University:
Arizona State University
Course:
HST 200 | Historical Themes
Academic year:

2024
Views:

258

Pages:

2
Author:

Thuyoul US

LONE STAR REPUBLIC After military hero Sam Houston was elected president of Texas in September 1836, Texans embraced arinexation to the United States based on the unwavering logic of U.S. growth. For a long time, many settlers in Texas had dreamed of this. Texas was the next obvious state in their plan to push the United States westward. There were slaveholders who believed in the inevitable course of slavery, including Sam Houston, William B. Travis, and James Bowie (the latter two of whom perished at the Alamo). Politicians in the United States were hesitant to annex Texas or even acknowledge it as a sovereign nation because of the contentious discussions over Missouri that had resulted in talk of disunion and war. The admittance of a state with a sizable slave population-albeit legal under the Missouri Compromise-would inevitably result in conflict with Mexico, and annexation would resurrect the debate over slavery. Texas was forced to establish the independent Lone Star Republic as its own political entity. Texas applied for and was granted recognition by France, Great Britain, Belgium, and the Netherlands in order to defend itself against attempts by Mexico to retake the territory. Almost a year after the last victory over the Mexican army at San Jacinto, in March 1837, the United States did not formally acknowledge Texas as an independent republic. But Americans eager to expand, particularly slaveholders, were unafraid to rush to the Lone Star Republic despite uncertainty about its future. Its population almost quadrupled between 1836 and 1846. Nearly 12,000 Africans were transported to Texas as slaves by American owner's by 1840. Marig of the new immigrants hoped for a fresh start in the newly formed country, having lost a lot of money during the harsh financial downturn of 1837. Folklore states that houses and farms all around the country were abandoned one night, and inquisitive neighbors discovered letters with the words "GTT" ("Gone to Texas") on them. During this time, a large number of Europeans- particularly Germans-also came to Texas. Tejano and Native American populations in Texas were often viewed with complete disdain by Americans who were ready to uproot and remove them from their homes, Anglo-American authorities took Tejano neighbors' lands in retaliation for their failure to repay the favor during the uprising. The second president of the Lone Star Republic, Mireau B. Lamar, launched an ethnic cleansing effort in 1839 with the intention of driving away all Native American tribes from Texas. The desire to grow did not go away, and Anglo-American officials and settlers in the recently established republic of Texas quickly turned their attention to the Mexican province of New Mexico as well. Reiterating the strategies of previous filibusters, a Texas army left for Santa Fe with the goal of seizing it in 1841. When its member's came upon a large group of New Mexicans, they were captured and sent to Mexico City. By invading the Mexican town of Mier on Christmas Day in 1842, Texans exacted revenge for a Mexican raid on San Antonio. Another Texas army was dispatched to assault Santa Fe in August, but they were forced to retire by Mexican forces. It is obvious that Texas's declaration of independence did not mean that hostilities with Mexico had stopped.