From 1836 until 1844, Texas became a nation. However, this nation
failed to prosper under their newly formed government. One of failures was
attributed to the political conflicts between Sam Houston and his incumbent
Mirabeau Lamar. Houston, a Jacksonian Democrat
wanted a small government and a statues quo; however, Lamar perceived Texas as having a strong
centralized government and a strong military. Therefore, the Republic of Texas
became extremely disorganized after each election. Financial support was another
problem that plagued the newly formed Texas
republic. When the political leaders of the Republic of Texas
formed their government, they inherited the problem of being impoverish and
broke. This resulted in a lack of funding to their military. The Comanche
Indian raids from the north also attributed to the failures of the Republic.
Therefore, Texas
could not attract people to populate the vast open territories. As a result, this led to a lack of revenue in
the sale of land thus perpetuating the impoverishment of the government.
In becoming an independent country, one of
the first problems the Republic
of Texas faced, was what
to do with the invading Comanche Indians from the north. The nomadic Comanche
Indians tribes adapted to the use of guns and horses. As a result, they became
very proficient at hit-and-run tactics on homesteads and small towns. The Comanche
struck at night normally on a full moon looting ranches and homesteads of their
cattle and people. To the Texans, this resulted in the spread of fear.
To counter balance the raids on the Texans,
the government ordered companies of rangers to patrol the trails that the
Comanche used. The rangers would pursue the Comanche after they had done a
raid. The rangers had a better chance of catching the Comanche Indians due to
being loaded down with booty therefore slowing the raiding Comanche down.
Another tactic the rangers employed was attacking Indian villages and killing
men, women and children. The result of the raiding and retaliation became too costly
for the Texans as well as the Comanche Indians.[1]
The Comanche Indians began to send signs of
wanting peace with the Texans. In March of 1840, the Texas officials arranged a meeting with the
Comanche Indians. In this meeting, the
Texans demanded a ceasefire on the raids, and a return of all the property and
captives. However, that morning, a band of Comanche Indians entered the city of
San Antonio.
The Comanche Indians could only offer to the agreement one captive, a little
girl named Matilda Lockwood. The Comanche Indians severely disfigured her face
with a hot coal. The result of this disfigurement touched off a skirmish
between the Texans and the Comanche Tribe. The Texans would latter name this
skirmish the Council House Fight. The results of the Council House Fight were
the death of thirty-five Comanche Indians and seven Texans and the captivity of
twenty-seven Comanche Indians.
This fight caused the Comanche Indians to
retaliate in the most brutal and relentless raids. In August of 1840, the Comanche
Indians and the Kiowa Tribes joined forces. They swept across Texas;
the first town the joint forces hit was Victoria.
The Comanche and Kiowa stole 1500 horses from Victoria. However, due to the town’s people
being well armed, they did not succeed on invading the town. The next morning,
the Comanche and Kiowa Indians returned to Victoria and were met with a stronger
resistance. Instead of returning home, the Comanche and Kiowa moved on to the
next village. The next village the Comanche and Kiowa Indians invaded was the
gulf coastal town of Linnvill.
However, the residents of Linvill escaped to merchant ships in the harbor. From
the harbor, the residents watched in horror as their town was looted and
burned. Twenty one town’s people became victims to this raid.[2]
To seek revenge from these raids, small
groups of rangers and private citizens pursued the Comanche and Kiowa back to
the Hill County
of west Texas.
The Comanche and Kiowa stayed just ahead of the rangers to avoid a battle with
them. However, the rangers and citizens caught on to this tactic and planed to
cutoff the Comanche and Kiowa Indians before they could reach the Hill County.
This forced the Indians into a pitched battle. On the morning of August 12,
1840, the rangers and private citizens led by Felix Huston and Edward Burleson
met up with the retreating Indians in the battle of Plum Creek. The Rangers and
private citizens killed eighty Comanche Indians and recovered most of the
stolen booty.
The battle of Plum Creek coupled with another
battle in October of that year devastated the Comanche Tribe. This led to an
end to the Comanche raids on the Texas
towns and villages. In October of 1844, the Comanche Tribe signed the Peace
Treaty of Tehuacan Creek and promised not to ever attack or raid another
village in Texas.
However, this treaty was short lived; the Comanche Indians resumed their
hit-and-run tactics for another thirty years. The results of raids and
retaliations cost Texas
money and manpower. Furthermore, the Comanche Indian’s raids caused a
depopulation of Texas’
citizens. In return, Texas could not sell land to financially
support it weak and frail government.[3]
The next major problem that the Republic of Texas faced was political organization.
After each presidential election the political climate shifted. Sam Houston
believed in a small federal government tailored after the Jacksonian era;
however, Mirabeau Lamar advocated for a large centralized government with a
strong standing army. In 1836, Sam Houston took the presidential office of the Republic of Texas. Being a Democrat, Houston wanted
a small government modeled after the Jacksonian Era. However, the lack of government
revenue hampered his administration. Therefore, Houston could not create any large government
projects such as building a capital or military. Houston
advocated peace with Mexico
and the Indians because he felt that peace was less costly for the Republic of Texas.
The first issue Houston addressed when he became president
was disbanding the military. In doing so, Houston
relied on existing treaties with Mexico
and the Cherokee Indians to maintain peace, both in and outside of Texas. Next, Houston created a buffer zone between Mexico and Texas. This buffer zone was the land between
the Nueces River
and the Rio Grande.
