Republic of Texas

Republic of Texas ← 1836 – 1845 → Flag Seal Capital Washington-on-the-Brazos Harrisburg Galveston Velasco Columbia Houston Austin Language(s) English (de facto) Spanish, French, German and Native American languages regionally Government Republic President1  - 1836-1838 Sam Houston  - 1838-1841 Mirabeau B. Lamar  - 1841-1844 Sam Houston  - 1844-1845 Anson Jones Vice President1  - 1836-1838 Mirabeau B. Lamar  - 1838-1841 David G. Burnet  - 1841-1844 Edward Burleson  - 1844-1845 Kenneth L. Anderson History  - Independence March 2, 1836  - Annexation December 29, 1845  - Transfer of power February 19 1846 Area  - 1840 1,007,935 km² (389,166 sq mi) Population  - 1840 est. 70,000       Density 0.1 /km²  (0.2 /sq mi) Currency Republic of Texas Dollar ($) 1Interim period (16 Mar-22 Oct 1836): President: David G. Burnet, Vice President Lorenzo de Zavala

The Republic of Texas was a sovereign state in North America between the United States and Mexico that existed from 1836 to 1845. Formed as a break-away republic from Mexico by the Texas Revolution, the nation claimed borders that encompassed an area that included all of the present U.S. state of Texas, as well as parts of present-day New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and Wyoming based upon the Treaties of Velasco between the newly created Texas republic and Mexico. The eastern boundary with the United States was defined by the Adams-Onís Treaty between the United States and Spain, in 1819. Its southern and western-most boundary with Mexico was under dispute throughout the existence of the Republic, with Texas claiming that the boundary was the Rio Grande, and Mexico claiming the Nueces River as the boundary. This dispute would later become a trigger for the Mexican–American War, after the annexation of Texas.

Historical context

Main article: Texas Revolution

Texas was not the only Mexican state to secede from Mexico and declare independence. The Mexican states of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas would also withdraw themselves from Mexico and would form their own short-lived federal republic called the Republic of the Rio Grande with Laredo as the capital, which is in the present-day State of Texas. The Mexican state of Yucatán also seceded and formed the Republic of Yucatán. Several other states also went into open rebellion including San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, Durango, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Jalisco and Zacatecas. However, the context of the Texas rebellion was different from the other Mexican states/provinces attempting to declare independence. The Texas rebellion was conducted mainly by white American immigrants known as anglos, not all of whom were legal immigrants. Mainly because of this fact, Texas was also the only former Mexican state to entertain the idea of joining the United States entirely of its own volition.
Texas was the only seceding Mexican state to retain its independence. All the Mexican states that revolted, including Texas, were upset with off-and-on President Antonio López de Santa Anna over abolishing the Mexican Constitution of 1824, dissolving the Mexican Congress and changing the structure of the Mexican government from a federal one to a centralized one. In fact, Yucatán, in its declaration of independence, expressed its desire to re-accede to the Mexican Union if federalism was re-established. The Constitution of 1836 The Texas voters had elected a congress of 14 senators and 29 representatives in September 1836. The Texas constitution allowed the first president to serve for only two years. It set a three year term for all later presidents.

President Burnet

Burnet had only been president since March, but had many challenges with border security and financial stability within the newly created republic. Mexico continued being a threat to Texas, with constant disputes over the placement of the border between the two areas. Mexico insisted that the border was the Nueces River, and Texas maintained that the border was the Rio Grande River. Indians pillaged areas along the Texas coast lines to the west, and Burnet's army was disenchanted and in revolt.

Sam Houston

Sam Houston became the second president of the Republic, and arguably the best. He developed and maintained foreign policy goals, partially stabilized the economy, and quelled the military rebellions. Houston was still challenged by constant border disputes with Mexico and the Indian nations. Relations between Mexico and Texas continued to be tense as Mexico rejected the treaty of Velaco, which Santa Anna had signed while he was a prisoner of the Texans.

Mirabeau B. Lamar

During his three years as president Lamar did not want to govern from a capital named for his rival. He persuaded congress to move the government once more, this time to the edge of the western frontier. Lamar had visited a waterloo on the Colorado River. Lamar tried to settle the differences with the Mexicans peacefully. He sent his secretary of state to make an agreement with Mexico if it met certain conditions. Houston was right to worry that the Mexicans would return. Mexican troops soon struck again. They captured San Antonio. They wanted to prove that Texas could not control the territory all the way to the Rio Grande. Texas volunteers gathered somewhere near Sal Ado Creek. Mexican troops outnumbered the Texans by about 800 men.

Statehood

On February 28, 1845, the U.S. Congress passed a bill that would authorize the United States to annex the Republic of Texas. On March 1 U.S. President John Tyler signed the bill. The legislation set the date for annexation for December 29 of the same year. Faced with imminent American annexation of Texas, Charles Elliot and Alphonse de Saliny, the British and French ministers to Texas, were dispatched to Mexico City by their governments. Meeting together with Mexico's foreign secretary, they signed a "Diplomatic Act" which offered Mexican recognization of Texas independence, with boundaries that would be determined with French and English mediation. Texas President Jones forwarded both offers to a specially elected convention meeting at Austin, and the American proposal was accepted with only one dissenting vote. The Mexican proposal was never put to a vote. Following the previous decree of President Jones, the proposal was then put to a national vote. On October 13, 1845 a large majority of voters in the Republic approved both the American offer and the proposed constitution that specifically endorsed slavery and the slave trade. This constitution was later accepted by the U.S. Congress, making Texas a U.S. state on the same day annexation took effect, December 29 1845 (therefore bypassing a territorial phase)^[1]. One of the motivations for annexation (besides the primary one of desiring to be united with their perceived Anglo-American ethno-cultural brethren of the United States and their Anglo-American brethren of "the South" regional-cultural was that the Texas government had incurred huge debts which the United States agreed to assume upon annexation. In 1852, in return for this assumption of debt, a large portion of Texas-claimed territory, now parts of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Wyoming, was ceded to the Federal government. The annexation resolution has been the topic of some incorrect historical beliefs— one that remains is that the resolution granted Texas the explicit right to secede from the Union. This was a right argued by some to be implicitly held by all states at the time, up until the conclusion of the Civil War. The resolution did include two unique provisions: first, it said that up to four additional states could be created from Texas's territory, with the consent of the State of Texas. The resolution did not include any special exceptions to the provisions of the US Constitution regarding statehood. The right to create these possible new states was not "reserved" for Texas, as is sometimes stated. ^[2]. Second, Texas did not have to surrender its public lands to the federal government. While Texas did cede all territory outside of its current area to the federal government in 1850, it did not cede any public lands within its current boundaries. This means that generally, the only lands owned by the federal government within Texas have actually been purchased by the government. This also means that the state government has control over oil reserves which were later used to fund the state's public university system. In addition, the state's control over offshore oil reserves in Texas runs out to 3 leagues (10.357015 miles) rather than three miles (5 km) as with other states ^[3].

Presidents and vice presidents

Notable figures of the republic

Stephen F. Austin, known as the "Father of Texas"

See also

Texas Portal

• Timeline of the Texas Revolution
• Timeline of the Republic of Texas
• History of Texas
• Republic of the Rio Grande
• Republic of Yucatán
• The Texas Legation
• The French Legation

Notes

References

External links

• The Texas Declaration Of Independence TexasBob.com.
• Selected Texas History Primary Source Documents