Texas Founding

Texas: Founding of a New State
The Texas territory has been governed by several nations since Spain first claimed the land in the 1500s. The journey from Spain’s claim to Sam Houston’s Battle of Jacinto is a very interesting one that includes settlers, politicians, armies and nine different constitutions. After the Battle of San Jacinto, Sam Houston and governments to follow had many obstacles to overcome with the forming of a solid state constitution. The development of Texas came from two areas: Mexico and the Anglo settlement.
Texas was included as part of the territory of The Republic of Mexico from when secured its independence from Spain in 1821, about the time Stephen F. Austin began to bring Anglo colonist to the sparsely populated
Texas region. (Gibson 36). Following the Mexican War of Independence, the new Republic of Mexico adopted the Constitution of 1824; the Republic of Mexico required that each state in the Republic write its own constitution. The legislature of the combined state of Coahiula and Texas published its Constitution in 1827. Texas was under the rule of Mexico and the Constitution of Coahuila y Tejas (Texas), completed in 1827, which setup an unicameral congress twelve deputies including two from Tejas (Texas) territory.
In the early years of the United States colonies the immense population was concentrated along the Atlantic Coast where the original thirteen British colonies were settled.
As the population developed and the financial burdens grew with the inhabitants, the look to the Western frontier became more and more attractive to many. The western frontier was still very unsettled past the Appalachian Mountains which may the transition less appealing to women. The frontier was seen by many, as a vast opportunity for daring men to move out and go make their fortune. This move required men to gamble the safety of their current situations for the unknown. Failure by men during this time was often caused by business failure or just gambling on a chance at a better future or promise of great
fortune.
One of these eager men was Moses Austin. “Moses Austin was born in 1761, the son of an innkeeper who was also a tailor and famer. These were humble occupations that did not suit Moses’s higher ambitions.”(Haley 5). Moses left home at the age of twenty-two in search of his place in life. He traveled through Pennsylvania, where he went into business with his brother, Stephen Austin, and later married into wealth by wedding Mary Brown. After the marriage, the Austin family moved to Virginia where Moses opened a dry goods store and quickly prospered. In 1793, Mary Austin gave birth to their third child, and first son, which he named after his brother, Stephen Fuller Austin.
“In 1803, the united States purchased Louisiana Territory from France, which had acquired it from Spain. The Austin’s were once again American citizens and they were a family of power and influence” (Haley 10). It was in 1819, that the national depression wiped out most of the family’s fortune and the Austin’s were once again in ruins, with Moses nearing on the age of sixty.
Once again Moses was stuck with fretting about how he could restore the family fortune he reflected back at how well he had done starting the American Colony in Spanish Mexico just years earlier. He decided, without appointment, to start his journey out to San Antonio de Bexar, to set his plans into motion by meeting with the Mexican governor, Antonio Martinez, with only $50 in his pocket, which was lent to him by his son, Stephen F. Austin. The meeting did not go as planned, and he was given his walking papers by the Governor. He ran into an old friend, Felipe de Bastrop. Bastrop and Austin discussed his plan. Austin shared his vision for the new Anglo colony in Texas to Bastrop, who agreed to help draw up the proper petition, and present it to Governor Martinez. Bastrop agreed to advise the governor to approve the proposal. May of 1821 brought the good news of the approval for the colony to Austin. It was “Spain’s new king that had approved a constitution that allowed former subjects to resettle. Under the terms of the contract, Moses would receive nearly $20,000 in fees from his colonist, in addition to his own large grant of land.”(Harley 20). Unfortunately, Moses would not be alive to see the colony come to fruition and his son Stephen F. Austin would be forced into the lead to honor his father’s wish. Baron de Bastrop proved to be indispensable to Stephen F. Austin by helping to set up the colony. Austin developed the details of the settlement plan, where each Anglo man who settled into his Texan Colony would receive 640 acres of land. Additional land would be issued if he had a wife and children. After hammering out the details the Mexican Governor allowed Stephen to explore Texas. “He found unpopulated land, rich and fertile almost beyond belief. Game was abundant, and vegetation was thick and lush.”(Haley 27).
After the exploration of Texas, Stephen F. Austin returned back to Natchitoches, where he found one hundred letters from Americans desiring to join his colony in Texas. It was at this time, with memories of the lush Texas land, that Stephen F. Austin convinced himself that the Texas Colony would be successful. This was the desire Stephen F. Austin has been searching for all his life.
