A Failed Empire: The Texas Republic in the Early Imperial United States​

hello everyone and welcome to Arch Viking today is the official 24th video and unofficial 18th video in my series on the early Imperial expansion of the United States the subject of today's video is the Texas Republic in the early Imperial United States starting with the background to the Texas Republic so the background to the Texas Republic is a long and complex history uh that is very much connected to the winning of uh Independence for the Mexican state of Kila E tahos from Mexico in the Texas Revolution between 1835 in 1836 CE uh and again this is a very complex subject uh that I have already covered in depth in a video on the Texas Revolution that I will link in the iard after winning its independence uh the uh tahos portion of the province of k e tahos would form the Republic of Texas in 1836 CE with Sam Houston being elected the first president of the Texas Republic on October 22nd 1836 CE and of course uh In This Very very same year the constitution of Texas would also be created with much of its Provisions being borrowed from the United States con Constitution with a few exceptions such as uh the provision that no member of clergy was eligible for service in an elected office the Constitution required at least a belief in a higher power individuals who profited from uh the higher government or held public money were ineligible for service in state legislature uh the right to free enterprise was acknowledged but not but monopolies were prohibited um and chattle the issue of chatt slavery was a major part of the Texas Constitution uh also presidents could only serve two terms uh two years in their first term and three years in their second term and were unable to serve two consecutive turns meaning they could serve two terms but they couldn't be back to back and here's the source I got that information from and as I said the issue of chadow slavery was very integral to the Texas Constitution with the Texas Constitution making Shadow slavery legal in the Texas Republic specifically in section nine of the general Provisions which stated that people of color who had been servants for life under Mexican law would become property that Congress could pass no law restricting immigrants from bringing their enslaved people into Texas that Congress could not have the power to emancipate enslaved people that enslavers may not free enslaved servants without Congressional approval unless the freed people left Texas with free persons of African descent being required to petition the Texas Congress for permission to continue living in the country and Africans and descendants of Africans and Native Americans being excluded from the class of persons having rights and again as in the previous slide here is the source I got this information from then in 1838 CE the Texas legislature would petition the United States to Annex Texas into the United States however John Quincy Adams would prevent the motion from coming to a vote by Philip bustering for 22 days as a result President Martin Van Beren unwilling to cause a political Scandal would refuse to Annex Texas into the United States as a result of this Texas would begin inviting white Americans to immigrate to Texas with many white Americans doing this to escape an economic depression going on at the time that was known as the panic of 1837 CE which now brings us to the Texas Republic itself starting with the first Sam Houston presidency just one year after his election to the office of President of the Republic of Texas Sam Houston would move the Texas capital to the city of Houston obviously named after himself in 1837 CE and on December 16th 1837 CE he would attempt to ratify in 1835 CE treaty signed with Chief BS and the Texas Cherokee however Miro bonapart Lamar a longtime proponent of the removal of all Native Americans from Texas and the United States as well as the majority of the Texas legislature would refuse to ratify this treaty this would lead to increased tensions between the Republic of Texas and the Texas Cherokee Sam Houston would also begin peace negotiations with the kameni and kaiwa Nations however again mebo bonapart Lamar and other supporters of Indian Removal would continue to hamper peace talks which would lay the groundwork for the future Wars between the keni between the commi nation the kaiwa nation and the Texas Republic after then in on November 10th 1837 CE after a raid on a Texas settlement by the uh kitti or the kit saai Nation uh 18 Texas Rangers would pursue and engage 150 Warriors of the kai Nation uh however the Rangers would be quickly defeated by the larger force uh and withdraw back to the Republic of Texas with the with the Rangers losing 10 men in the Skirmish and this event becoming known as the battle of the stone houses then on October 5th 1838 CE white American homesteaders would begin clearing Texas Cherokee land for crops and Building Homes Cherokee Warriors would then attack and kill 18 white American settlers believing that their lands had been violated by the White American settlers