The Republic of Texas Review

Carrie Hunnicutt2010 – 2011

We won, but now what?• After gaining independence, Texans faced the

challenge of building a new nation. The first election had the following results.

President Sam Houston

Vice President Mirabeau B. Lamar

Poor Sam• When Sam Houston became president, the

debt was $1.25 million from the revolutionary war effort

• At the end of his first term as president, the debt for Texas was $2 million

• Congress took steps to raise money and placed a tariff, or tax, on various goods– These taxes were difficult to collect

Houston’s Policies

• Houston tried to cut government expenses by cutting back on the military

• Sam also supported peaceful negotiations with the Native Americans

• Houston tried to convince the United States to annex Texas (to make Texas as state within the United States

What about the Indians?• Indians resented the

newcomers and began a series of raids that lasted several years

• President Houston called on the Texas Rangers to patrol central Texas

• Lamar was not in favor of negotiating with the Indians

Texas gets a new President

• Houston could not be re-elected as President after he served two years because the Constitution of 1836 forbid him from doing so

• Texans elected Mirabeau B. Lamar in 1838

President Mirabeau B. Lamar

Constitution of 1836

Lamar• Opposed annexation

• Moved the capital to Austin

• Reversed Houston’s policy toward Native Americans– Ordered the Texas Army to

attack the Cherokees and forced them out of Texas into Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma)

• Rebuilt the Navy

• Lamar is known as the “Father of Education” in Texas– Congress set

aside land in each Texas county for public schools

– Congress reserved public land in central Texas for 2 universities

Council House Fight• Comanche Indians attacked Texas

settlements as they moved further in to Indian lands. They killed people and took some captives.

• In 1840, Texans agreed to meet with Comanche leaders, but after seeing abused captives, they took the Natives as hostages.

• Texans and Comanches fought back and many deaths occurred on both sides.

• As a result, Comanches distrusted the Texans, refused to make treaties, and continued to fight.

Santa Fe Expedition• Lamar sent an expedition to

Santa Fe, New Mexico with orders to control the region and begin trade with New Mexico

• The Mexican army forced the Texans to surrender and marched them 1,000 miles to Mexico City. – Many died on the way or

died in the Mexican prison– The few that survived were

eventually released

• This angered the Mexicans

Poor Lamar• Lamar caused Texas to sink deeper in debt

– Spent $2.5 million on the Indian wars– Bought several ships for the Navy– Issued redbacks, but they shrank in value

• Redbacks: Additional money issued to help ease the large public debt

• A paper dollar in Texas at the end of Lamar’s term was only worth 15 cents

– Failed in attempts to borrow money from other nations

– Public debt was now $7 million

Redbacks

Sam Houston is Re-elected• Sam Houston replaced Lamar

as President– During a message to Congress,

Houston stated, “there is not a dollar in the treasury…we are not only without money, but without credit.”

– Eliminated several government positions

– Cut the size of the army– Tried to sell the navy ships (the

people of Galveston prevented this from happening)

– Renewed peace with the Indians

Mier Expedition and the Black Bean Incident

• Texans chase after the Mexican army into Mexican territory

• Texans get caught but escape captivity

• Some Texans die in the desert on the way back home

• Others are captured and the Mexican army kills 17 men (one in ten) -- those who pick a black bean from a jar

Archives War

• Sam Houston orders the government records to be moved from Austin, the capital city, to a place near Houston

• Mexican troops attack San Antonio and threaten other areas

• Austinite Angelina Eberly tries to stop them and alerts the city by shooting a cannon

• Soon after people recapture the archives and return them to Austin

• Austin residents fear that their city will stop being the capital and die out if the records go

Texas Annexation

• Pro-Sam President Anson Jones ushers in annexation in 1846

• Leaders in the United States were fearful of a war with Mexico, but finally agreed to bring Texas into the United States in 1846

Manifest Destiny

• Many Americans believed it was God’s plan and their destiny (fortune or fate) to conquer the American territory and spread their civilization and culture

The Mexican-American War• Both Mexico and the

United States claimed the area between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande (called the Nueces Strip)

• Both countries sent troops into the Nueces Strip to patrol the area

• A shootout occurred and both sides blamed the other for starting the fight

• The United States, with James K. Polk as President and Commander-in-Chief, declared war on Mexico

What caused the Mexican-American War? Why did the United

States risk a war with Mexico?• Many people in the United

States wanted to continue to expand land possessions for Americans to settle into

• Pro-slavery Southerners, especially, wanted land for the slave system to continue making huge profits with cotton production

• Some Americans, like Abraham Lincoln, opposed slavery and the war for that reason