For most of the period of Spanish Texas, the area assumed a geopolitical importance vastly disproportionate to its economic or demographic place in the Spanish Empire ( Hogan, 38). During the initial period of Spanish expansion into Texas, the Empire moved to establish a (often with an accompanying fort) to establish a toehold in the frontier land. Spanish expansion was as much about showing the extent of their power as much as actually settling the area ( Fehrenbach, 112). A system of mission-presidios were established at present day San Antonio, La Bahia, Los Adaes, El Paso, Loredao, Nagodoches, and San Louis de las Amarillas ( Dobie, 56). This initial expansion in the early 18th century met with immediate setback, when during the in , hostilities spread to the and French troops from briefly captured the capital of Texas, , in what is now . Following this setback, the Presidios was San Luis de las Amarillas although strengthened and maintained over various years had to be abandoned in 1770 owing to Indian violence and economic profit. Spanish efforts toward expansion in Texas during the years 1731-62 were a failure, except at La Bahía, San Antonio de Bexar, and along the lower Rio Grande. Missions and presidios, although proven frontier institutions, had clearly failed north of San Antonio ( Fehrenbach, 123).
Towards the end of the 18th century Texas remained a sparsely settled territory, heavily dependent on the military and continually exposed to the depredations of Indians that resisted Spanish sovereignty in the region (Dobie 70, Fehrenbach 125). Crown efforts during much of the 18th century to raise the small population to improve the province's commerce proved in general unsuccessful. The population remained a mixture of hispanized Indians centered on the missions, Spanish and Mexican soldiers with their families, Spanish colonial officials and their families, and various communities of French, British, Italian, German, and American settlers who had been assimilated into the Spanish system. Then in the early years of the 19th century Spain once again faced concerted efforts by rivals, now including the United States, to wrest from it important parts of its North American empire ( Fehrenbach, 134).
Relations with the United States had come dangerously close to war over navigation rights on the Mississippi River and the expansion of Anglo-American frontier settlements into Spanish Florida. Napoleon's coerced acquisition of Louisiana in 1800 and his subsequent sale of the vast territory to the United States in 1803 left Spanish North America divided and vulnerable. The most complete census data for Spanish Texas in the early nineteenth century are for 1804, the first year after the sale of Louisiana to the United States. It is quite possible that this systematic count resulted from the need to assess the strength and numbers of the Spanish and Hispanicized population in the face of aggressive Americans to the east (Fehrenbach, 138). The following population figures were compiled between January and December 1804: Nacogdoches, 789; Presidial Company of San Antonio de Béxar 413; Mission San Juan Capistrano, 74; Mission San Antonio de Valero, 121; Presidio (Settlement) of La Bahía, 399; Presidial Company of La Bahía, 301; Missions La Bahía, Rosario, and Refugio, 224; Mission San Francisco de la Espada, 107; Villa San Fernando de Béxar and Presidio (Settlement) of Béxar, 1,177. Total: 3,605. Although the Spanish-speaking population included merchants and a few artisans such as tailors and blacksmiths, the vast majority of Texans were stock raisers and small farmers. The figures do not include unsettled Indians or black slaves ( Dobie, 78; Fehrenbach, 139).
The early 19th century position of Spanish Texas did not look promising. Foreign encroachments, Indian warfare, and insurrectionary activity all contributed to demographic and economic collapse ( Hogan, 78). In the end, desperate Spanish authorities authorized Anglo-American colonization in an effort to bolster the province and so produced a new set of problems for the Mexican authorities who soon replaced them. In the years following the and the acquisition of by the United States of America, American settlers had begun to move westward into Mexican claimed territory. Some settlers were rebelliously active, seeking the long-term annexation of the area by the United States. In 1812-1813, the attempted to separate Texas from the Spanish Empire. In response the Spanish government in Mexico ordered a virtual genocide of the entire American population and any of their collaborators amongst the Spanish population. This genocide was carried out be Spanish troops who killed all they deemed to be traitorous if they refused to leave the territory. Many fought back though no real success was to be had against the Spanish. The final result was the utter devastation of Texas which left it with a population size it had at the beginning of the 18th century. Spanish Texas was a failing colonial policy ( Fehrenbach. 146).
Revolution
Texas residents knew they had to do something if they wanted to end there oppression. The first Texas provisional government was formed at on , . 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 Texan independence ( A. Williams, 47). The first declaration of independence for modern Texas, by both settlers and local Mexicans, was signed in on , . The was convened at with presiding, and the was enacted on , , effectively creating the Republic of Texas ( J. Williams, 38).
Four days later, the thirteen-day ended as Mexican General '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 . “Remember the Alamo” became the of the that most remember, but in fact this was a shortened version of the actual cry, which was "Remember the Alamo, Remember ". In the city of Goliad, Santa Anna had Colonel and 341 of his men—who had surrendered at the —marched one mile out of town and massacred ( A. Williams, 78).
The was fought on , , near the present-day city of . General Santa Anna commanded a force of 1,600 men, of which more than 600 were killed and the rest captured by Texas General 's army of 800 Texans, while only nine Texans 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 from Mexico. With a population of 30,000 Anglo-American Texans, 5,000 African-Americans (most of them slaves; something which had been a point of contention as had already been fully abolished under Mexican law) and 3,470 Hispanics, this was quite an accomplishment even with the approximately 14,200 Native Americans, mostly Comanche, staying out of the war ( A. Williams, 89; J. Williams, 52).