with this event leading to increased tension between the Lamar faction of the Texas Republic and the Texas Cherokee and this event becoming known as the kilawa massacre then between 18 19 38 and 1839 CE local alal or magistrate vente Cordova would launch a rebellion against the Texas Republic at first Houston would attempt to negotiate with the rebels however the rising tensions would lead uh Houston to order the Texan militia put to put down the Rebellion this now brings us to our next section the presidency of mirabo Lamar Miro Lamar would be elected the second president of Texas on December 10th 1838 CE afterwards in 1839 CE Lamar would move the capital of Texas to the City of Austin named after the so-called father of Texas uh Stephen F Austin then between July 15th and 16th 1839 CE Lamar would order the removal of the Texas Cherokee igniting the short Texas Cherokee War the Texas Cherokee would be defeated and driven out of Texas by the Texas Rangers at the Battle of NES uh I've already done a in-depth video on the Texas Cherokee and the Texas Cherokee war that I will link in the iard then between 18 uh then in 1839 a Feud over land ownership between white American selllers in Texas's Harrison and Shelby counties would result in a series of livestock raids and murders known as the regulator moderator war that would last well into 1844 CE on March 19th 1840 CE Lamar would invite 65 commanche including several commanche Chiefs led by prominent commanche chief mukuro to San Antonio Texas the commanche would arrive unarmed with captives and Tow to be returned to the Republic of Texas unsatisfied with the number of captives returned the Texas Garrison would proceed to Massacre the kamanche delegation killing 35 kamanche and capturing 29 more meanwhile the Texas Garrison would only lose seven men with this event becoming known as the council House Fight uh and I've already done in indepth uh video on the Comanche as well as an in-depth discussion on the C fight that I will link in the iard in response to the Count's fight kameni War Chiefs buffalo hunt old Owl Santa Anna not to be mistaken with the Mexican president Santa Ana uh yellow wolf a Morris man uh and uh y Monica would lead 400 keni Warriors to attack the towns of Toria and lynville uh the keni Warriors would sack the cities kill several white Americans and capture a large amount of goods with this event becoming known as the great grade of 1840 CE in response the Texas Rangers would pursue would pursue an attempt to defeat the Comanche led by buffalo hump and the other War Chiefs at the Battle of Plum Creek however the Texas Rangers would be unable to advance on the commanche position uh with the commi suffering minimal casualties and being able to make off with the majority of the items captured at Victoria and lynville this would make the commen raid of success and the Texas Rangers attempt at retaliation a failure with this battle happening specifically on August 12th 1840 CE and again I've already much like the couns fight uh I've already covered these events in depth on in my video on the kamanche and kaiwa Nations that I will link in the iard in response to the successful raid Miro Lamar would dispatch the Texas Rangers to raid kamanche and kaiwa villages with impunity the Texas Rangers would disc indiscriminately attack primarily undefended keni and kaiwa Villages where they would kill children and regularly rape women however um unsurprisingly this would not stop the keni kaiwa raids on Texas as the massacres would be met with further retaliatory raids by the comman nation and the kaiwa nation between 1840 and 1845 CE then between 1839 and 1842 CE Lamar would attempt to introduce the Texan redback is the main form of Texan currency however the Texas Congress would refuse to accept them at face value and Texans would increasingly rely on United States currency uh Canadian Shin plaster currency and private obl oblations Lamar and because of this would suffer heavy criticism for mishandling the Texas economy now this brings us to what could be argued is the biggest debacle of uh Lamar's presidency the Texan centi Expedition so what was this Expedition well uh on June 19th 1841 CE seeking to compete with the lucrative trade conducted over the Santa Fe Trail and also to Annex seeking to Annex the eastern half of the Mexican state of newo Mexico into Texas Lamar would assemble a large baggage train consisting of merchants businessmen and 320 Texan soldiers including Texas Rangers but not only Texas Rangers uh the baggage train would carry a merchandise worth $200,000 uh and here's a map of the Santa Fe Trail that they were seeking to uh participate in the trade of after the Expedition departed it would be beset by poor planning drought uh lack of supplies and unsurprisingly sporadic raids by kamanche and Kaa Warriors upon arriving to Santa Fe the exhausted and DWI winding expedition was immediately met by a Mexican Army consisting of 1,500 soldiers as the governor of New Mexico had been notified of the Expedition by Mexican Scouts well in advance with this Expedition arriving to Santa