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HISTORY OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS (1836-1846)

The first Texas provisional government for the Texians 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. However, this council stopped short of declaring Texas independence.

The first declaration of independence for modern Texas was signed in Goliad on December 20, 1835. The Texas Declaration of Independence was enacted at Washington-on-the-Brazos 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 L�pez de Santa Anna's forces defeated the 183 Texians defending the small mission (which would eventually become the center of the city of San Antonio). Remember the Alamo! became the battle cry of the Texas Revolution.

The Battle of San Jacinto was fought on April 21, 1836, near the present-day city of Houston. General Santa Anna's entire force of 1,600 men was killed or captured by Texas General Sam Houston's army of 800 Texians; only nine Texians died. This decisive battle resulted in Texas' independence from Mexico.

The Republic of Texas was located between the United States and Mexico and existed for a short period of time (1836 to 1845). The Republic of Texas was formed as a break-away republic from Mexico and claimed a huge territory that included all of the present state of Texas, as well as parts of New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and Wyoming. The eastern boundary of the Texas Republic was defined by the Adams-Onis Treaty between the United States and Spain in 1819. Its southern boundary was the Rio Grande.

Sam Houston was the first elected Prisident of the Republic of Texas and served for two separate terms, 1836�1838 and 1841�1844. He also was Governor of the state of Texas from 1859 to 1861.

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.

CAPITALS OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS



In 1836, five sites served as temporary capitals of Texas before Sam Houston moved the capital to Austin in 1837. The temporary capitals included Velasco (nw Freeport), Washington-on-the-Brazos, Harrisburg, Galveston, and Columbia (Now West Columbia).before Sam Houston moved the capital to Houston in 1837. In 1839, the capital was moved to the new town of Austin.

The early years of the Republic of Texas were tension-filled because of the conflict of 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 Yucat�n.

TEXAS STATEHOOD

On February 28, 1845, the U.S. Congress passed a bill that authorized the United States to annex the Republic of Texas and on March 1, 1845 U.S. President John Tyler signed the bill. The legislation set the date for annexation for December 29 of the same year. On October 13 of the same year, a majority of voters in the Republic approved a proposed constitution that was later accepted by the US Congress, making Texas a U.S. state on the same day annexation took effect (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.

ANNEXATION RESOLUTION

The annexation resolution has been the topic of some incorrect historical beliefs�chiefly, that the resolution was a treaty between sovereign states, and 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. However, no such right was explicitly enumerated in the resolution. The resolution did include two unique provisions: first, it gave the new state of Texas the right to divide itself into as many as five states with approval of its legislature. 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.



Presidents of the Republic of Texas

David G. Burnet (interim, 1836)
Sam Houston (1836�1838)
Mirabeau B. Lamar (1838�1841)



FIRST CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS

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. Font size=4 color=blue>

First Texas Flag

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 Yucat�n.

Notable figures of the Republic of Texas

Stephen F. Austin, known as the "Father of Texas"
David G. Burnet
Jim Bowie
Edward Burleson
Davy Crockett
Lorenzo de Zavala
Sam Houston
Albert Sidney Johnston
Mirabeau B. Lamar
Jos� Antonio Navarro
James C. Neill
Juan Seguin
William B. Travis
Isaac Van Zandt
Edwin Waller
William H. Wharton



THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS

INTERIUM GOVERNMENT (16 Mar-22 Oct 1836)



These were the members of the interium government established by the Constitutional Convention at Washington on the Brazos in March of 1836:

President: David G. Burnet

Secretaries of State;

Samuel Price Carson;
James Collinsworth,
and William Houston Jack.

Secretaries of War:

Thomas Jefferson Rusk,
Mirabeau B. Lamar,
Alexander Somervell,
John Austin Wharton, and
Henry P. Brewster

Vice-President:
Lorenzo De Zavala

Secretary of Treasury:
Bailey Hardeman,
Barnard E. Bee


Secretary of Navy
Robert Potter

Attorney General:
David Thomas
Peter W. Grayson

Postmaster General
John Rice Jones

FIRST ELECTED GOVERNMENT OF THE TEXAS REPUBLIC


(October 22, 1836 to December 10, 1838)

President: Samuel Houston

Secretaries of State:
Stephen F. Austin,
James P. Henderson,
Robert Anderson Irion


Secretary of War:
Thomas Jefferson Rusk,
William S. Fisher,
Barnard E. Bee


Secretary of Treasury:
Henry Smith

Vice-President Mirabeau B. Lamar


Secretary of the Navy:
Samuel R. Fisher,
William M. Shepherd

Attorney General:
James Collinsworth,
James P. Henderson,
Peter W. Grayson,
John Birdsall,
A.S. Thurston


Postmaster General: Gustavus A. Parker Robert Barr

Commissioner of Land Office: John P. Borden

SECOND ELECTED OFFICIALS OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS

(December 10, 1838 through December 13, 1841)

Second Elected President: Mirabeau B. Lamar

Secretaries of State:
Barnard E. Bee,
James Webb,
James Webb (acting),
Nathaniel C. Armory,
David G. Burnet,
Abner Smith Lipscomb,
Joseph Waples (acting),
James S. Mayfield,
Samuel A. Roberts (acting)


Secretary of War:
Albert S. Johnston,
Branch Tanner Archer

Secretary of Treasury:
Richard G. Dunlap,
James H. Starr,
James W. Simmons,
J.G. Chalmers

Vice-President: David G. Burnet

Secretary of the Navy:
Memucan Hunt,
Louis P. Cooke

Attorney General:
John C. Watrous,
James Webb,
F.A. Morris

Postmaster General:
Robert Barr,
Elijah S.C. Robertson,
John Rice Jones

Land Commissioner:
John P. Borden,
H.W. Raglin,
Thomas William Ward

THIRD ELECTED OFFICIALS OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS (December 13, 1841 through December 9, 1844)

Third Elected President: Sam Houston

Secretary of State:
Anson Jones

Secretary of War & Marine:
George W. Hockley,
Morgan C. Hamilton (acting),
George W. Hill


Vice-President:
Edward Burleson

Secretary of Treasury
E. Lawrence Stickney (acting),
William Henry Daingerfield,
James B. Miller


Attorney General:
George W. Terrell


Land Commissioner:
Thomas W. Ward

FOURTH AND LAST ELECTED OFFICIALS OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS

(December 9, 1844 to February 19, 1846 When Texas Entered the Union)

Fourth and Last President of the Republic:
Anson Jones

Secretaries of State:
Ebenezer Allen,
Ashbel Smith,


Attorney General:
Ebenezer Allen,
William B. Ochiltree


Vice-President:
Kenneth L. Anderson

Secretary of Treasury:
William Beck Ochiltree,
John A. Greene


Secretary of War & Marine:
George W. Hill,
Morgan C. Hamilton,
William Gordon Cooke


Land Commissioner:
Thomas W. Ward







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