Now Free – A New Republic They were granted their wish and in December 1836, when Houston was named the capital of Texas. However, it would only last three years. After Independence, Texans elected Sam Houston as the first president of Texas and Mirabeau B. Lamar as the first vice president. Sam Houston and the Texas Congress met at Columbia, where they approved the Texas Constitution of Stephen F. Austin served on Houston’s cabinet, as his secretary of state. He only served a few weeks, and died from pneumonia on December 27, Two brothers, by the names of John and Augustus Allen founded Houston, along Buffalo Bayou. The brothers promised to build a beautiful city, if Congress agreed to locate the capital there.

Now Free – A New Republic The United States did not officially recognized Texas as a nation for months. As well as many other countries, like France and England. They hesitated to recognized Texas as a nation, because they did not want to offend or ruin relations with Mexico. Sam Houston sent J. Pinckney Henderson to obtain recognition of independence from many European countries. Houston believed that if these European countries showed interest in Texas, then the United States would try to quickly annex Texas. At this time, the European countries were trying to limit the United States’ dream of manifest destiny. In September 1836, many Texans had voiced their desire to be annexed, or join the United States. After all, many had emigrated from the United States. Annexation did not come easy. At this time, Mexico still refused to recognize Texas’ independence. The United States also did not want to annex Texas, if it meant ruining their relationship with Mexico. Another issue with annexation was slavery. Many anti slavery groups in the United States were against annexation. They believed that if Texas joined the United States, then the slave states would have all the power.

Issues in Texas As a result, Congress took steps to raise money to reduce the debt. Texas began to place a tariff on goods imported into Texas. These taxes were difficult to collect and the government continued to spend more money than it collected. By the end of Houston’s first term as president, the Texas debt had reached $2 million dollars. More and more Anglos began to settle in central and eastern Texas. This caused many Cherokee Indians living on the land, to dislike the newcomers. As a result, Houston called on the Texas Rangers to patrol central Texas. Texas also had many money problems. As a result of the Revolution, Texas’s expenditures were greater than their revenue. Texas had unpaid bills for supplies and equipment that they used during the Revolution. When Houston became President, the debt was $1.25 million dollars.

A New President It had been agreed that Houston would serve as the capital of Texas, until another site was chosen. In October 1839, Lamar and his cabinet named a new capital, Austin. It was named after the “Father of Texas”, Stephen F. Austin. In the Texas Constitution of 1836, it stated that a President could not serve consecutive, or back to back terms. Therefore, Houston could not be reelected as President when his term ended in Texans elected Mirabeau B. Lamar, who served as Houston’s Vice President. Unlike Houston, Lamar was against the annexation of Texas. Improving education was one of Lamar’s primary goals. He believed that citizens must be educated, in order to make intelligent decisions. As a result, Congress set aside nearly 18,000 acres of land in each Texas county to build public schools. Because of this, Lamar is known as the “Father of Education in Texas”.

Issues with the Comanche Indians were on the rise… After many battles, in 1840, the Comanche Indians agreed to meet the Texans in San Antonio. The Indians promised to bring their prisoners, but they only brought one. This caused the Texans to become angry, and they attempted to take the Indians hostage, until they gave Texans their prisoners back. The Comanches resisted, and this became known as the Council House Fight. A New President Unlike Houston, Lamar believed the Cherokee Indians had no fair claim to the Texas lands they occupied. Lamar had heard that Mexican citizens were trying to stir up issues with the Cherokees and Texans. As a result, in 1839, Lamar ordered the removal of the Cherokee Indians from Texas. This caused many raids/battles to occur between the Texans and Cherokee Indians. On July 16, 1839, the Texas army attacked the Cherokee Indians. Several Texans and nearly 100 Cherokees died. Among the dead, was the leader of the Cherokee Indians, Duwali. Duwali was also known as Chief Bowles. The Cherokees that survived, were forced to move out of Texas.

