1. Chapter 14 Cornell Notes

2. Section 1 A New Constitution
Texas patterned their basic governing document after the constitutions of other states
Constitution of 1845:
Governor: 2 year term
Legislature:
House of Representatives – elected every 2 years
Senate – elected every 4 years
Supreme Court, district court, country courts
Amended: change to the constitution
Constitution protected slavery and did not allow women to vote

3. Section 1 Texas Legislature at Work First Government Officials
Governor of Texas
J. Pickney Henderson
US Senators
Sam Houston
Thomas J. Rusk
US Representatives
David Kaufman
Timothy Pillsbury

4. Section 1 Political Parties
1850s: Strongest political party was the Democratic Party because the Democratic Party had favored annexation and was very strong in the South
Whig Party: The other major party in US – represented business men and commercial interests
Know-Nothing Party (American Party): popular in Tried to keep new immigrants from voting or holding public office
Known as Know Nothing because when asked about their organization they would say they know nothing
Texas Democrats patterned their own party organizations after the American Party, nominating candidates at political meetings called conventions
No major political party represented African Americans

5. Section 1 Federal Aid for Reservations
Federal government stationed troops in western Texas to prevent clashes between settlers and Native Americans
However, settlers continued to push west and clashes between the 2 groups continued
Federal government created reservations
Wacos and Tonkawas reservation new present day Graham
Comanches reservation near Clear Fork and Brazos
Texans were mad about reservations, because they believed raids were happening by the Native Americans on reservations. Federal government moved all reservations North of Red River in 1859

6. Section 2
War Declared
Mexico never considered the Republic of Texas as an independent nation and considered the annexation of Texas as an insult to Mexico
Mexico also saw the boundary as the Nueces River, instead of the Rio Grande
Commerce: American commerce had spread to the Pacific, and they wanted to acquire a Pacific port in Mexican California. James K. Polk was determined to get that port
US was willing to pay for the war damages from Texas Revolution, give Mexico 30 million, and in return cede California to US, but when Slidell in Mexico (fall 1845) to discuss, Mexico refused to talk to him
President Polk ordered General Zachary Taylor to move his troops across the Nueces River to the Rio Grande

7. Section 2 Causes of the War
May 1846, American and Mexican soldiers clashed just North of the Rio Grande
Polk said Mexico shed American blood upon American soil, but Mexican leaders could have claimed Mexican blood was spilled on Mexican soil
May 13 Congress declared war
Abolitionists, people wanting to end slavery, considered it a scheme to get more slave areas
Texans answered the call and 5,000 joined the Texas army

8. Section 2 US Victory American troops were better equipped than Mexican
General Winfield Scott: Captured Mexico City in Sept. 1847
Women, like Sarah Borginnis, took active role in war: cooking, washing, loading cartidges, and dressing wounds
Feb 2, 1848: representatives of both governments signed a peace treaty at Guadalupe Hildalgo, small town near MX city
Treaty of Guadalupe Hildalgo
Mexico abandoned all claims to Texas and accepted Rio Grande as the boundary
Mexico surrendered all territory west of Texas to the Pacific to US – land known as the Mexican Cession (present day California, Nevada, and Utah and parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming
US paid mexico 15 million for land
Mexicans living in new uS territory were granted US citizenship and had a year to decide if they wanted to stay

9. Section 2 New Mexico Boundary Dispute
Santa Fe becoming part of Texas became a political issue
Santa Fe did nto want to be part of Texas
Compromise of 1850: Texas agreed to surrender its claims to a portion of the disputed area in return for 10 million from the US allowing Texas to pay of its war debt

10. Section 3 Texas Population Boom
1850: 212,592 Texans which as a 50% increase from 1847
Next 10 years, population nearly tripled to 604,215
Attraction to Texas: Lure of cheap land, annexation, and legal slavery
Most new arrivals came from southern US
1860 new counties had to be created because of population increase, including Dallas, Tyler, Upshur, Polk

11. Section 3 Mexican Texans Mexicans moved North into Texas
Most lived in the wedge shape between the Nueces River and Rio Grande, in the San Antonio-Goliad area, and along the Rio Grande from Del Rio to El Paso
Most of the people living in South Texas were Tejanos, but most political leaders were Anglos
Most were farmers and ranchers that owned their own lands, but most worked as cowhands, sheepherders, and ranch laborers

12. Section 3 Politics and Bias
Jose Antonio Navarro: Mexican American who signed the Texas Declaration of Independence
Santos Benavides: Mexican who was a prosperous merchant and became mayor of Laredo0 and chief Justice of Webb County
Juan Cortina: Protector of Mexican and Tejanos rights
Bitter feelings towards Mexicans and Tejanos in Texas lasted a long time, mainly because of Goliad and the Alamo
Despite prejudice and discrimination, many Mexicans retained their cultural heritage which has mixed in a lot with our culture in Texas today

13. Section 3
German Texans
German Communities in central Texas: New Braunsfels and Fredericksburg
By 1860, 1/5 of residents of Houston, Galveston, and San Antonio were Germans
Why did Germans come to Texas?
Potato blight that struck Ireland in the mid-1840s also effected Germany

14. Section 3 Other European Arrivals Immigrants came from Ireland England
France
Poland
Czech
Norway
These arrivals from other countries brought with them art, languages, music, literature, and traditions that create a more diverse Texas culture

15. Section 3 The Alabama – Coushettas The Tiguas and the Kickapoos
The Tiguas and the Kickapoos
Settled along Trinity in East Texas
Texas legislature purchased the land for them to make a reservation
Texas recognized the Tiguas and the Kickapoos as Native Tribes to Texas
Tiguas were thought to be descendents of the Pueblos in New Mexico
Kickapoos were recognized in 1989 as a sovereign nation