The Spanish government was overthrown, and a new governmental congress was put into place, which rejected the agreement with Austin. After many months of distress and rewrites of the agreement, Stephen was able to finalize new contracts in April of 1823 which allowed for settlement of three hundred families. Each family would receive 4,428 acres of land for ranching, and 177 acres of land for farming. Austin was also allowed to charge the families twelve and one-half cents per acre to survey their grants and provide defense for the colony since the central government was not going to oversee the colony. Each of the new settlers was required to become a Roman Catholic, though this was not greatly enforced. This was a huge victory for Stephen F. Austin and he returned to Texas to begin the colonization of Texas. Austin traveled back to Texas and setup a capital city for his colony, San Felipe de Austin and it was located on the Brazos, well up from the river’s mouth. He wrote and issued a set of laws, simple court rules, and required that the entire three hundred colonists produce sworn statements of their good character before he let them into the colony. Austin appointed Samuel May Williams as secretary and right-hand man. Williams was also given the task of issuing and writing the land titles which running the colony when Austin was away.
In May 1832, the Mexican government setup two men to collect duties from the seaports in Anahuac. These men were Americans that changed their names enough to seem Mexican. They were very forceful with the colonist, and eventually the colonist had enough and took up arms against the men and held them captive. Austin saw that the situation was turning into chaos and was unable to influence the tax collectors. The act of the colonists rising up was seen as an act of treason to the Mexican government, but the colonist quickly retreated and swore allegiance to Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna to avoid treason and charges. Austin and Santa Anna met a few times. Austin quickly became conscious that Santa Anna meant to become a centralist dictator which could be harmful for the Texas colony. Soon after the meetings were held, Stephen F. Austin was imprisoned and Santa Anna cancelled the Mexican constitution of 1824 with the colonists leading to the Texas Revolution on October 2, 1835. Texas remained in battle with the Mexican government throughout the state for many years. Many strong political and military figures emerged.
The militia, formed to fight for independence in Texas, and formed by colonists, was plagued with lack of resources, drunkenness, and deserters. “The government, to which Austin wrote, however, was in almost as much chaos as the army. When the government, called the Consultation, first met, so few men showed up that they could not even conduct business.” (Hadley 59) During this time of chaos, delegates of Texas split between Stephen F. Austin and his army, and Sam Houston, the former governor of Tennessee and frontier legend that had fought under the leadership of Andrew Jackson. The followers were torn between which political leaders to follow: Austin had been supportive of the Mexican government. Houston was “more famous as an unstable drunk whose wife had left him, and he occasionally lived with Native Americans.” (Hadley 59)
In winter of 1835, Sam Houston was appointed as the commander of all the Texan forces. Houston sent Austin to the United States to raise funds and to get more supplies; while on the expedition Austin learned he was being relieved of his duties. This was information he kept undisclosed for fear the army would collapse if they learned of the news. Austin found the supplies and returned to Texas where he ordered an attack on San Antonio for the morning of November twenty-third. He was shocked to see only a few men obey the order and he was forced to suspend the attack.
The misgovernment within Texas and the civil wars in Mexico led to a push for a new constitution for a separate state of Texas, and a development of the Constitution of the Republic of Texas in 1836. This new constitution drew heavily from the United State of American Constitution and from other southern states from which many Texas delegates had immigrated. (Gibson 37). In March of 1836 the Texas Declaration of Independence was adopted. “One of the most important documents in Texas history is the Declaration of Independence, adopted in general convention at Washington-on-the Brazos.” (“Independence”) George C. Childress led a general convention in which the committee of five wrote and submitted the declaration to the convention for their approval. On the fourth of March, “Governor Sam Houston issued a proclamation declaring Texas had seceded.” (Winkler 8). This new version was sparked by the Battle of Gonzales in 1835; the Texas Revolution organized the Convention of 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos.
While on a trip to Washington to seek aid and support against the Mexican army, Austin wrote, “Unless Texas declared independence and rushed documents to the commissioners giving them power to make deals for Texas as a separate country, it would be “almost useless for us to appear in Washington.” Ironically, Austin wrote this on March 3, the day after Texas did indeed declare independence.”(Hadley 68-71). It wasn’t until the end of March when they reached Washington D.C., before the commissioners would have received news reach them of Texas’s Declaration of Independence.
During the commissioners’ trips to raise money throughout the East, news of Austin’s rebellious army colonels, William Barret Travis, and Jim Bowie, finally began to arrive.
Houston’s army began disobeying orders leading to more difficulties and a lot of death. Most of the rebellious activity stemmed from Austin’s rebellious officers. Travis and Bowie had rebelled against Houston’s order to destroy the San Antonio fortress known as the Alamo and retreat. Instead the colonels sieged the Alamo for thirteen days, where Santa Anna stormed the Alamo and massacred more than 180 defenders. Another of Austin’s disobedient officers, James Walker Fannin, was also defeated by the Mexican army. Fannin and his army were imprisoned at the mission at Goliad before being lined up and shot on orders by Santa Anna. “Sam Houston had finally managed to establish himself in command of the Texas army, but he was in full retreat even as he was trying to train and to drill them into an effective fighting force.” (Hadley 75).
