or territory. As soon as Texas
became independent from Mexico, many people, including Sam Houston, wanted
Texas to be annexed by the United States. Most Texans had come from the US and were familiar with the
laws and customs of the US. Annexation by the US would also end some of the problems Texas faced, such as
being vulnerable (easily hurt) to attack by Mexico and having a large amount of debt. However, Texas allowed
slavery, and this caused conflict, as slavery was becoming an issue that divided the US. The US also did not
wish to start trouble with Mexico, and since Mexico was still stinging from the loss of Texas and still refused to
recognize Texas independence, the US chose not to annex Texas while Houston was president.
Sam Houston
President of Texas, 1836-1838 and 1841-1844
Economics:
Lack of money was the number-one problem facing the young republic. Texas had
debt from the Texas Revolution, and when Sam Houston took office, the country was
already over one million dollars in debt. There are only two ways to really fix debt. One is to cut spending
(expenditures), and the other is to increase how much money a government takes in (revenue). To make a big
impact, you can do both at the same time. Sam Houston kept government expenses to a minimum. He cut
many expenditures (things that money is spent on), including the army and the navy. He also tried, when
possible, to increase revenue (revenue is money that a government collects, usually through taxes). When he
felt the people could bear it, he raised taxes such as customs duties (taxes on goods brought into the country)
and property taxes. Houston’s government also issued promissory notes called “Star Money” to pay expenses.
These notes represented a promise that the government would pay the specified sum (amount) of money to
the holder of the note at a future date in exchange for its cash value at the moment. Debt continued to rise.
Sam Houston
President of Texas, 1836-1838 and 1841-1844
Education:
Houston did not set up a system of public education during his first term as
president. During the more extreme budget cuts of his second term, he did keep
Lamar’s education system. However, he did nothing to further public education during his terms as president.
Afterward:
Anson Jones was president of Texas from 1844-1845. He supported Houston’s policies. He maintained peace
with the Native Americans, tried to limit spending, and turned over Texas to the United States.