1. Chapter 13 The Lone Star State
Lesson 1
Launching the New Republic
Guiding Question: What challenges did the leaders of the Republic of Texas face?
The Texas Revolution lasted from the
Battle of Gonzales
On October 2, 1835
to the victory at
San Jacinto on
April 21, 1836.
The fight at Gonzales in 1835 had launched a new era in Texas history, the Revolution and Republic era.
The Republic of Texas began with the Declaration of Independence in
March 2, 1836, and lasted until 1845, when Texas joined the United States.

2. Now that Texas was independent, Texans
needed to form a new, permanent government.
Elections were scheduled for September 5, 1836.
Besides electing the republic’s first leaders, voters also overwhelmingly approved the Texas Constitution, which had been written at the convention held at Washington on the Brazos earlier that year.
They also voted to try to join the United States.
However, they denied the Texas Congress the power to amend the Constitution.
The goal of joining the United States would prove difficult to achieve.

3. Houston Becomes President
Stephen F. Austin and Henry Smith
both wanted to be the Republic’s first president.
However, many Texans supported the hero
of San Jacinto, Sam Houston, for the office.

4. Less than two weeks before the election,
Houston’s friends finally convinced him to run.
Austin became Secretary of State
He appointed Smith as Secretary of
The Treasury.
Although he died soon after taking office.
He won easily.
Mirabeau Lamar, another hero of the revolution, was elected Vice President.
Houston brought his defeated presidential rivals into the government.

5. The new nation faced many issues and challenges.
The government had no money. In fact it was deeply in debt.
It needed other countries—especially Mexico—to recognize its independence.
Texas was still holding Mexican leader Santa Anna prisoner,
and Texan leaders had to decide what to do with him.
In addition Comanche and Kiowa remained in control of
Western Texas and continued to carry out raids on settlements.

6. The government had to find a way to end the
continuing conflicts between Native Americans and Texans.
Houston recognized these problems. As he took office, he sounded a hopeful note:
“I am perfectly aware of the difficulties that surround me … By the aid of your intelligence, I trust all the impediments (interferences) to our advancement will be removed: That all wounds in the body politic will be healed, and the constitution of the republic derive strength and vigor equal to any emergency”
A Temporary Capital
One of the first tasks of the new government was to select a capital.
The current site, Columbia was far too small and rugged for a seat of government.

7. John and Augustus Allen had recently founded
Congress met in an unfinished shack, and the president worked in a one room office.
John and Augustus Allen had recently founded
a settlement on Buffalo Bayou that they called Houston.
To help it grow, they promised
to build a
handsome city
if congress
would move the capital there.
The Allen brothers wanted their
town to become the nation’s leading port for overseas trade.
In December 1836, the congress named the city of Houston as
the capital of Texas for 3 years. Within a year the town’s population swelled.

8. Early visitors commented on its muddy streets and crude houses.
A two room log cabin served as the presidential mansion.
The capital was a two story building at the corner of Main and Texas Avenue.
The Republic’s Money Problems
The new government did not have enough money to pay its officials or its army.
It also owed $1.25 million in public debt that
It had borrowed to pay for the revolution.

9. It also taxed property and livestock.
To raise money, congress put in place a tariff (tax) on imported goods.
It also taxed property and livestock.
Most Texans had little cash to pay such taxes, though,
which made the taxes difficult to collect.
The government’s effort to borrow money also largely met with failure.

10. Houston did what he could to reduce costs.
He sent three of the four regiments of soldiers
Home on leave and never recalled them to duty.
This action also ended the threat posed by army commander Felix Huston, who was calling for an invasion of Mexico.

11. That policy saved money and reflected his desire for peace.
Houston also tried to avoid conflict with Native Americans as much as possible.
That policy saved money and reflected his desire for peace.
He turned the defense of the republic over to a group called the Texas Rangers.
This policing organization had been recently founded
to protect settlers on homesteads, ranches, and farms.

12. Despite these savings, expenditures were always greater than revenues.
By 1839, the debt had jumped by $2 million.
To continue to operate, the government issued a type of paper money
that promised payment of interest to those who purchased it.
These notes declined in value over time, however.
Founding the Texas Rangers
In 1835 the leaders of the revolution formed a small
force to serve as scouts and messengers during the war.
These men, who eventually became known as the Rangers, received almost no pay.

