Lets Compare Today we are going to compare Texas’ two most prominent presidents, Sam Houston and Mirabeau Lamar… You will see that they had very two different ideas about Texas

Texas’ Future Sam Houston Houston wanted Texas to join the United States. In 1836 he sent representatives to the U.S. to seek Annexation The Annexation bill didn’t pass the U.S. congress because of slavery Houston sent Anson Jones to the U.S. to remove the request. Then he tried to open up trade talks with European countries. His hope was to make Texas economically stronger so the United States would desire Texas more.

Native Texas Sam Houston Houston signed a treaty with the Cherokee Indians who settled in east Texas during the Texas Revolution, but the Texas Congress failed to ratify it. Houston used the Texas Rangers to defend the frontier settlements against attack.

Policy with Mexico Sam Houston After the Texas Independence many Americans showed up in Texas looking for a fight. This included Felix Huston who was put in charge of the Texas army. Huston and others in the Texas army wanted to invade northern Mexico. Houston tried to replace Huston with Albert Sidney Johnson. But Huston and Johnson dueled and Johnson was severely wounded. After this Sam Houston ordered the Texas Army to disband and go home. Albert Sidney Johnson would later become a Civil War hero

The Texas Capital Sam Houston: City of Houston The brothers John and Augustus Allen offered to build a new Texas capital and name it after Sam Houston. The Government accepted. In January of 1837, 12 people lived in Houston. Four months later after it became the capital over 1,500 people called it home. The positives of Houston were that it was located near most of the colonies in East Texas and far away from the threats of Indians and Mexican invasion. The negatives of Houston were that many Texas officials didn’t like the town because of the heat, mud, humidity, and mosquitoes that spread diseases.

Texas Finances Sam Houston Texas had a debt of over one million dollars after the Texas Revolution. Houston reduced government spending by disbanding the army, raised custom taxes on goods and raised property taxes. Under Houston the Texas government issued “Star Money “

Texas’ Future Mirabeau Lamar Lamar did not want annexation. Lamar spoke of the Republic of Texas expanding into a North American empire that would rival the United States. He said “If peace can be obtained only by the sword, let the sword do its work!”

Native Texas Mirabeau Lamar Lamar used the Texas Army to drive the Cherokee Indians out of East Texas and into Oklahoma. In 1840 over 30 Comanche Indians were killed in the “Council House Fight” in San Antonio when Texas Soldiers opened fire on them during a meeting to talk about peace. The Comanche were very angry over this and raided many Texas settlements killing settlers. The Battle of Plum Creek saw the Texas army kill over 80 Comanche and war between them and Texas would last for decades

Policy with Mexico Mirabeau Lamar Lamar wanted Santa Fe under Texas control. So he ordered (without the approval of the Texas Congress) a military expedition to conquer the city in the Santa Fe Expedition was a disaster. Around 300 men were captured and with a majority of them dying on a brutal march to a Mexican prison. The Expedition also cost Texas around $200,000. Money Texas could not afford to lose. Lamar also purchased expensive warships to create a Texas Navy. The Navy was ordered to raid Mexican ships and support rebels against the Mexican government in the Yucatan peninsula.

The Texas Capital Mirabeau Lamar: City of Austin , Present Lamar wanted the capital on the frontier of Texas. He supposedly found the location while hunting. When he took office he moved the capital west near a small village on the Colorado river named Waterloo. The village was renamed Austin. The positives of Austin were that it was centrally located in Texas, it had abundant natural resources, and would encourage settlers to move west. The negatives of Austin were that it was exposed to both Indian and Mexican attack and it was isolated from the rest of the Texas settlements thus lacking availability of supplies.

Texas Finances Mirabeau Lamar Lamar spent money on the military expeditions and increased Texas’ debt to seven million dollars. Because of this the value of the money Texas printed under Lamar called “Redbacks” went down to almost nothing.