Republic of Texas

“ That a State, to be formed out of the present republic of Texas, with suitable extent and boundaries, and with two representatives in Congress until the next apportionment of representation, shall be admitted into the Union by virtue of this act, on an equal footing with the existing States, as soon as the terms and conditions of such admission, and the cession of the remaining Texian territory to the United States shall be agreed upon by the government of Texas and the United States. ”

“ The federal constitution, established for the Republic of Mexico, and which Texas, as a part of that Republic, had sworn to support, had been trampled on by him, and Texas, in his eyes, and in the eyes of all mankind, was justified in rebelling against him. Whether the Texans acted consistently with a true policy at the time, in declaring their independence, he should not discuss, nor should he decide; but as a man and an American, he should be rejoiced to see them successful in maintaining their liberties, and he trusted in God they would be so. ”

“ Imagine such an extent of territory open to new settlers! A republic nearly eight times as large as the state of New York, nine times as large as the state of Ohio, and six times as large as all New England put together!
There was no longer any surprise in my mind that the people who made up the government of Texas would be willing to give six hundred and forty acres to every man with a family who would settle there, when, within their boundaries, they had more than two hundred million acres. ”

“ To colonize in this way at once became popular in the South, and in a few years thousands of American citizens were settled in Texas.
For a while all went well; but in 1833 serious trouble began between the Mexican government and the Texans, who in 1836 declared their independence, founded the republic of Texas, [3] and sought admission into our Union as a state. Neither Jackson nor Van Buren favored annexation, so the question dragged on till 1844, when Tyler made with Texas a treaty of annexation and sent it to the Senate. ”

“ He gave me some curious information as to the state of things in Texas; and did not think it necessary to conceal from me, as an American, and one who intended settling in the country, that there was a plan in agitation for throwing off the Mexican yoke, and declaring Texas an independent republic. The high-spirited, and, for the most part, intelligent emigrants from the United States, who formed a very large majority of the population of Texas, saw themselves, with no very patient feeling, under the rule of a people both morally and physically inferior to themselves. ”

“ What can fifty, or one hundred men do against six thousand? The delegates to this convention were elected by the people of Texas to establish a firm and stable government. We have declared our independence, but the work must not stop there. The declaration will be nothing without measures of law that will give it due weight among the other nations of the world. The perils of the republic cannot be averted by arms alone—and never has Texas faced a greater crisis than she faces now. ”

“ Texas is an exceptional case, and forms no precedent, and cannot be adduced as invalidating the general rule. Omitting Texas, the simple fact is, the States acquire all their sovereign powers by being States in the Union, instead of losing or surrendering them. ”

“ Some Texans were able to express pleasure that the end had finally come while others were not talking. A few of the state’s leaders during the war fled to Mexico. The solid citizenry of the state faced the task of creating a respected state government and an enduring nation. They faced this task with a firmness of purpose that has characterized our citizens since the establishment of the Republic of Texas. ”

“ All free white persons who shall emigrate to this republic, and who shall, after a residence of six months, make oath before some competent authority that he intends to reside permanently in the same, and shall swear to support this constitution, and that he will bear true allegiance to the republic of Texas, shall be entitled to all the privileges of citizenship. ”

“ But for the fact that many others have told the story of how Texas won her independence, how she flourished or decayed as a free republic during ten years, and how she was finally annexed to the United States, I would be glad to tell more of these things to you. They [152] could not fail to be entertaining as well as instructive, for they show how a people with a true purpose before them overcame the many obstacles which confronted them and finally made Texas what she is to-day, one of the brightest stars in the blue field of Old Glory. ”

“ Congress appropriated only five thousand dollars in Exchequer bills, without making any allowance for their depreciation, nor did they leave any discretion with the Executive to sustain this important branch of the Government. Texas, at this time, furnishes the singular fact of a government without the means of conveying intelligence, or distributing the laws throughout the Republic. It is, doubtless, the only community on earth at this time, purporting to be a nation, that is similarly situated. ”

“ In 1810, when the great revolution in Mexico against Spain had begun, the Southerners sympathized intensely with the natives, and before very long were lending secret aid to Mexico. A filibustering expedition into Texas was led by James Long, a Natchez merchant and ex-officer in the United States Army. At Nacogdoches Texas was declared a republic and a provisional government organized; but the Spanish forces soon broke it up. For several years the coast of Texas became a rendezvous for pirate and adventurer. ”

“ AUSTIN.
(1842-1861.) 1. “THE REPUBLIC IS NO MORE.”
From 1842 to 1844 the Texan Congress held its meetings at Washington on the Brazos—the spot where, a few short years before, the declaration of independence had been adopted.
The nation born amid the gloom and uncertainty of that stormy time now stood forth proud in the consciousness of growing strength, free and full of hope for the coming years.
An armistice was signed with Mexico (1843) which left the Republic at peace. The Indians under the wise rule of the “Big White Chief,” Houston, made but few outbreaks. ”

“ But American frontiersmen, of the kind calculated to foment trouble, soon made their way across the borders, increasing in numbers as the years passed on, until Texas had a considerable population of United States origin. Efforts were made to purchase this country from Mexico, $1,000,000 being offered in 1827 and $5,000,000 in 1829. These were declined, and in 1833 Texas adopted a constitution as a state of the Mexican republic. Two years later Santa Anna, the president of Mexico, was made dictator, and all state constitutions were abolished. ”

