Report Card
By ~ Kylee Hoskins
Houston 1st and 2nd term
Houston supported the idea of annexation, but at the time U.S. had agreed to annexation but a few problems stood in the way. Mexico and the U.S> had not recognized Texas as a country. Because of this Mexico would not let Texas join the U.S. and because the U.S. was unsure the idea was then dismissed. Houston then sent representatives to Washington to convince them Texas was eligible for annexation and sent even more representatives to other countries for recognition.
Native Americans~ A-
He organized the Texas Rangers in order to combat the raids by the Native Americans and to protect the citizens from them and any harm. After the Texas Rangers were deployed, Houston saw a decrease in the raids and tried to make peace with the Natives again and created a peace policy and trading posts.
Debt~ B+
Houston tried to work out the debt problem by taxing citizens but ended in failure because many of the citizens had little to no money and would not pay up. In his second semester, Houston cut jobs and salaries. He also tried to sell navy and its ships but his efforts were in vain because the public debt was still at a shocking 2 million dollars.
Mexico~ B-
In his second term, 1500 Mexicans had taken San Antonio but Houston's army fought against them and eventually won and this event became known as the battle of Salado Creek. During the Mier Expedition, Houston's own army disobeyed him and tried to take over the city of Mier but was captured by the Mexican army where they were marched off to Mexico City. Some escaped but most of them were captured and some were killed. Houston had told the Mexican Army that they would not to be considered prisoners of war since they had disobeyed his orders.
Over-All Grade ~ B+
Lamar
Lamar did not agree with the idea of annexation and believed that Texas could be stronger; therefore he did not do anything at all.
Native Americans~C-
Lamar's idea of solving problems with the Natives was with violence. He had not trusted the Cherokee and many Natives were killed and suspected of being in alliance with Mexico. Lamar decided to then push the Cherokee out of Texas. They had agreed to leave but Lamar wanted them gone quicker and ordered the Texas army to attack soon removing any of the remaining tribe. Later Comanches continued to raid settlements and Lamar sent out Texas Rangers who fought many battles. The Comanches then asked for a peace treaty and this was brought to the attention of Texas leaders. A meeting then took place and bloodshed broke out as the Natives deceived them.
Debt~F-
Because of Lamar's costly decisions as president, the public debt was raised by quite a bit and by the time his term was over it was at 8 million. His attempts to borrow money failed leaving him in quite predicament He also tried to solve the problem by issuing Redbacks which were paper money but eventually they became worthless and were worth about 2 cents.
Mexico~B-
For further recognition from Mexico, Lamar pulled together a strong military force. The Texas Navy had protected Mexican rebels who payed for protection. The navy slowly gained power and was were strong in the end, where they fought two Mexican gunboats and had soon won. In order to gain more land and power, Lamar tried to take away New Mexico from Mexico but ended in failure and many men and supplies were lost in the Santa Fe Expedition.