Fe in September of 1841 CE in no state to fight the Expedition would surrender and over the winter would be marched 2,000 miles to The Mex by the Mexican Army to to the Perot prison in the Mexican state of baric Bru with this March happening between 1841 and 1842 CE between June 13th and September 5th 1842 CE diplomatic efforts would be conducted to secure the release of the Expedition with the release eventually being secured and the Expedition returning to te to Texas ending the disastrous affair with Lamar being being blamed for the failure of the Expedition now that being said during his presidency Lamar did uh make some diplomatic overtures to other nations um he would try several times and fail several times to receive peace settlements from the Republic of Mexico uh and he would also try and fail several times to obtain recognition for the Republic of Texas from multiple Nations such as the British Empire the French Empire and the kingdom of Belgium now this brings us to our next section the second presidency of Sam Houston so in the presidential Texas presidential election I do need to make that distinction obviously uh in the Texas presidential election of 1841 CE Sam Houston would defeat David G Bernett as Texas was bankrupt from the Santa Fe Expedition uh and unable to pay the United States ship that had returned several members of the Expedition Houston would ordered the ship to be commandeered in 1842 CE and also at the same time following similar patterns to Lamar Houston would begin uh making diplomatic overtures to foreign Nations such as the British Empire and the French Empire specifically currying favor with them hoping that they would convince the United States to Annex Texas uh into the United States however there is also another major factor to Houston's second presidential term there were several Mexican invasions of Texas during this time with the first being an event that occurred on March 5th 1842 CE when 500 Mexican soldiers invaded Texas and briefly occupied San Antonio before returning to Mexico then in September 11th 1842 CE French Mexican General adrion wall uh would invade Texas with with uh 1,400 soldiers where he would lay Siege to and eventually reoccupy San Antonio however uh in retaliation to the capture of San Antonio Wall's Army would de be would be defeated by the Texan army at the Battle of salato and wall and the Mexican Army would return to Mexico during the night on September 17th 1842 CE also between April 30th and May 16th 1843 CE the Mexican Navy would engage a combined force of Warships for from the Republic of Texas and the Republic of buatan uh in the two week long naval battle of compe the battle would end with a combined Texan and Yucatan Victory there were also other conflicts uh during Houston's second term uh for one thing Houston would attempt to move the Texas National Archives back to the city of Houston and reestablish Houston as the capital of Texas with this resulting in small skirmishes between supporters of Houston and Lamar um and eventually the archives would would be returned to Austin with this event becoming known as the Texas archive War uh lasting between August 30th and August 31st 1842 CE Houston would also order 500 Texan soldiers to arrest the ins skater of the regulator tours of the regulator moderator War officially ending the conflict on August 14th 1844 CE also uh during this time the constant Warfare between the kamanchi nation the Kwa nation and the Republic of Texas would bankrupt the Republic of Texas and exhaust both the kamanche nation and the kaan nation uh which would lead the reelected Sam Houston to negotiate a peace treaty between the K Mani Nation the Kwa nation and the Republic of Texas uh in December of 1845 CE all right now this brings us to our next section the Society of the Republic of Texas starting with the criteria of citizenship for the Republic of Texas which right off the bat the constitution of Texas established different rights according to the race and ethnicity of each individual uh section 10 of the general provisions of the Constitution stated that all persons who resided in Texas on the day of the Declaration of Independence were considered citizens of the Republic except for quote Africans the descendants of Africans and Indians uh for white American immigrants section six established uh to become citizens that they need to reside in Texas for at least 6 months and take an oath of loyalty to The Republic under section nine enslaved African-Americans brought to Texas were to remain enslaved and could not be emancipated uh without the consent of Congress further as we already discussed at the beginning of the video Congress was not allowed to make laws of banning or restricting either chadow slavery or the slavery trade uh section n also established that quote no free person of African descent either in whole or in part shall be permitted to reside permanently in the Republic without the consent of Congress and here is that source that I got this information [Music] from then we come to the government of the Republic of Texas which as we