1. Ch 11 An Independent Texas 1836 - 1846 Time Line 1836 1838 1840 1842
1844
1846
1836
Sam Houston is elected as the first president of the Republic of Texas
1838
Mirabeau Lamar is elected president of the Republic of Texas
1840
Council House Fight occurs
1841
Santa Fe Expedition
Sam Houston elected to 2nd term
1842
Mier Expedition
1845
Annexation supported by U.S. Congress
In 1836 Texans adopted a constitution and elected Sam Houston as their first president. The Republic of Texas would be governed by two more presidents before becoming a state in 1846.

2. 11.1 The Republic of Texas
Was the republic of Texas part of Mexico, The U.S. or neither?
The Republic of Texas came into existence in 1836 after Texans won their Independence from Mexico. During this time in the history of Texas from 1836 – 1845, Texas was it’s own independent nation. It was no longer a part of Mexico and had not yet become a part of the United States of America. Sam Houston was the first elected president of the Republic of Texas.

3. Problems in the New Republic
What kind of problems could Texas be facing now that they won their independence from Mexico?
Everything wasn’t perfect in the new Republic of Texas. Texas had new problems to deal with.
Despite the Treaty of Velasco, Mexico refused to recognize Texas as an independent nation. Mexico felt that the war was still being fought. Texas also had to convince other nations of it’s independence and begin to build diplomatic relationships with them.
The new Texas government was in serious debt after the war. There was no money or income to pay the debt.
Native Texans had sat out the war for independence but now they felt threatened by the increasing number of settlers that were invading their territory.

4. The capitol of Texas Where is the capitol of Texas today?
Where was the first capitol?
The first capitol of Texas, under the provisionary government, was Columbia. Columbia was a small Isolated town in Brazoria County. Under Sam Houston’s administration the Capitol was moved to, Houston. Houston was a new town built after the war for independence and named in honor of Sam Houston. Today the capitol of Texas is Austin.

5. Annexation – The act of adding or joining a territory to an existing one.
Why was Texas not annexed in to the US for ten years?
Texans in the new republic wanted to be annexed by the United States. Most had immigrated to Texas from the US so the language, customs, laws, and government were similar.
Texans assumed The U.S. would want to annex Texas right away to expand it’s territory to the West.
The U.S. did not admit Texas to the nation though because Texas allowed slavery at that time.

6. Financial Woes Trouble in the Army How did Texas incur so much debt?
When Sam Houston began his presidency Texas had a debt of over one million dollars. Houston held government expenses to a minimum to avoid going further into debt.
Trouble in the Army
After the war was over many people still showed up from the US wanting to join the fight. Sam Houston had trouble with many soldiers wanting to continue the war and keep fighting with Mexico.
Sam Houston ended up having to send most of the soldiers home on leave and never called them back into service.
In 1837 the Texas Congress authorized Houston to issue Promissory notes which are a written promise to pay a sum of money at a future time. These notes were called “Star Money”.

7. Houston’s Native Texan Policy
Sam Houston had negotiated a treaty with the Cherokee Indians during the revolution. Houston promised them the title to the land they occupied in East Texas if they stayed out of the war.
However other Texans wanted the rich farmland and to get rid of the natives so the Texas Congress refused to ratify Houston’s treaty.
Houston’s Native Texan Policy
Was Sam Houston in support of the Native Texans?
The election of 1838
Who was the first elected president of the republic of Texas?
The Texas Constitution limited the first president to a two year term in office. It also did not allow a president to serve two terms in a row. So Sam Houston had to turn the government over to a new president in Mirabeau Lamar, Houston’s vice president, Became the 2nd elected president of The Republic of Texas.

8. 11.2 A Different Vision for Texas
Mirabeau B Lamar was the 2nd president of Texas. Lamar had a much different idea of how Texas should be ran than Sam Houston did.
He wanted to continue to fight Mexico.
Lamar also wanted to rid Texas of all the Native Texans and wanted to expand Texas’s territory by conquering more land.
Lamar created more debt for Texas by funding military campaigns to work towards achieving his goals.
The bold and aggressive attitude that most people associate with Texas is a result of Mirabeau Lamar and his polices.

