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Stephen F. Austin and Henry Smith both wanted to be the Texas's very first president. Yet, a lot of Texans supported Houston being he was the the hero of The Battle of San Jacinto, for the office. Not even two weeks before the election, Houston ran for president and won quite easily, and Mirabeau Lamar, elected vice president. Houston brought his political opponent into the government and he made Smith secretary of the treasury. Austin became secretary of state, but died soon after taking office. But now Texas faced a lot problems, like having no money. In fact, Texas was in a lot of debt. Texas was still holding Santa Anna prisoner, and Comanche and Kiowa stayed in control of western Texas and continued to carry out troubles and problems on Texans. The government needed to find a way to end the continuous problems between Native Americans and Texans.

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Many people were angry with Texas's new independence and wanted it to be a apart of mexico again. Well with Mexico’s help, a Tejano from Nacogdoches named Vicente Córdova secretly formed a group to fight against the republic. He convinced some Cherokee and other East Texas Native American groups to join his rebellion. In August 1838, Córdova’s rebels and Anglo Americans fought briefly. The Anglos gathered volunteer forces to attack the rebels. Córdova’s group was defeated in a fight near Seguin in March 1839, and the rebellion died out.

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The Constitution of 1836 stated that the president could not serve consecutive terms, or be reelected in 1838. So he began to search for a candidate who would continue his policies, and finally Robert Wilson, a little-known senator, agreed to run. However, Mirabeau Lamar had already decided to run for president, as vice president Lamar had opposed many of Houston’s policies. His campaign focused on the failure of Houston’s peace policy to end attacks by Native Americans. Lamar also criticized Houston’s inability to gain recognition of Texas’s independence in Europe or by Mexico, and so, Lamar won easily.

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Texas sets aside land for schools - January 1839

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Texas sets aside land for schools - January 1839

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Improving education was another of Lamar’s goals. Lamar believed that Texas's citizens had to be educated so that they can make smart choices in life. So the government decided to set aside about 18,000 acres of land in each county of Texas for the making of schools. Schools were eventually built on about a portion of this land, and the rest was eventually sold over time to pay the costs of operating the other, existing schools.

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In May 1839, Texas Rangers killed several Mexicans and Native Americans who were causing raids in Texas. On the body of the raid's leader after his death, the Rangers found documents that seemed to link the Cherokee to a Mexican plot to reconquer Texas as their own. Chief Bowles of the Cherokee denied that his people were involved in the plot, but still Lamar ordered the Cherokee out of Texas. On July 16, 1839, Texas forces attacked the Cherokee by the Neches River. They defeated some 500 Cherokee warriors in the Battle, several Texans and almost 100 Cherokee were killed, including Chief Bowles himself.

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Lamar sends Navy to Mexico - January 1840

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Lamar sends Navy to Mexico - January 1840

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Lamar thought having a good military would get Mexico to notice Texas's independence so he formed the Texas navy and gave them new vessels to replace ships lost during and after the revolution.

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Lamar also took action in West Texas, where the Comanche continued to causer problems along the frontier. Texas Rangers entered Comanche country in 1839 and fought several battles with them. In early 1840, the Comanche wanted to end the fighting, and so they asked for a peace treaty. Texas leaders agreed to meet to discuss a treaty if the Comanche chiefs brought all their captives with them. The meeting happened in San Antonio’s Council House on March 19, 1840. The Comanche produced only one white captive, a teenage girl. She told the Texans that the Comanche still held other captives. Texas Rangers tried to hold the Comanche negotiators hostage until the rest of the white captives were returned. A struggle, known as the “Council House Fight,” broke out in which 7 Texans and 35 Comanche were killed. To avenge the deaths of their peace negotiators, the Comanche killed most of their captives. In August 1840, about 500 Comanche warriors swept down the Guadalupe River valley to attack Victoria and Linnville, killing settlers and livestock. As the Comanche moved back west, a force of about 200 Texas volunteers pursued them. The Texans caught up with the Comanche at Plum Creek, near present-day Lockhart. About 50 Comanche were killed in the battle that followed.

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The relationship between Texas and Mexico started becoming not so great in around 1841. This was because of Lamars attempt to add Santa Fe to the republic of Texas. Santa Fe was a a fairly busy trading center in New Mexico, which was still a part of Mexico, in an area that Texas and Mexico both claimed. So therefore Lamar saw control of New Mexico as the first step to expand Texas all the way to the Pacific Ocean. When the government didn't get Lamar’s plan approved for New Mexico, Lamar just decided to do it and went ahead anyway. In about June 1841, Lamar sent José Antonio Navarro with about 300+ soldiers to get Santa Fe to join the Republic of Texas. As they became close to Santa Fe, the Texans were stopped by Mexican soldiers and forced to stop and surrender. The Texans were taken from Santa Fe to prison in Mexico City, and several died on the way. The survivors were freed in April 1842, thanks to British and U.S. diplomats.

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Lamar’s policies proved to be very expensive, both in terms of money and in the loss of life. His wars against Native Americans cost the Texas about $2.5 million, and planning expeditions and rebuilding the Texas Navy was also quite expensive. Lamar also did fail at attempting to borrow money from the United States and from European nations. So the government made paper money called redbacks, but the bills soon became worthless and by the end of Lamar's term they were worth as little as 2 cents, and it was illegal to pay taxes with.

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In September 1841, Texans had another election and had Sam Houston return to the presidency. Houston won easily defeating vice president David Burnet after a great campaign. In his first message to the Texas Congress, Houston announced his goal to undo the damage he felt was made by Lamar. Houston’s plans also focused on cutting down the costs of government, making with Native Americans, and trying to get Texas added to the United States.

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In March 1842, some 700 Mexican soldiers invaded Texas and captured San Antonio. They soon left and went to Mexico, but President Sam` Houston ordered the government’s archives moved from Austin in case that the city came under attack. Austin’s citizens guessed that Houston planned to move the capital. When the Texas Rangers arrived to move the archives, some residents fired on them, but to avoid any and all deaths, the Rangers did not fire back on them.

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Houston meets with Native tribes - October 1844

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Houston meets with Native tribes - October 1844

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Houston had made peace with Native Americans. He established trading posts to give them and provide them with supplies. Houston also sent some agents to try to convince the Native Americans that Texas wanted peace. Any peace treaty and trade agreement were signed with several Native American groups. In October 1844, Houston himself met with leaders of the Comanche and ten other groups in a Grand Council near Waco. He explained to them that Lamar’s term as president had ended.

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Anson Jones, had been elected president of the republic of Texas in 1844, called a meeting of the Texas congress to think about both the offer from the United States and the offer from Mexico. The congress quickly accepted annexation in June to be added to the US snd Mexico. A convention with delegates chosen by voters agreed with the idea on July 4, 1845, and thus the members of this convention then wrote a new state constitution for the new state of Texas.

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Annexation/Manifest Destiny - December 1845

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Annexation/Manifest Destiny - December 1845

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During the republic, the population of Texas grew at the rate of about 7,000 people a year. Immigrants were the main source of that growth, and the United States was the main source of immigrants. These new American arrivals generally did like the annexation of Texas. When Houston took office for his second term as president, he was still committed to annexation and wanted it for Texas. This time he had a more willing partner in the White House too. In April 1844, representatives from the United States and Texas negotiated and signed a treaty of annexation for Texas. Under the agreement, Texas would join the United States. The government of the United States would pay off all the republic’s debts, which reached $12 million. In return Texas would give up all of its claims to its public lands. In the end some Texans were mad, but most weren't and confident that Texas would then be part of the united states.