Houston used this buffer zone to reinforce peace
and to limit confrontations with Mexico. However, Mexico’s internal problems benefited Houston’s administration
the most. Therefore, at that time, Mexico
lacked an interest in pursuing any military campaigns with in Texas.[4]
On the other hand, when voters elected Houston to the
presidential office, they also elected Lamer for the vice presidency. This
created a completive environment between Houston and Lamar; both men disliked
each other political interests. As a result, two parties emerged in Texas, the Houstonites
and the Lamarites. In December of 1838, when Lamar became the second president
of Texas, he unraveled most of Houston’s political
policies.
Lamar advocated Texas
as an independent nation and discouraged annexation into the United States. For financial
security, Lamar wanted a large government to promote trade with other counties
thus increasing government revenue. Furthermore, he wanted a national bank. In
domestic issues, due to Lamar’s educational background, he promoted the
development of an educational system. Militarily, Lamar unlike Houston
wanted a standing army to deal with the Indian problems and Mexico. He told Congress that he
would honor peace; however, he would use military force to secure Texas’ welfare.
On January 23, 1839, Congress granted Lamar’s
request for a standing army. Congress ordered military supplies to outfit the
army. Furthermore, Congress ordered recruiting stations and appointed Albert
Johnston as secretary of war. However, due to the lack of support from the
citizens of Texas, Texas could not fill the ranks. When Congress
appointed military officers, they fought with each other or with lawmakers.
This proved to be a disaster for Lamar’s administration. However, when Houston won his second
term of office, he presented to the Texas Congress
a bill to disband the army. On January 18, 1841, Congress denied the military
of financial support. Therefore, Houston
killed Lamar’s military dreams of a standing army. The political turmoil
between Lamar and Houston hampered the development of the Republic of Texas.
However, the lack of monetary funds
fueled the political turmoil. Without money, none of Lamar’s dreams of an
independent nation would materialize.[5]
The last problem the Republic
of Texas inherited from Mexico
was an impoverished and broke government. From 1836 to 1838, under Houston’s administration
the national debt climbed from 1,250,000 dollars to 3,250,000 dollars. From
1838 until 1840, the national debt grew even larger under Lamar’s administration
to a staggering nine million dollars. The rise in the national debt under
Lamar’s administration can be contributed to his policies in dealing with the
Indian problems and Mexico.[6]
On the other hand, in 1841, when Houston took the
presidential office, in his second term as president, he attempted to bring
down the national debt. By doing this, Houston
cut jobs in the government and military. Furthermore, he abolished many
government and military offices. The salaries of the remaining military and
government employees were greatly reduced.
Due to Republic
of Texas’ inability to obtain loans
from the United States or Europe, Congress had no other option but to repeal a five
million dollar loan authorization. As a result, Congress had to take a
reduction in salary. Due to government operational expenses, Congress also
suspended payments to the national debt.[7]
The results of Houston
and Congress’ cuts in spending, only allotted Houston in his two year term five hundred thousand
dollars to run the affairs of the government. Out of the five hundred thousand
dollar budget, one fifth went to deal with the Indian problems. Houston’s cuts in the
budget eventually balanced out. Therefore, with the sale land and the sale of
confiscated property from Mexico
created a stable income. Furthermore, to increase revenue, Congress issued bank
notes as currency. To support this currency, Congress used the Matagorda and Galveston islands as
collateral. However, by the time the United
States annexed Texas,
the national debt soared to twelve million dollars.[8]
Financial problems plagued the Republic of Texas and caused it to fail as a nation.
However, the invading Comanche Indians also created an unstable environment.
Their hit-and-run tactics were very successful in horrifying the people in the
new towns and settlements. Furthermore, Texas
diverted money and man power from the national budget to putdown the Comanche
Indian raids. The raids also caused depopulation and made land sales very unattractive
to new settlers. The result of this, forced Texas to cut the national budget and suspend
payments to the national debt.
Houston’s political decisions to unravel Lamar’s
policies become clear. Lamer wanted a centralized government with a standing
army. These ideas drove the Republic of Texas into a nine million dollar
national debt. Houston
and Congress suspended government offices and military positions to counter act
the spending. Therefore, Houston’s
conservative Jacksonian ideas appeared to Lamar as an aggressive act to
undermine his administration. However, Houston’s
intentions were actually to save the Republic’s financial future. For these
reasons the Republic
of Texas failed as a
nation.
Work Cited
Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/RR/mzr2.html
(accessed December 7, 2009).
[1] Richard Bruce Winders, Crisis in the Southwest: The United States, Mexico,
and the Struggle over Texas, (Wilmington: Scholarly
Resources Inc., 2002), 44.
[2] Winders, Crisis in the Southwest: The United States, Mexico,
and the Struggle over Texas,
44-45.
[3]Winders, Crisis in the Southwest: The United States, Mexico,
and the Struggle over Texas,
46-47.
[4] Winders, Crisis in the Southwest: The United States, Mexico,
and the Struggle over Texas,
39.
[5] Winders, Crisis in the
Southwest: The United States,
Mexico, and the Struggle
over Texas,
57-58.
[6] Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. ","
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/RR/mzr2.html (accessed
December 7, 2009).
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