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Memucan Hunt proposed annexing Texas to Martin Van Buren's administration. Secretary of State John Forsyth swiftly rejected the offer, claiming that it would put the United States in a war with Mexico and that annexing an independent foreign nation would be unlawful. Van Buren did not need turmoil overseas or at home, especially when a terrible financial crisis had struck the United States.
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An independent Texas needed favorable connections with Europe's major powers. Houston appointed James Pinckney Henderson as minister to Great Britain and France, tasked with securing recognition. Henderson found the British friendly but unwilling to act, because they did not want to offend Mexico and opposed slavery. The French administration, which was on the verge of war with Mexico, was more friendly than the British, but it also made no promise.
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Personal quarrels threatened the peace. Mexicans took over the Alamo area by killing many American soldiers. Texas gained its independence on March 2, 1836, and the document was signed and declared at Washington-on-the-Brazos.
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A Texan force led by Colonel James W. Fannin was besieged by Mexican troops near Coleto Creek in Goliad. Fannin's men, low on supplies and ammunition, surrendered on the promise of good treatment as prisoners of war. Despite assurances, Mexican President Santa Anna ordered the detainees' death, considering them as pirates rather than soldiers. On Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836, Texan troops at Presidio La Bahía (Goliad) were executed by firing squads. James Fannin dies with his men.
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Sam Houston fought at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. Sam, being the first man over the wall, was hit by an arrow, but he fought on, giving the other men hope. General Andrew Jackson became Houston's mentor because he admired his reckless behavior. Sam Houston secures Independence because he beats Santa Anna in 18 minutes, securing Texas independence in the Battle of San Jacinto.
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Burnet was furious at Houston for making them lose money in the Santa Anna dispute. Houston required treatment, but Burnet refused to allow him to get treatment. The Treaty of Velasco, signed on May 14, ended the conflict and mandated that all Mexican soldiers relocate south of the Río Grande. Houston did not fully get into a position to recover until May 22.
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Burnet's approach to the issue of Santa Anna was through a treaty (the Treaties of Velasco). Mirabeau B. Lamar, who had become secretary of war when Rusk took over the army from Houston, and Robert Potter, secretary of the navy, wanted Santa Anna to pay for the Alamo. Sam Houston was elected the first President of the Republic of Texas on September 5.
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President Jackson questioned the republic's ability to exist and called instant recognition "impolitic." Five days later, Secretary of State Stephen F. Austin died of pneumonia. Houston attempted to counter Jackson's attitude and the loss of Austin by appointing James Pinckney Henderson as secretary of state and sending Memucan Hunt, a fresh arrival from Mississippi, to join Wharton in representing Texas in Washington.
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Until a small group of Mexican rangers and Cherokees commanded by Manuel Flores, proceeded from Matamoros to East Texas with the goal of organizing Indians there to attack Anglo settlers. During the skirmish, the Texans murdered Flores and discovered a packet of letters explaining the conspiracy involving the Indians. Lamar and some in the administration believed the Cherokees were organizing an insurrection. The president dispatched Texas troops to occupy the Cherokees territory.
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A significant civil unrest has broken out in East Texas, primarily in Shelby County. Charles W. Jackson decided to expose Shelby County's land commissioners for granting bogus titles. Jackson had failed to win a congressional seat and blamed his defeat on the commissioners and their supporters. Soon after, Joseph Goodbread, a land investor, clashed with Jackson over selling a slave for an invalid land certificate, and Jackson killed him. Houston did not have an armed force to manage the crisis.
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A group of about 500 warriors and another 500 members of their families stormed into the Guadalupe Valley south of Gonzalez, they raided Victoria and Linnville. The attackers were unable to conquer Victoria, but they thoroughly sacked Linville. John H. Moore proceeded into Comanche and attacked a major town near present-day Ballinger. The Texans, supported by sympathetic Lipan Apaches and Tonkawas, killed 130 Comanches and recovered much of the booty from the raids on Victoria and Linnville.
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Following Mirabeau B. Lamar's president, Sam Houston restored order by cutting government spending to reduce large debt, reversing aggressive Indian policy to create peace, and seeking to relocate the federal capital/archives from Austin to the coast. His second tenure centered on lowering the military, rebuilding diplomacy, and rehabilitating the economy.
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President Tyler signs a resolution to annex Texas. The United States Congress acknowledges Texas as the 28th state.