already stated in the beginning of the video it was based on the United States Constitution like the United States it had three branches of government the executive legislative and judicial the president of course was the head of the executive branch with Congress consistent cons in of 14 senators and 29 representatives and the Supreme Court consisting of a chief justice appointed by the president and four associate justices officials were elected including members of the Supreme Court in contrast to the United States Supreme Court were uh judges are appointed rather than elected um and uh the Bill of Rights was immediately included in the Constitution whereas it had to be added to the Constitution later for the United States and here's The Source I got that information from now we're going to take a look at the army of the Republic of Texas so generally during its uh during its existence the army of the Republic of Texas looked something like this I mean there was some variation as there was a lot of militias that were uh would be gathered during conflicts uh to supplement the Texas Military and obviously that meant that there were individuals who were rather diverse in their equipment but when it comes to the official Texas Military this is sort of what they look like uh and they would uh be issued several different guns uh with the most common being the 184 common rifle as well as the uh Us Springfield model 1812 type 2 flint lock musket another very common rifle issued to the soldiers in the Texas Military was the Kentucky long rifle uh with common sidearms of soldiers in the Texas Military being uh flint lock pistols as well as the uh artillery sword that was a common side sword for uh soldiers in the United States Army at the time and as the Texas Republic being a sort of a offshoot of the United States uh it's not surprising that the army of the Tex and Texas Republic would also uh be issued these swords uh some members of the Texas army may have also uh depending on the individual held uh Bowie knives and we know some of them did but again it just depended on the individual and Military the commanders of each regiment would be uh issued uh Savers also uh the Texas Republic the military of the Texas Republic had access to uh varying amounts of the common type of Cannon used by militaries at the time the six pound Canon and obviously uh the most famous branch of the te Army of the Republic of Texas during this time um and most of its history were the Texas Rangers who were a group that can Could That Could consist between uh 50 to roughly 500 um who mainly acted as uh Scouts and um sort of border patrols that would Patrol the Borderlands of the Texas Republic and would also act as a sort of paramilitary force to attack and raid Native American villages and also trads into uh the Republic of Mexico as well and the weapons that the Texas Rangers would use would be uh one of course unsurprisingly they would have access to uh uh 1814 model muskets like the you know or 1812 uh muskets like the Texan army uh with the most common side arm for the Texas Rangers being the relatively new cult revolvers and several of the Texas Rangers though again not all it this depended on the individual uh being equipped with Bowie knives and commanders of the Texas Rangers being equipped with Sabers now this brings us to the economy of the Republic of Texas so first off much like most of the Southern United States States during the uh 1830s as well as well into the 1860s the economy of Texas was based primarily on agriculture and Plantation farming that being said uh in Texas the cattle industry was becoming increasingly lucrative which was helped in large part by the importation of cattle from Mexico as well as the presence of pre-existing Mexican ranches and Theros the predecessors to the American Cowboys or the Cowboys of the United States the primary uh cash crop of the Republic of Texas was cotton uh as you can see here and here and in these previous pictures here um that being said Texas would become bankrupt when cotton prices plummeted as a result of the panic of 1837 SE e the Republic of Texas M again much like uh the most of the Southern United States was a culture built on cadow slavery uh with cadow slavery uh being the African Shadow slavery being the main driving force of the Texas economy and as I have said repeatedly in most of the previous videos in the series African shadow slavery was a brutal institution where individuals would be as most commonly as associated with this institution uh whipped or lashed uh for any minor infraction but also they would be subject enslaved Africans and African-Americans would be subject to other tortures such as uh tying them up and beating them with a paddle um hangings uh beatings with rods and of course executions uh for any minor infraction um and here's some more pictures showing uh these well-known phenomenon also entire African and African-American families would be sold into enslavement and separated from each other in slave markets uh and Bible verses would be used by white enslavers to justify enslaving