Statehood:1845-1861

What is statehood? Statehood is the same as annexation. Annexation is the process of one country taking over all of or part of another country. There were pros and cons to becoming part of the United States.

Pros of Statehood Money already existed in the United States Families would get united There was mail (postal service) Protection was given from the military Jobs were available Texas could divide into five separate parts if they wanted. They would get better education

Cons of Statehood: Texas had to give the Navy, supplies, and military forts to the United States. They had to sell some land so they could pay their debts. Texans had to write and adopt a new state constitution. Mexico would start a war because they didn’t want Texas to be annexed by United States

Politics of Statehood Texas leaders faced many issues: Citizens needed protection from Indians Had to pay off state debt Needed to pay for construction of new railroads, schools, and a capitol

Governors of Texas George T. Wood (1847) Peter H. Bell (served 2 terms) Elisha M. Pease (1853)- advocated a system of public education which led to the permanent school fund; ordered construction of gov’t buildings, pushed for RR construction, eased the state debt ( by the time he left office Texas was almost debt free) Hardin R. Runnels (1857), much of his term spent trying to end violence between settlers & Indians Sam Houston (Houston had now served as president of TX, U.S. senator, & state governor)

Political parties State’s 1st officeholders were not part of any pol party By 1840’s most politicians joined pol parties Democratic party was strongest and stood for farmers & laborers. Democrats main rival were the Whigs (had support in northeast TX & the coast); party was weak & won few elections. Disagreements over slavery weakened the Whigs Whigs broke apart- the North formed the Republican party (they were determined to stop the spread of slavery)

Border Problems By 1860, more than 600,000 people lived in Texas The Mexican War had settled dispute of Texas for southern border with the Guadalupe-Hidalgo treaty but with the Rio Grande as the border it gave Texas about half of present day New Mexico (including the capital, Santa Fe) New Mexico had no interest in being part of Texas & slavery was an issue

Compromise of 1850

Compromise of 1850 Congress created a plan to set the western border where it now exists Texas received $10 million to give up its claims to New Mexico Until 1850, there were equal numbers of slave and free states in the United States California entered Union as a free state & would not permit slavery All other new lands in the West would decide for themselves (popular sovereignty)

Spending the $10 million Set money aside to pay off holders of the Republic of Texas $ (each Republic dollar was worth 77 cents of U.S. currency) Payed off debts Built a new capitol & governor’s mansion Put $2 million in the bank & used the interest to build schools

Growth & Expansion Mexican Texans: were among the many that came to Texas; in search of a better life; included ranchers, farmers, merchants & craftspeople Many had already given much to Texas such as, Lorenzo de Zavala (built a colony in early TX & was vice president of Republic of Texas) Jose Antonio Navarro (helped write state constitution & served in Texas senate) Santos Benavides (worked as merchant & rancher; was elected mayor in 1856 of Laredo) Even with achievements many Tejanos lived with prejudice; come were exiled

Native Americans in the Growing State Violence between settlers & Indians had been a long problem The growth of Texas’ population led to more conflict & settlers pushed farther west where Indians lived Texans looked to the U.S. government to end threats from Indians

The frontier U.S. gov’t built forts on the western frontier ; used to protect settlers Until the Mexican War Texas Rangers had protected settlers now U.S. troops arrived to build a line of forts Built posts along the Rio Grande to stop Mexicans from raiding TX Built another line from the Rio Grande to the Red River to rptect against Apaches, Comanches & Kiowas

Fort locations

Camels in Texas U.S. imported dozens of camels to help in the fight The camels could carry large amounts of supplies & travel great distances

The violence continues… Beliefs between settlers & Indians differed: Indians believed one person could not own the land; it belonged to the people as a whole & resources should be available to all The Texan concept was that one person could control a measured piece of land Treaties did not help; Indians believed the troops should keep the peace but the army used violence against Indians

Reservations State gov’t controlled all the public lands; the state had refused to give any land to Indians In 1854, Texas established 2 reservations along the Brazos River in exchange for peace One was for the Caddoes & Tonkawas; the other was for the Comanches

Problems on Reservations Texans did not look at differences among tribes; if Comanches from the northern plains band attacked, Texans would attack the Indians on the reservations Comanches were blamed for many thefts & killings By 1859, Texas & U.S. gov’t decided reservations failed Indians were forced to move to Oklahoma One group, the Alabama-Coushatta tribe was allowed to stay in Polk County & is still there today

Life on the reservations