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Battle of the Alamo
Beginning on February 23, 1836 the Mexican Army led by General Santa Anna with at least 2,000 men set attacked Texian Militia at The Alamo located in present day San Antonio. As days went on the Texian Militia with roughly 150 men led by William Barret Travis and James Bowie battled with much pride with no option but to win or die. Sadly, on March 6, 1836 the Mexican Army was able to infiltrate the Alamo and wipe out the entire Texian Militia.
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Creation of the Republic of Texas
On March 2, 1836, with little to no debate the General Council/Texas convention members adopted a Declaration of Independence. The declaration was written by George C. Childress, he created the Texas Declaration of Independence that was similar and based of the American Declaration of Independence. This declaration led to the Creation of the Republic of Texas, which led to also creating a government as well as an army. https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/texas-revolution -
Government Establishment of the Republic of Texas
After a long drawn out process of creating a constitution for the Republic of Texas, as well as a Declaration of Rights. After the official documents, the republic then came up with a governmental system which included representatives for 1 year terms and presidents and senators for 3. The convention decided that interim governmental leaders were necessary until an official election was possible. Resulting in David G. Burnet becoming the interim president and Lorenzo de Zavala as the vice. -
Battle of San Jacinto
After miles of travel General Sam Houston was ready to attack General Santa Anna and his cavalry on April 21, 1836. Throughout many days of strategic planning Houston led roughly 900 men into battle against a surprised Mexican army with about 1,300 men. The Texas infantry attacked ruthlessly until the official end of the battle in which they were able to kill 630 Mexican soldiers and capture 730 more with little casualties. This led to the capture of General Santa Anna the very next day. -
Public and Private Treaties
After defeating the Mexican army and capturing Santa Anna the interim government offered him his freedom in return for his signature on two treaties. The first being the Public Treaty of Velasco which brought an end to the war and moved all the Mexican armies south of the Rio Grande. Also, the secret treaty was a promise from Santa Anna to influence the Mexican government to accept the public agreement and to recognize the independence of Texas with the boundary set at the Rio Grande. -
Republic's First Official President
After declaring its independence the Republic made a push to establish a legitimate government. Resulting in a presidential election based on popularity. The candidates were originally Henry Smith and Stephen F. Austin. However, after countless requests with just two weeks until the election Sam Houston accepted the requests and became a candidate. Houston becoming a candidate led to a landslide vote and the withdrawal of Henry Smith. Houston became the first president on October 22, 1836. -
Second President of the Republic of Texas
On December 10, 1838, Mirabeau B. Lamar took office as the second president. Lamar was an easy candidate as he had gone through two years as vice president under Houston. Lamar endured little competition, as Houston attempted to get multiple people to run against Lamar which was ultimately unsuccessful. Lamar ran away with the vote against Robert Wilson, who was a very little-known senator. The final vote of 9,995 to 252 led to the presidency of Lamar and vice presidency of David G. Burnet. -
Houston's Second Presidency
Sam Houston kept his name from the political scene after his first presidency until 1839 when he was elected as a representative in San Augustine in the Fourth Congress. Which led to his candidacy as the next president, the anti-Houston parties had to settle for David G. Burnet as his foe. After obvious and continuous attacks on each other they left the decision to the Republic. Houston won by a landslide thanks to his popularity, he regained office with Edward Burleson as his vice president. -
Annexation to the United States
The first 2 years of the Republic led to an obvious realization that they were unable to stay independent for long. Houston was given little time for the annexation negotiation as his presidency was coming to an end. Anson Jones became president and tried to buy time from the annexation but it was too late as Texans were ready for annexation. The Texans and constitution votes were landslides in favor of annexation. Resulting in James K. Polk signing the Texas Admission Act on December 29, 1845.