African-Americans as seen in uh the use of Genesis 9 verses 18- 27 as well as in see as being seen in the use of the Apostle Paul's epistle to Ephesians 6: 5-7 and this is a subject that is discussed in length in the books by historians in books such as stepen R Haynes no Noah's curse the biblical justification of AF of American slavery and char Char F irons the origins of pro slavery Christianity now let's bring this to our next section the infrastructure of the Republic of Texas so the infrastructure of the Republic of Texas uh consisted primarily of dirt roads that were Dusty and dry weather um which would not necessarily impede travel however they would become heavily muddy in wet weather which would certainly make travel and communication significant significantly slower and more difficult than in the United States as we already discussed in uh my video on the Jacksonian era that I will link in the iard during at the same time uh this was H this infrastructure was existing in the Republic of Texas in the United States uh infrastructure was being updated and expanded uh you know I.E and improved um allowing for much quicker travel and communication in the United States as compared to the Republic of Texas uh and here's a map showing sort of the central roads of the Republic of Texas or one of the central roads of the Republic of Texas now this brings us to our next section education in the Republic of Texas so generally uh the form of Education uh that was provided to uh the CH to children in the Republic of Texas consisted uh and came in the form of one room School houses uh in small towns and villages with these schools often being unfunded and teachers having minimal if any training at all uh that being said female seminaries uh which were essentially private schools for girls and young women were numerous uh and often families would send children to better funded schools in the United States which would unsurprisingly further deprive Texas educators of funding uh now uh despite the shortcomings of the uh education system in the Texas Republic for children uh the Texas government would fund the construction of several universities such as rutersville college and Baylor University between 1840 and 1845 CE now this brings us to the presidency of anon Jones and the annexation of Texas by the United States so Anson Jones would win the Texas presidential election of 1844 CE ande pretty much immediately after winning that election Jones and the Texas government would begin negotiating with the United States for the official annexation of Texas into the United States with the United States officially uh annexing the Republic of Texas uh and making it the state of Texas on December 29th 1845 CE officially ending the Republic of Texas now this brings us to our last section the aftermath of the annexation of the Republic of Texas into the United States well for one thing the annexation of the Republic of Texas uh into the United States uh in part obviously not completely but definitely it played a major part uh in laying the groundwork for the eventual Mexican-American war that happened between 1846 and 1848 C e also another uh thing that was at least in part in large part due to the annexation of the Republic of Texas to the United States would be would be that Native American nations uh in California the South American southwest and Oregon would fall prey to genocide at the hands of the United States obviously this was not just these regions there was also the great B great B B and the Great Plains um with these genocides happening between 1849 and well into the 1900s CE and here's maps of Native American nations here uh as well as here and here and here uh and then uh in 1861 Texas would secede from the United States to protect the institution of Chad slavery becoming a member of the Confederate States of America and the American Civil War that would last between 1861 and 1865 CE all right that brings an end to our video as I have said already uh several times in most of the videos in the series I really hope that uh in watching this video you enjoyed uh heing about the culture and infrastructure um you know and education of the Texas Republic uh however I really hope you did not enjoy their uh views and use of African chadow slavery as well as their treatment of Native Americans um and again as I've said already previously in all these videos I understand that it's very odd for me the individual making the video to say however I bring up these events not for entertainment but for Education because they are far too often uh either overlooked uh in the United States education system or at the very least downplayed uh if not both and so it's very important to bring these to your attention as the viewer so that these events can be remedied and never happen again with with that I'm going to end the video if you would like to see me cover any of the things I mentioned in the video in Greater detail in a later video please feel free to leave a comment in the comment section and remember to like share and subscribe and I hope you all have a good day