9. Clashes with Native Texans
Who was more supportive of Natives in Texas? Sam Houston or Mirabeau Lamar?
Lamar wanted to rid Texas of all the Native Texans to make more room for Anglo Texans. He first began this campaign by ordering the Cherokee Natives out of East Texas. When they refused to go Lamar sent soldiers to attack them and drive them into Oklahoma.
The Comanche Natives in South West Texas were also a target of Lamar. They often clashed with Texans.
Several Comanche Chiefs agreed to meet in San Antonio to discuss terms for peace on March 19, The Comanche were supposed to bring in Anglo captives they were holding. When they showed up with only one girl this meeting broke out into a fight.
The fight led to the killing of many of the Comanche leaders who had come unarmed and peacefully to the meeting. This even became known as the Council House Fight.

10. Relations with Mexico
Did Lamar support building a good relationship with Mexico?
As President of Texas, Lamar sent the Texas Navy to the Yucatecan region of Mexico to help rebels there fight against Mexico.
Lamar also intended to conquer land in New Mexico for Texas. He requested permission from the Texas Congress to send troops into New Mexico but Congress refused his request.
That didn’t stop Lamar. With no money to pay for the trip and with out approval of the government, Lamar went ahead and sent the Santa Fe Expedition into New Mexico to convince the people there they were part of Texas. The New Mexicans refused to become part of Texas and the Texans were arrested by Mexican Authorities.

11. Under Lamar's request Congress voted to again move the Capital of Texas. It was moved to a community 100 miles north of San Antonio known as Waterloo. This Town was renamed Austin, in honor of Stephen F Austin.
One of the complaints Texas listed in their Declaration of Independence was that Mexico failed to establish a school system in Texas. Lamar believed that a strong system of education could make Texas a great nation. Encouraged by Lamar’s vision for education the Texas Congress set aside plots of land in each county for public schools. Lamar became known as the “Father of Education in Texas”.

12. 11.3 Houston's Return Leads to Annexation
Houston returned and began to cut the outrageous spending of Lamar’s expansion policy. He reduced the size of the Army and eliminated the Navy.
The Archive War: In his second term as President, Houston operated the government out of Washington-on-the-Brazos. He argued that Austin, TX was too close to Mexico and vulnerable to attack. The citizens of Austin however were proud to be the capital of Texas. They refused to allow the Texas Archives, public records, to be removed from Austin. The citizens of Austin understood that the possession of those archives was their last claim to the capital. They fired a cannon at the Texans who came to remove the archives. Their efforts kept the archives in Austin.

13. The Mier Expedition
After Mexican troops attacked San Antonio and captured 67 hostages on September 11th 1842, Houston sent a militia to pursue the Mexican soldiers. The militia stopped at the Rio Grande because the commander did not feel like he had the authority to enter Mexico. After a revolt William Fisher assumed command and the Texans crossed into Mexico.
The Texans stopped in a town called Mier to get supplies. While in Mier they were captured by Mexican troops and marched south to Mexico City. Santa Anna ordered that one out of every ten captured Texans to be executed. The Texan prisoners picked beans from a pot, those who picked out a white bean were allowed to live and those who got a black bean were shot. The prisoners were later releases in 1844.

14. Annexation Sam Houston again had representatives in Washington DC trying to convince the US congress to annex Texas. In April 1844 U.S. Secretary of State John C Calhoun agreed on a treaty to make Texas a State. The Senate however rejected the treaty. Again Houston failed to secure annexation for Texas.
In 1844 Dr. Anson Jones was elected President of Texas and James Polk was elected President of The United States. Polk won the US election because of a campaign promise to annex Texas. The U.S. Congress approved a joint resolution on Feb 26th , 1845 to accept Texas as the 28th state of the union.
Texas then began work on creating a State Constitution which was ratified in October 1845.
Texas President Jones announced the official annexation of Texas on February 19th, 1846.

15. Chapter 11 Vocab BE CERTAIN THAT YOU KNOW THEM!!!
THESE VOCABULRY WORDS WILL BE ON YOUR TEST!!!
BE CERTAIN THAT YOU KNOW THEM!!!
Cabinet – A council that advises the chief executive
Revenue – The annual or current income of a government
Promissory Note - A written promise to pay a sum of money at a future time
Public Debt – The amount of money a national government owes
Archives – Public records, papers, or doccuments
Joint Resolution – A formal ruling passed by both houses of the legislature and intended to become law