March 9 2015 Houston s First Administration Foreign Policy American Indians o Sam Houston went on furlough when there was an insane plan to invade Matamoros o He travels with another commissioner to talk to the Cherokee tribe Cherokees were still waiting for their official land titles o Sam Houston negotiated with the Cherokees and they create a treaty in 1836 Titled their lands Treaty between the Texas Commissioners and the Cherokees o Sent to the Senate and the Senate rejects this treaty Argues that Houston has exceeded his authority o Chief Bowles is the leader of the Cherokee tribe and a firm friend of Houston Worked with the negotiation of the treaty o Tensions between Mexican nationals and the Anglos in Texas was high during the Texas Revolution and Independence Vincente Cordova Leads the Cordova Rebellion 1838 Suspected of making an alliance with loyal Mexicans in Texas and the Cherokees with the Mexican government Rumors were heard that Cordova and a hundred or more had set up camp with a purpose of rebellion and that these Mexican nationals were in alliance with the Cherokee Indians Thomas Rusk will call up a squadron of militia and set after Cordova and his supporters President Houston gives a proclamation that banned unlawful assembly and the carrying of arms The militia under Rusk catches Cordova s band o Cordova escapes and goes back to Mexico Army was defeated o This rumor that Cordova was in alliance with the Cherokees o Houston will write letters of reassurance to his friend Chief caused problems Bowles o Bowles will deny all charges against his people o Houston maintained that they were innocent Mexico o Sam Houston s hope for Texas is annexation to the United States He takes no chances Nothing dramatic o Recognition of Texas s independence Mexico does not recognize it Remains a very real threat of a Mexican invasion and occupation o Boundary Texas claimed that the boundary would be the Rio Grande Mexico states that if they ever were to grant independence the boundary would be at the Nueces not the Rio Grande o Invasion of Matamoros Houston manages to delay any discussion of such an invasion He had kept Santa Anna as a hostage for negotiation purposes He sends Santa Anna to visit with the President of the United States to discuss the annexation of Texas to the United States with President Andrew Jackson Have a very nice visit However Jackson wanted a current report of the condition of Texas The United States o Sends Henry Morfit to find out what s happening in Texas Morfit sends letters back to Jackson Reports that the population of Texas is very small Reports that the people are heavily in debt Reports that independence from Texas has not been settled o Jackson does not wish to annex Texas at this time but he does recognize Texas s independence Mexico Not appropriate at this time because he did not want to offer any offense to Mexico also owes the United States money Texas would also enter as a slave state which would disrupt the fragile balance at this point in time of slave and free states o Annexation attempt of 1837 will fail Politics are simply Do you support Sam Houston or not o No real political parties in Texas o The most anti Sam Houston person is Mirabeau Lamar who vows to take Texas on a completely different course Sees Texas as having the potential to be a great independent nation The Election of 1838 o Pro Houston supporters will nominate Peter W Grayson o Anti Houston supporters will nominate Mirabeau Bonaparte Lamar o Grayson reluctantly accepts the nomination for president Suffers with what today we would call depression or melancholy Is upset with his nomination June of 1838 Grayson commits suicide by shooting himself Recently asked a young woman to marry him and she turned him down o Next nominee for Pro Houston is James W Collingsworth Very well known and very well respected However he drinks a lot of alcohol Apparently while he was sailing in Galveston Bay he was drinking and either fell into the Bay or jumped into the Bay and drowned o Third nominee for Pro Houston is Robert Wilson A real estate agent but not well known A nobody o Landslide victory for Lamar The Poet President o Lamar takes office o He was born in Georgia o He writes poetry with a flourish o He is an accomplished fencer o He painted with oils o His dream for Texas Change Texas for the better and make it a great independent nation o Sam Houston was invited to speak at Lamar s inauguration He turns up wearing a George Washington outfit Silk coat Powdered wig Delivers his farewell address and rants for three hours Thinks Lamar s policies are terrible o Domestic affairs Believes that Texas must educate its citizens He argues that democracy cannot continue without education Congress accepts this idea Land is set aside for building schools o 50 leagues of land is provided as an endowment for two institutions of higher education One of those institutions is Texas A M University and the other is the University of Texas Public services Creates a national bank of Texas Creates military frontier posts to protect the settlers on the frontier Provides funds for the Texas navy He will aggressively relocate the capitol of Texas Appoints a commission to find a suitable location Finds a hamlet called Waterloo o The name of Waterloo will be changed to Austin Great festivities when moving the capitol to Austin His idea for stimulating economic growth in Texas is to reduce taxes hoping to put more money into circulation therefore stimulating businesses Kingsian economics Debt of 2 million dollars increases to 7 million dollars o Foreign Affairs American Indians Believes they are of a lower social order Attitude towards them is both harsh and punitive Wants to remove them from Texas o If the Indians refuse to leave they will be forced to leave Texas Lamar believes that the Cherokees were in league with Cordova The Battle of the Neches 1839 o The principle engagement of the Cherokee War o Lamar had announced that it was time for the extermination of Texas Indians o Lamar will send troops to occupy Cherokee land o Chief Bowles and his tribe put up skirmishes but when he heard that Texas troops were on their way they fled o Knowing that the troops were heading their way Chief Bowles attempted to lead his people out of their land They moved north fearing danger o They were caught north of Tyler Battle lasted two days They were defeated o On the second day of the fight Chief Bowles enters the
View Full Document
Unlocking...