“ There is little doubt that in this design they received encouragement from many men holding high places in the United States.
THE TEXAS REVOLUTION.
The ferment in Texas increased, and, on the 2d of March, 1836, a convention declared Texas independent. Santa Anna, president of the Mexican Republic, crossed the Rio Grande with a large force and advanced to San Antonio, where less than 200 Texans had taken refuge in a mission-house known as the Alamo, with their flag, consisting of a single star, floating defiantly above it. ”

“ We, therefore, the delegates, with plenary powers, of the people of Texas, in solemn convention assembled, appealing to a candid world for the necessities of our condition, do hereby resolve and declare, that our political connection with the Mexican nation has forever ended, and that the people of Texas do now constitute a Free, Sovereign, and Independent Republic, and are fully invested with all the rights and attributes which properly belong to independent nations ”

“ Generally the officers of the army were indifferent whether the annexation was consummated or not; but not so all of them. For myself, I was bitterly opposed to the measure, and to this day regard the war, which resulted, as one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation. It was an instance of a republic following the bad example of European monarchies, in not considering justice in their desire to acquire additional territory. Texas was originally a state belonging to the republic of Mexico. ”

“ Partly as a result of the slavery controversy then raging in the United States and partly in fear of war with Mexico, the United States refused annexation.
In the second period, Texas altered her attitude, withdrew her application for annexation, and made plans to perpetuate her republic. During this period, Texas was recognized by powers such as Great Britain, France, Holland, and Belgium. Americans, laboring under the influence of what they considered a Manifest Destiny, feared the influence of foreign powers in Texas. ”

“ But the first occasion on which the views of the two sections came into flat contrast was on the question of the annexation of Texas.
187. The United States had had a vague claim to Texas until 1819, when the claim was surrendered to Spain in part compensation Texas. for Florida. On the revolt of Mexico Texas became a part of that republic. It was colonized by Americans, mainly southerners and slave-holders, seceded from Mexico in 1835, and defeated the Mexican armies and established its independence in the following year. ”

“ A CAMPAIGN IN TEXAS. [G]
"A meeting of citizens"—so ran the announcement that, on the morning of the 11th October 1835, was seen posted, in letters a foot high, at the corner of every street in New Orleans—"a meeting of citizens this evening, at eight o'clock, in the Arcade Coffeehouse. It concerns the freedom and sovereignty of a people in whose veins the blood of the Anglo-Saxon flows. Texas, the prairie-land, has risen in arms against the tyrant Santa Anna, and the greedy despotism of the Romish priesthood, and implores the assistance of the citizens of the Union. ”

“ If the human beings in Texas are its citizens and constitute its State, the constitution of Texas is their creation and the legislature of Texas is the creature of that constitution. From the Texans, through the creation which is their constitution, that legislature derives its every power over the human beings in Texas and cannot have any such power except by grant from those human beings themselves. ”

“ The designation of Texas as a department of the Mexican confederacy so called, was highly obnoxious to the President, and consequently the conduct of the commissioners was, at once, disapproved. For this, you are now, sir, pleased to express, through your subaltern, your indignation at the perfidious conduct of the people of Texas.
I regret much that you have given this complexion to the affairs of the two countries. When men, by chance or Providence, have been elevated to the rule of nations, and entrusted with the protection of the best interests of the people. ”

“ Nothing has occurred since your last session to induce a doubt that the dispositions of Texas remain unaltered. No intimation of an altered determination on the part of her Government and people has been furnished to the Executive. She still desires to throw herself under the protection of our laws and to partake of the blessings of our federative system, while every American interest would seem to require it. ”

“ Texas will become tired of belonging to such a discordant confederacy; and when their population shall have sufficiently increased to insure success, will throw off the yoke, and form a government of their own. But at all events, it will soon be disjoined from Cohahuila, establish its own State government, and elect its own officers. The seat of government will probably be San Felipe, on the Brazos river. ”

“ Texas was once a part of our country—was unwisely ceded away to a foreign power—is now independent, and possesses an undoubted right to dispose of a part or the whole of her territory and to merge her sovereignty as a separate and independent state in ours. ”

“ For Texas, the beautiful flower state, blessed with turf and blessed with pines, has still the stern commencements of American life before it—that rapid, fierce process of civilization which begins with cards and whisky and murder, which finds its first protection in the "Vigilantes" who hold their grim tribunals under the roadside trees, but which suddenly one day wrenches itself, as it were, from its bad, lawless past, and takes its first firm step on the high road to order and prosperity and the world's respect. ”

“ Mount and party a royal welcome to Texas. Such amenities are invaluable, and would tend to wipe out the lingering bitterness of the past, more closely connect the American people in common brotherhood, and place Texas in the true light before the world as among the most patriotic and liberal States in the Union.
I would suggest that you confer with Governor Sayers and Major Littlefield (who resides at Austin, one of the officers of the Association of Terry’s Texas Rangers) as to the action to be taken. ”

“ I have travelled nearly five hundred miles across Texas, and am now enabled to judge pretty correctly of the soil and resources of the country, and I have no hesitancy in pronouncing it the finest country, for its extent, upon the globe; for the greater portion of it is richer and more healthy than West Tennessee. There can be no doubt that the country east of the river Grand, of the North, would sustain a population of ten millions of souls. My opinion is that Texas, by her members in Convention, will, by 1st of April, declare all that country as Texas proper, and form a State Constitution. ”