13. They also had to provide their own horses, food, and guns.
Most were inspired to serve Texas by their patriotism.
After the war, the Rangers main duty became protecting
settlers on the frontier from attacks by Native Americans.
In these early years, President Houston’s peace policies limited their activities.
Once the Rangers had finished their assignments, they usually returned home.

14. Relations With Mexico and Native Americans
Guided Question
Why were relations between Texas and local Native Americans and Texas and Mexico challenging?
As a captive following the Battle of San Jacinto, Santa Anna seemed agreeable.
Hoping to gain his freedom, he ordered Mexican
Forces to return south of the Rio Grande.
While in custody, he also proposed a plan by which the
United States could make a payment to Mexico and gain control of Texas.
In November 1836, Houston released
Santa Anna hoping to improve relations with Mexico.
After a brief visit to the United States, Santa Anna returned to Mexico.

15. However, Anastasio Bustamante became President on Mexico,
and he did not agree with Santa Anna’s plans.
Santa Anna then retired from politics.
The situation with Mexico remained the same—its
government still refused to recognize the independence of Texas.

16. Conflict With Native Americans
The Waco, Comanche, Kiowa, and other Native American groups
resented the Texans living on lands that they viewed as their own.
Even the Cherokee leader Chief Bowles, who was Houston’s friend,
threatened to join the Mexicans against Texas if war broke out again.
The Comanche and Kiowa were especially hostile, launching
Raids on unprotected farms and settlements in central Texas.

17. In 1838 Houston sent Charles Sims to visit
Native Americans to try to end the raids and bring peace.
Houston also called on the Texas Rangers to patrol central Texas.
With these measures, the frequency of Native American raids decreased.
The Cordova Rebellion
While Sims was negotiating peace with some Native Americans, other groups
were getting ready for war. The Cherokee had moved into East Texas in the 1820’s.
They were angry that after the revolution many
Americans had settled on land claimed by Native Americans.

18. At the same time, many Tejanos in the region had remained loyal
to Mexico and were not happy that Texas was independent.
With Mexico’s help, a Tejano from Nacogdoches named
Vicente Cordova secretly raised a force to rebel against the republic.
He convinced some Cherokee and other
East Texas Native American groups to join his revolt.
In August 1838 Cordova’s rebels and Anglo Americans fought briefly.
The group was defeated in a fight near Seguin
In March 1839 and the rebellion died out.
When they were questioned, Cherokee leaders said they had not taken
part in the rebellion, and Houston took no action against them.

19. Seeking Annexation and Recognition
Guided Question: What were relations with the United States and other countries like in the early years of the republic?
In September 1836 elections, Texans had shown
a strong desire to join the United States.
Most had come to Texas from the United States and they wanted
their new home to become part of their former country.
Fearful of future attacks from Mexico, they also wanted U.S. protection.
Joining the United States involved annexation.
That step did not come easily, however.

20. Another problem was slavery.
Because the Mexican government refused to recognize Texas’s independence
U.S. leaders worried that annexing Texas would damage relations with Mexico.
Another problem was slavery.
Many antislavery groups in the United States were against annexation.
Adding Texas to the Union would give the slave states
more votes in the U.S. Senate than the free states had.
These groups were powerful enough to block annexation.
The United States did not even officially
recognize Texas as a nation for several months.

21. In March 1837, the United States finally granted
President Andrew Jackson questioned the ability of the republic to survive.
Houston sent William H. Wharton and Memucan Hunt to Washington, D.C. to convince U.S. leaders that Texas had a responsible government and should be recognized.
In March 1837, the United States finally granted
official recognition to the Republic of Texas.
Houston next pushed for recognition by other nations.
He sent J. Pinckney Henderson to Europe to negotiate
recognition and trade treaties with nations there.
Houston hoped that if Great Britain in particular showed
interest, the United States would quickly annex Texas.

22. Henderson offered the British the opportunity to buy
as much Texas cotton as they needed for their textile mills.
He also offered the chance to sell British manufactured goods in Texas.
Britain agreed to a trade agreement in 1838.
France also signed a temporary trade agreement.
Both countries refused to recognize Texas, however, because they
Feared it would not survive. They also did not want to offend Mexico.