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 as a result of 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.
History
» Previous article: Mexican Texas
The first Texas provisional government was formed at
San Felipe de Austin on
November 7,
1835. This council passed a declaration of support for the 1824 Mexican constitution, and appointed a governor and other officials, though it stopped short of declaring Texian independence. The first declaration of independence for modern Texas, by both
Texian settlers and local
Tejanos, was signed in
Goliad on
December 20,
1835. The
Convention of 1836 was convened at
Washington-on-the-Brazos with
Richard Ellis presiding, and the
Texas Declaration of Independence was enacted on
March 2,
1836, effectively creating the Republic of Texas.
Four days later, the thirteen-day
Siege of the Alamo ended as Mexican General
Antonio López de Santa Anna's forces defeated the Alamo's approximately 183 defenders . The Alamo was outside the then-sleepy town that would eventually become the center of the city of
San Antonio.
Remember the Alamo! became the
battle cry of the
Texas Revolution that most remember, but in fact this was a shortened version of the actual cry, which was "Remember the Alamo, Remember
Goliad". At Goliad, Santa Anna had Colonel
James Fannin and 341 of his men—who had surrendered at the
Battle of Coleto—marched one mile out of town and massacred.
The
Battle of San Jacinto was fought on
April 21,
1836, near the present-day city of
Houston. General Santa Anna commanded a force of 1,600 men, of which more than 600 were killed and the rest captured by Texas General
Sam Houston's army of 800 Texians, while only nine Texians died. Santa Anna was captured the next day dressed as a poor Mexican peasant. During this battle Sam Houston was wounded in the leg, but would recover. Houston also lost control of his men as anger over the Alamo and Goliad overcame his troops; they showed no mercy for those 18 minutes it took to destroy Santa Anna's army. Houston, however, spared Santa Anna's life, and forced him to sign letters to his two remaining armies instructing them to leave Texas. This decisive battle resulted in Texas's
independence from Mexico. With a population of 30,000 Anglo-American Texians, 5,000 African-Americans (most of them slaves; something which had been a point of contention as
slavery had already been fully abolished under Mexican law) and 3,470 Hispanic Tejanos, this was quite an accomplishment even with the approximately 14,200 Native Americans, mostly Comanche, staying out of the war. Today the Battleship
Texas is moored near the battle site, alongside the more-than-500 foot tall
San Jacinto Monument, built in 1936.
Texas claimed the
Rio Grande as its southern and western limit, according to the
Treaties of Velasco of May 1836, which were signed by General Santa Anna. When Santa Anna returned to Mexico, the Mexican congress rejected the treaty as invalid and refused to recognize the existence of the Republic of Texas. Mexico insisted that Texas remained its province. Texas tried to gain recognition from Mexico as an independent state, putting the
Nueces River as the territorial limit on the negotiation table, to no avail. The British tried to mediate but the Mexican government refused to accept mediation. In 1845, the United States agreed to uphold Texas's claims upon the Rio Grande if it agreed to join the U.S.; Mexico threatened war if annexation took place.
After the Battle of San Jacinto, Sam Houston was elected President of the new republic. The first Congress of the Republic of Texas convened in October 1836 at
Columbia (now
West Columbia).
Stephen F. Austin, known as the "Father of Texas", died
December 27,
1836, after serving two months as
Secretary of State for the new Republic.
In 1836, five sites served as temporary capitals of Texas starting with
Velasco (now
Freeport) and also including Washington-on-the-Brazos,
Harrisburg,
Galveston, and what was then Columbia, before Sam Houston moved the capital to
Houston in 1837. In 1839, the capital was moved to the new town of
Austin.
Internal politics of the Republic were based on the conflict between two factions. The nationalist faction, led by
Mirabeau B. Lamar advocated the continued independence of Texas, the expulsion of the
Native Americans, and the expansion of Texas to the
Pacific Ocean. Their opponents, led by Sam Houston, advocated the annexation of Texas to the United States and peaceful coexistence with Native Americans.
The first flag of the republic was the
Burnet Flag (which was inspired by the
Bonnie Blue Flag), followed shortly thereafter by official adoption of the
Lone Star Flag.
The Republic received diplomatic recognition from the
United States,
France, the
United Kingdom, the
Netherlands, and the Republic of
Yucatán.
Historical context
Texas wasn't 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 to 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 reaccede to the Mexican Union if federalism was reestablished.
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). One of the primary motivations for annexation 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 didn't include any special exceptions to the provisions of the US Constitution regarding statehood. The right to create these possible new states wasn't "reserved" for Texas, as is sometimes stated. . Second, Texas didn't 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 didn't 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 as with other states .
Presidents and vice presidents
Notable figures of the republic
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