Santa Anna continued to chase Houston’s army across the entire territory, but it was on the twenty-first of April in the year of eighteen hundred and thirty-six that Santa Anna’s army would cease their pursuit of Houston’s army. The famous Battle of San Jacinto was “led by General Sam Houston. The Texas Army engaged and defeated General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna’s Mexican forces in a fight that lasted less than twenty minutes.” (“Descendants”) This Battle made Texas’s
independence a reality and Austin had to return home as soon as possible. The Battle was hard on Sam Houston and he was seriously wounded.
Austin made his trip as fast as possible stopping in New Orleans only long enough to gather supplies for his new country. After much emotional tension and discussion, Austin and Santa Anna agreed that Santa Anna would be escorted to Washington D.C. to meet with the American president and to guarantee the peace between Texas and Mexico. This would spare Texas the shame of executing a defeated head of state.
On fifth of September, 1836, the first presidential balloting for Texas was held, and Sam Houston was elected President of the newly formed Republic of Texas. Texans also voted to see annexation to the United States. This race left Austin very bitter writing;
“A successful military chieftain is hailed with admiration and applause, but the bloodless pioneer of the wilderness, like the corn and cotton he causes to spring where it never grew before, attracts no notice…No slaughtered thousands or smoking cities attest his devotion to the cause of human happiness, and he is regarded by the mass of the world as a humble instrument to pave the way for others.” (Hadley 87-88).
Many versions of the constitution would pass throughout many decades. In 1845, a revised version accompanied the petition of Texas for statehood to the United States of America. It was fashioned after the Louisiana Constitution, the 1833 Constitution, and the Constitution of the Republic. The United States Government accepted it on December 29, 1845. It created an elected legislature that included a House of Representatives and a Senate, which would meet biennially. It also laid out a variety of elected offices such as Governor, and lieutenant governor. It empowered the governor to appoint a secretary of state, attorney general, and state judges, but made it all subject to Senate approval. (Gibson 38) This Constitution set up a permanent fund for the financial support of public education systems, and guaranteed the right for separate property rights for married women.
Texas seceded from the Union in 1861 just ahead of the Civil War, which required yet another Constitution and a revision written and adopted. This Constitution was written in response to the Secession Convention, and took a conservative writing approach to ease the transition of Texas into the Confederacy. It borrowed from the Constitution of 1845, but was amended to forbid the freeing of slaves, to require the officials to swear loyalty to the Confederacy, and to make amending it easier. After the Civil War, Texas desired to return to the United States statehood. President Abraham Lincoln initiated The Reconstruction plan, and required that new state constitutions must contain wording to abolish slavery, repudiation of the Secession Ordinance of 1861, and the repudiation of all debts and obligations incurred under the Confederacy. So, Texans resuscitated the 1845 Constitution and modified it to include the Unions requirements. The new constitution included Lincoln’s requests but also added the rights for former slaves to own property, and the legal rights before a jury. (Gibson 39).
Texas is not a state that has allowed it constitution to be neglected. In fact currently state law requires consideration of the Texas Constitution in a government course to receive a bachelor’s or lesser degree from a college or university that receives state funds. The Texas Constitution is hard to nail down, subject as it is to constant change by amendment and interpretation. (May preface). It has been rewritten numerous times throughout Texas’ history to make the state a stronger one to stand the test of time.

Works Cited
Author Unknown, http://www.sanjacintodescendants.org/battle.html. San Jacinto Descendants Organization. online. 21 April 2008.
Author Unknown. http://www.texasalmanac.com/topics/history/timeline/declaration-independence. Texas State Historical Association website, Inc. online. 7 November 2013.
Author Unknown. http://www.texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/7_2_0.html . University of Texas at Austin. Online. 14 October 2013.
Gibson Jr., L. Tucker, and Clay Robison. Government and Politics in the Lone Star State. 8th edition. Boston. Pearson .2013.
Haley, James L. Stephen F. Austin and the Founding of Texas. New York: Rosen, 2003.
Haley, James L. Stephen F. Austin and the Founding of Texas. Perf. Benjamin Becker. Audible. 2009.
May, Janice C. The Texas State Constitution: A Reference Guide. Connecticut: Greenwood Press. 1996.
Winkler, Ernest William. Journal of the Secession convention of Texas, 1861. Austin. Austin printing Company. 1912.