The Republic of Texas

The Republic of Texas

Launching the New Republic

• The Republic of Texas began with the Declaration of Independence on March 2, 1836 and lasted until Texas joined the U.S. in 1845.
• How many years was Texas its own republic?
• Elections for the new nation was set for September 5, 1836.

Lamar Becomes President

Houston's Second Administration

Houston Becomes President

• Stephen F. Austin and Henry Smith wanted to be president
• Sam Houston, the hero of San Jacinto, won
• Mirabeau Lamar was elected vice president*
• The new nation had no money, needed other countries to consider it a nation
• The Comanche and Kiowa controlled western parts of Texas

• 1841: Sam Houston is elected president again.
• Promises to cut debt, restore relations with Native Americans, and discuss annexation
• Houston stopped paying the money TX owed. Houston spent only $500,000
• But debt grew to $12 million
• How much did it grow from Lamar's term? In total?
• Houston's Peace Policy
• 1844: Houston makes peace with the Comanche and ten other Native American groups

• 1838: Houston was unable to run for reelection
• Vice President Mirabeau Lamar decided to run for president
• How long was Houston president for?
• As VP, Lamar opposed many of Houston's policies
• Peace w/ Native Americans, countries not recognizing TX, wanting annexation
• New Capital:
• By 1839, Lamar got TX Congress to approve moving the capital to Austin
• Many (Sam Houston) opposed say it was too close to Mexico and Native Americans
• Providing Schools:
• Lamar wanted Texans to be educated, set land aside for schools

Changes for Native Americans

The Republic faces problems

Troubles With Mexico

Invasions and the Archive War

• March 1842: 700 Mexican soldiers invaded and captured San Antonio
• Afraid the capital would be under attack, Houston order the government's archives moved
• Texas Rangers arrived and some citizens fired on them, not wanting them to move the capital
• September 1842: 1,500 Mexican troops recapture San Antonio
• TX volunteers and Texas Rangers, led by Jack Coffee Hays, defeat the soldiers
• Hays County is named for him

• President Houston wanted peace with Native Americans, President Lamar believed force would be better
• Cherokee War
• 1836: Houston reaches a peace deal with the Cherokee; Lamar got the TX Congress to reject it
• May 1839: Texas Rangers killed many Mexicans and Native Americans, on the body of one, they found a plan by the MX government to recruit the Cherokee to fight against TX
• Chief Bowles of the Cherokee denied the plan, Lamar ordered the Cherokee to leave TX
• Chief Bowles agreed to leave after the harvest

• The new government needed a location for it's capital
• Two brother founded a settlement and called it Houston
• In December of 1836, the city of Houston served as the Republic's capital
• The new government owed $1.25 million it had borrowed for the revolution
• To pay it back, congress placed a tariff on imported goods
• By 1839, the debt grew to $2 million
• In the span of two years, how large did the debt grow?
• Houston also tried to avoid conflict with Native Americans

• The Cherokee War
• July 16, 1839: Texas forces attacked a Cherokee village, killing 100 men
• For a week, Texas forces burned Cherokee villages and crops
• The Council House Fight
• 1839: Texas Rangers enter into Comanche territory
• After a year of fighting, the Comanche asked for peace
• Upset that the Comanche did not take all their white hostages, Texas Rangers held Comanche negotiators captive
• Known as the Council House Fight, 35 Comanches were killed
• August 1840: 500 Comanches attacked Victoria and Linnville
• 200 Texans followed them, killing 50 Comanches
• 1841: Lamar launched similar attacks on the Wichita

Relations with Mexico

Mier Expedition

Relations with Mexico and Native Americans

• Upset, Texans demanded Houston move Mexicans from Texas
• Houston sent General Alexander Somervell and 700 men to force the army out
• When they didn't find any, the 300 Texans went into Mexico to invade the town of Mier
• When 900 Mexican soldiers arrived the Texans were outnumbered?
• By how many men were they outnumbered?
• Captured and marched back to Mexico City, Santa Anna ordered every tenth man killed
• They were to draw a bean from a jar, those that pulled one of the 17 black beans were shot, the others were in prison

• Lamar wanted Texas to be an independent nation, wanted the boundary of TX to stretch to Pacific Ocean
• The Texas Navy
• Lamar believed a strong military would make Mexico recognize Texas as independent
• The Texas Navy, commanded by Edwin W. Moore, had eight ships
• The Santa Fe Expedition
• 1841: Without approval from congress, Lamar launched an expedition to Santa Fe
• He wanted Santa Fe to join Texas
• Failed: heat, no food, eventual capture
• Financial Difficulties
• By the end of Lamar's term, Texas' debt was $8 million

• 1835: Soldiers of TX Revolution became police force
• 1838: Relations with Native American groups worsened, Houston used the Texas Rangers to patrol Native American territories
• Cordova Rebellion:
• Unhappy with the TX government's refusal to protect Tejano property, Vicente Cordova raised an army against the TX government.
• 1838: The rebellion was defeated

The Regulator-Moderator War

• In east Texas, Houston dealt with two fighting groups
• Both created to protect law and order, the Regulators and the Moderators ended fighting each other
• August 1844: Houston sent 600 troops to bring peace to the two groups.
• While they stopped most the fighting, the Regulators and the Moderators continued small feuds for the rest of the century