By: Siddarth Kunisetty (Manifest Destiny: Project 6)
After Independence
After independence, Texas established itself as a Republic on March 2nd, 1836. While battles still went on, the Texas Revolution ended on April 21st, 1836. Mexico refused to acknowledge the independence of Texas, while the United States recognized it in 1837. However, the United States did not annex Texas just yet. Its territory included much of New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Wyoming. The Republic was much bigger than modern-day Texas.
Government
The government of the Republic was based on the structure of the United States government. The Congress of the Republic of Texas had 14 Senators and 29 representatives. The first president, however, served for 2 years, and the following presidents served for 3 years each. In this way, it was different. The first president was David G. Burnet, who was a delegate to the Convention of 1833, which called for the independence of Texas. Along with this, citizenship was granted only to those who lived in Texas before independence. Citizenship was also granted to those that were not of African or Indian descent. A court system was also established, and it consisted of a Supreme Court with one Chief Justice and four associate justices, similar to the United States.
Dispute with Mexico
Mexico was not happy with Texas winning the Texas Revolution, but the naming of the borders started another dispute between them. The Republic stated that the southern border was the Rio Grande River, which caused this dispute. When Santa Anna was the dictator of Mexico, he signed the Treaty of Velascos, which stated that he would remove all of his troops from the Rio Grande River. However, the Mexican government never ratified this treaty, and they claimed that the southern boundary was the Nueces Boundary.
Wanting to be Annexed
While Texas was independent, there were invasions from Mexico on multiple occasions. Mexico never accepted their independence, and they showed it constantly. Along with this, there was constant turmoil throughout all of Texas. Texas asked to be annexed in 1836, along with various other occasions, but was denied by the United States, as the Senate denied it.