President David Burnet (March 1836 to October 1836)

Vice President Lorenzo de Zavala

Sam Houston1836-18381841-1844

President Mirabeau B. Lamar(1838-1841)

The Growing Debt of the Texas The Growing Debt of the Texas Republic:Republic:1836 $1.25 million1838 $2 million1841 $7 million1846 $10 million

In June 1837, the Texas Congress started In June 1837, the Texas Congress started to print paper money in the form of to print paper money in the form of promissory notes. (p. 90.)promissory notes. (p. 90.)

By 1841, the Texas Republic seemed to be on the verge of a complete financial collapse. (p. 93)

The Homestead Act passed in 1839 protected citizens from seizure of their homestead, tools, and work animals for any debts they might have incurred; this legislation had its antecedents both in the Hispanic tradition and in a decree passed by the congress of Coahuila y Tejas in 1829. (p. 92.)

Castroville, a French-speaking community founded by Henri Castro with some 2,134 immigrants, took root on a land grant near the Medina River, west of San Antonio, from 1843 to 1847. (p. 94.)

Empresario Henri Castro, founder of Castroville and other small "buffer" settlements, struggled for years to settle land claims with the Texas government, in spite of his success in bringing European settlers to the Texas frontier. Source: http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/forts/clark/images/castro.html

In 1844, Prince Carl von Solm-Braunfels led Germans to Texas under the auspices of an organization called Adelsverein (Society of Noblemen). In 1845, they founded New Braunsfels in present-day Comal County. (p. 95)

Fundamental to the stability of the republic was an increase in the number of its citizens. Though difficult to determine precisely, the population grew rapidly during the republic’s existence, to about 162,500 in 1848, according to one estimate. (p. 94.)

Immigration

Juan Seguín

In February 1842, President Santa Anna ordered General Rafael Vásquez to take San Antonio. Vásquez occupied San Antonio for 2 days that March. Then General Adrián Woll reoccupied San Antonio on behalf of Mexico again, taking 60 prisoners before retreating upon the arrival of Texan volunteers. In response, Houston commanded General Alexander Somervell to lead an expedition of about 750 men toward the Rio Grande. Its mission was to patrol the border to prevent further invasions. (See p. 107)

1842

President Anson Jones(1844-1846)

The boundary dispute was over whether Texan territory extended to the Nueces River or to the Río Grande, as the Texans claimed it did. This dispute was important since a boundary from the Río Grande would include thousands and thousands of square miles, including half of New Mexico and Colorado. President Polk decided to support the Texan claims, and ordered General Zachary Taylor into the disputed territory. The Mexican commander

ordered him to withdraw, but instead Taylor penetrated all the war to the Río Grande. Skirmishes broke out between Mexican and U.S. troops, and President Polk now had the perfect excuse to declare war on Mexico. From the Mexican point of view, however, things look quite different: not only had the Americans taken Texas, but they had changed the traditional boundary to double its size! When the Mexicans sought to defend themselves against the addition encroachment, the Yankees cried that Mexico had invaded the United States!

Gen. Scott leaves Puebla for Mexico City

Battle of Buena Vista

9 March 1847: 10,000 U.S. troops landed on beaches by Navy at Vera Cruz.

13-14 Sept. 1847: Battle for Mexico City.

The Battle of Chapultepec

From the U.S. point of view

Monument of the Niños Héroes Monument of the Niños Héroes

Juan Escutia

Mexican defense of the Belen Gate, Mexico City, Sept. 13, 1847.

Gen. Scott's entrance into Mexico City, Sept. 14, 1847.

The Treaty of Guadalupe

Hidalgo

February 2, 1848

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Gold is discovered in California in 1848

The loss of Texas and the war with the United States contributed more to Mexico’s impoverishment, its apparent sterility, its xenophobia, its lack of self-esteem, and its general demoralization than any other event of the nineteenth century. (Meyer, Sherman and Deeds, p. 317)