Texas claimed the as its southern and western limit, according to the of May 1836, which were signed by General Santa Anna ( Fehrenbach 192). 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 ( Santa-Ana, 124). Texas tried to gain recognition from Mexico as an independent state, putting the as the territorial limit on the negotiation table, to no avail. The British tried to mediate but the Mexican government refused to accept mediation. After the Battle of San Jacinto, Sam Houston was elected President of the new republic ( J. Williams, 203).
In 1836, five sites served as temporary capitals of Texas starting with (now ) and also including Washington-on-the-Brazos, , , and what was then Columbia, before Sam Houston moved the capital to in 1837. In 1839, the capital was moved to the new town of . Moving the capital so many times put strain on the fragile economic state of the new country’s treasury. Also the new country built foreign embassies in 3 different countries including Britain and United States, wasting large amounts of precious funds. The population of Texas was also very spread out, with many living on remote ranches were tax collection was difficult. With the new government spending more than they brought in Texas fell into debt. Over 10 million dollars in debt in less than nine years to be exact ( Fehrenbach, 304).
Internal politics of the Republic were based on the conflict between two factions. The nationalist faction, led by advocated the continued independence of Texas, the expulsion of the , and the expansion of Texas to the . Their opponents, led by Sam Houston, advocated the annexation of Texas to the United States and peaceful coexistence with Native Americans. The Republic received diplomatic recognition from the , , the , the , and the Republic of ( A. Williams, 235).
Texas was not the only Mexican state to secede from and declare independence. The Mexican states of , , and would also withdraw themselves from Mexico and would form their own short-lived federal republic called the with Laredo as the capital, which is in the present-day . The Mexican state of also seceded and formed the . Several other states also went into open rebellion including , , , , , and . 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 , 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 ( Fehrenbach, 256).
All the Mexican states that revolted, including Texas, were upset with off-and-on President over abolishing the , 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 recede to the Mexican Union if federalism was reestablished ( Fehrenbach, 259).
Statehood
On , , the passed a bill that would authorize the to . On signed the bill. The legislation set the date for annexation for 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 recognition 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 ( A. Williams, 267).
On , a large majority of voters in the Republic approved both the American offer and the proposed constitution that specifically endorsed and the slave trade. This constitution was later accepted by the U.S. Congress, making a on the same day annexation took effect, , (therefore bypassing a territorial phase). One of the motivations for annexation (besides the primary one of desiring to be united with their perceived Anglo-American) was that the Texas government had incurred huge debts, over ten million dollars, 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 , , , , and , was ceded to the Federal government ( Siegel, 203). The United States also offered military protection from Indians and Mexico.
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 . 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. 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 as with other states ( Siegel 215).
When one looks back over the intricate history of the present day state of Texas it is hard to overlook its unique details. Trying to understand Texan culture it is of the utmost importance to ponder those details while looking at the whole. Today the stereotype of a Texan is a redneck who can’t manage money but will try to kill anyone who messes with his property with his many firearms. This stereotype obviously does not apply to all Texans but it is accurately based on a few. Most Americans would object to this culture but most Texans would not. I believe it is because Texans are completely understanding with the knowledge of there history. Hopefully after reading this report you are too.
Annotated Bibliography
Dobie, J. Frank. Cow People. Boston: Little Brown And Co. Limited, 1964.
This book gives an accurate description of the life style of the different peoples in the Texas territory during the period of time which I am researching. The description of the occupation of cow rearing is proving to be quiet positive to my work, allowing me to more fully understand some of the motivation behind actions taken.
Fehrenbach, T. R., Lone Star, a History of Texas and the Texans. New York: Macmillan Publishing
Company, 1985
This book covers everything from prehistoric reptiles in the Texas area to the present day football teams. It has proved to be a very handy and essential part of my work. This book turned out to be my main source as well as my go to encyclopedia for everything Texan.
Hogan, William Ranson. The Republic Of Texas, a Social and Economic History. Norman: University
Of Oklahoma, 1969.
As this books title suggests, it provides much information on the Republic of Texas’s brief history from a political stand point. I found many of the facts to be extremely useful.
Montejano, David. Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of Texas. Austin: University of Texas
Press, 1987.
This book compares the white immigrants to the Mexican locals living in the Texas territory. The book uses statistics and first hand references to compare the two peoples.
Santa-Ana, Antonio Lopez. The Mexican Side of the Texan Revolution. New York: Arno Press, 1976.
This book was compiled by Santa –Anna and other military and governmental people from the time on the Mexican side of the war. It was latter translated by Carlos E. Castaneda. The book provides a very one sided but interesting side of the war. This book gives one a good balance after reading many other English books that tend to be slanted for the American Texans.
Siegel, Stanley. A Political History of the Texas Republic. New York: Haskell House Publishers Ltd.,
1973.
This is a well drafted recourse on the Texas independence movement. The book provides many accurate facts and well conceited opinions that have been notable in the creation of my paper. This book also provided lots of information in political action and rivalries in Texas which I found interesting but did not include.
Williams, John Hoyt. Sam Houston, a Biography. Sydney: Simon and Schuster, 1993.
I found this book hoping to find a brilliant insight into the life and times of Sam Houston. The book proved to be more than I could have ever hoped for.
Williams, Alfred. Sam Houston and the War of Independence in Texas. Boston: Riverside Press
Cambridge, 1893.
This book plays up Sam Houston’s role in the war for independence in Texas. It provides detailed reports on what Sam was doing before, during and after the war and in the governmental system set up in Texas.