A New President President Lamar’s campaigns cost Texas a lot of money. The Indian Wars cost Texas nearly $2.5 million dollars, during Lamar’s three years in office. Lamar also bought several ships for the Texas Navy and kept them on active duty in the Gulf of Mexico. This caused the public debt to rise to almost $7 million dollars. Lamar failed to borrow money from the United States and European countries. Because of this, additional paper money was created. These bills were known as redbacks. Once issued, they quickly shrank in value. By the end of Lamar’s term, a paper dollar in Texas was only worth about 15 cents. Now, many Texans were worried about the future of Texas, due to the high debt and value of money. After the Texas Revolution, the boundary between Texas and Mexico was the Rio Grande River. Texans were interested in controlling Santa Fe, the trading center on the upper Rio Grande. Santa Fe was the destination of many traders from the United States. Lamar sent out an expedition to Santa Fe to control the region and open trade. The Santa Fe Expedition was a complete failure. The expedition failed due to heat, lack of water and food, and attacks by the Native Americans. They also encountered the Mexican army on their route, who captured the Texans. They forced the Texans to march from Santa Fe to Mexico City. Many died on the way and in Mexican prison. The Santa Fe Expedition was a failure in many ways. It angered the Mexicans, many died, and the Texans failed to take control of Santa Fe.

Houston Regains Presidency General Woll’s invasion angered many Texans. Houston attempted to try and keep peace. Houston hoped that the United States, England, and other European countries would pressure Mexico to leave Texas alone. In 1841, Sam Houston defeated David Burnet in the Presidential election. When he came into office, his first goal was the eliminate the debt that Lamar’s presidency had caused. He got rid of many government positions, and cut down the size of the army. Houston also tried to fix the relations with the Native Americans. As a result, many Mexicans were mad. In March 1842, 500 members of the Mexican Army invaded Texas. A few days later, they retreated. In September 1842, a General named Adrian Wool and his Mexican forces invaded Texas again. This time they brought 1,400 men and occupied the city of San Antonio. The Texas Rangers and Texas militia rushed to San Antonio. Once again, the Mexican Army retreated.

Houston Regains Presidency Santa Anna ordered that every tenth Texan be executed as punishment for their attempt to escape. Out of the 176 men that were recaptured, 17 were to die. To determine which men were to be executed, the Texans were required to draw a bean from a jar. If a man drew a black bean, he was to be shot. If a man drew a white bean, he was able to live, but was marched to prison in Mexico City. This became known as the Black Bean incident. On September 16, 1844, the Texas prisoners were eventually released. In November 1842, Houston called upon 750 militia men to patrol from the city of San Antonio to Laredo. When the militia arrived in Laredo, the Mexican army was no where to be found, so they went back to Gonzales. Many of the Texas militia did not like this idea, so they took it upon themselves to march to the Mexican town of Mier and attack the Mexicans. This became known as the Mier Expedition. Texans were expecting an easy win, but little did they know, 900 Mexican soldiers were on their way to reinforce their men. After two days of fighting, the Texans were outnumbered and low on supplies. The Texans eventually surrendered on December 26, The Mexican army took many Texans as prisoners, and marched them to the Mexico City. On the way to Mexico City, the Texans overpowered their guards and escaped on February 11, The Mexicans eventually recaptured the Texans.. Mier, Mexico

Texas Becomes a State In 1844, representatives from the United States and Texas signed a treaty that would make Texas a territory of the United States. The treaty stated that Texas would give all of its public land to the United States. In return, the United States would pay off all of Texas’ debts. However, in this treaty, Texas would only be a territory, not a state. This treaty did not pass. Throughout the years of the Republic, many Texans still wanted to join the United States. Sam Houston had worked for this throughout his first time as president, but the push for annexation stopped when Lamar became president. By Sam Houston’s second term as president, the ‘Texas Question’ became the most important in Texas politics. Those against annexation believed that it would benefit southern slaveholders and start a war with Mexico. However, annexation was becoming more popular in Texas, because more and more people had immigrated to Texas, from the United States.

On February 19, 1846, at a ceremony in front of the Texas capitol, Anson Jones, the last president of Texas, turned the government over to the United States. The Lone Star State Flag was lowered, and the Stars and Stripes was raised. Texas officially became the 28 th state in the United States of America. Texas Becomes a State Eventually, on February 28, 1845, Congress passed the joint resolution for annexation. In this resolution, Texas could keep its public lands, but could sell some land to pay off its debts. This joint resolution immediately made Texas a state. On December 29, 1845, the United States President, James Polk, signed the resolution that made Texas a state. However, Mexico still refused to recognized Texas independence until 1845, when Texas was annexed to the United States.