The Republic of Texas 1836-1845

Treaty of Velasco After San Jacinto, Santa Anna was forced to sign the Treaty of Velasco. This treaty ended the Texas Revolution and gave Texas its independence. It had two parts, one public and one secret: Santa Anna

Public and Secret The public part of the treaty made Santa Anna agree to never fight against Texas again and to withdraw all troops out of Texas. The secret part of the treaty made Santa Anna promise to get Mexico to recognize Texas independence and set the southern border of Texas as the Rio Grande.

REPUBLIC OF TEXAS IN 1836 Comancheria Comancheria

Problems in the new Republic The new Republic of Texas faced many problems: It had no money and was in debt from the Texas Revolution. Mexico would not acknowledge its independence and disputed its territory. Native Americans were upset by new settlers coming onto their lands.

Houston as Texas President Sam Houston was elected the first President of Texas. He chose a very experienced cabinet (advisors) to help him including Stephen F. Austin as Secretary of State. Sam Houston

Pres. Houston’s solutions to the problems Sam Houston focused on restricting government spending and establishing good foreign relations. Moved the Capital of Texas to the new city of Houston (most Texans hated the location as it was hot and muggy). He was very cautious and wanted to prevent war with Mexico and the Indians. He believed the best thing for Texas would be annexation to the U.S.

The Texas Question Most Texans wanted Texas to become part of the United States including Pres. Sam Houston. But Northerners in the U.S. did not want to see the expansion of Slavery into new U.S. territory. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 had limited the amount of future Slaves states and Texas would disrupt the balance.

Death of Stephen F. Austin Austin served in the new government for three months before he died of pneumonia on December 27th, 1836, he was 43. President Houston proclaimed a 30-day period of mourning and said “The Father of Texas is no more; the first pioneer of the wilderness has departed."

Shortly before his death, Austin wrote, "The prosperity of Texas has been the object of my labors, the idol of my existence--it has assumed the character of a religion, for the guidance of my thoughts and actions, for fifteen years."

Presidential Terms The Texas Constitution limited the first President to a term of only 2 years. It was soon changed to 3 years. In addition no President could be elected two times in a row.

Mirabeau Lamar After Houston, Mirabeau Lamar was elected President. He was very different than Houston. Lamar wanted Texas to stay an independent country and expand Texas’ territory. Used the Texas army to fight the Comanche for their land. He built a navy to fight Mexico. He believed in government spending, set aside land for public education, and moved the capital to Austin. Because of this Texas fell deeper in debt. Lamar

The Santa Fe Expedition 1841 Lamar sent the Santa Fe Expedition of around 300 men to capture the city of Santa Fe and try and convince the people there they should be loyal to the Texas Government.

The Santa Fe Trail

The expedition was an attempt to gain control over the Santa Fe Trail (a trade route) and control the New Mexico territory. The Santa Fe expedition was a disaster. The Texans were attacked constantly by Comanche, got lost, and when they finally arrived in New Mexico a Mexican Army of 1,500 troops surrounded them and they were forced to surrender. The prisoners were marched 2,000 miles to the Mexican city of Perote and held for a year.

Sam Houston’s Second Term After the failure of the Santa Fe Expedition, most Texans lost faith in Lamar’s vision for Texas. In 1841 Sam Houston was re-elected for a second term in office. He would reinstall his policies in Texas government. Restrict spending and restore peace with Mexico One of his first actions was to disband the Texas Navy which cost too much. Some members of the Navy refused to come back to Texas so Houston labeled them pirates and told other counties to attack these rebellious ships

Santa Anna returns to Mexico After being held prisoner in Texas and then being in exile in the United States, Santa Anna is allowed to return to Mexico in 1838.

The Mexican Government had no use for him so he was forced to retire to his hacienda. (Ranch) But after France invaded Mexico in the so called “Pastry War” Santa Anna was asked to lead the army again. He led the Mexican forces to victory against the French. Santa Anna was wounded in the leg and eventually had to have his leg amputated. Exploiting his wounds with eloquent propaganda, Santa Anna came back to power. He retook the presidency in 1838.

Invasion of Texas In response to the Santa Fe Expedition, in early March 1842 Santa Anna ordered his army to cross the Rio Grande and occupy San Antonio. After a few days they returned to Mexico. In September the Mexican government was determined to keep the Texas frontier in turmoil. Santa Anna ordered Adrián Woll to attack San Antonio again and informed the Mexican Congress that he planned to retake Texas. Adrián Woll, seen here in the 1860’s, was actually a French adventurer and was with Santa Anna at the Alamo and San Jacinto

President Houston ordered the Texas Army to attack the Mexican Army. The Texans defeated them at the Battle of Salado Creek and the Mexicans retreated back to Mexico. During the battle 36 Texans were surrounded by Mexican cavalry and killed. This is know as the “Dawson Massacre”

The Archives War As you probably guessed Houston and Lamar were bitter rivals. So when Houston was elected President again in 1841 the last thing he wanted was to serve in “Lamar’s Capital.” After the two brief Mexican invasions that captured San Antonio, (only 70 miles away from Austin) Houston decided Austin was unsafe and moved the capital to Washington-on-the-Brazos. (110 miles east) President Houston ordered the removal of the Texas’ archives (public records) from Austin and assigned Texas Army Colonel Thomas Smith and Captain Eli Chandler to bring them to Washington-on-the-Brazos without bloodshed.

Smith and Chandler with a small group of soldiers entered Austin in the dead of night on December 29, 1842. As they loaded archives stored in the General Land Office Building into wagons, Angelina Eberly was awakened by the noise. She ran outside and fired a cannon, alerting the town that something was happening. Smith and Chandler fled with three wagons full of archival material. The Soldiers were caught by a armed group from Austin and the archives were returned to Austin. The Texas Archives War ended without anyone getting hurt .