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Description
The entire history of the Republic of Texas has been defined by its relationship to the United States of America. Hell, its independence came about as a result of U.S. settlers crossing into Mexico, mostly by the invitation of the Mexican government but quickly spiraling into chaos as the pro-slave settlers declared their independence from Mexico. The new ramshackle republic was one plagued by financial instability and a slapdash political system, one that was predicated almost entirely on annexation by the United States. This goal continued on for 4 years until the Election of 1844 in the United States, when Henry Clay managed to defeat James Polk, and who reiterated his opposition to annexing Texas out of fears it would inflame both relations with Mexico and internal disputes over slavery. Once again facing rejection, Texas was left on its own.

Its goals defeated, Texas was forced to look back in on itself and begin the long and painful process of developing itself. This seemed like an impossible task given how vast Texas' land was and how underpopulated it was, but it managed to experience new success when President Thomas Rusk created the "New Lands Initiative" that offered to simply give away massive tracts of land to anyone willing to come and settle on the land. Though it would always lag behind the United States in this regard, immigration increased steadily through the rest of the 1840s and new railroad developments followed shortly afterwards. Ranching had always been a major industry in the region and now it was rapidly forming the bedrock of the nation's economy.

It did share another major trouble of the United States, however: slavery. The whole purpose of Texas' rebellion against Mexico had been over the ability to own slaves, and all of the most prominent politicians were slaveowners and supported the institution of slavery. The shifting demographics were changing this. Many European immigrants opposed slavery, most Hispanic migrants from Mexico opposed slavery, and the growing ranching industry opposed slavery as well. The whole thing seemed set up for conflict in a highly similar parallel to the United States, complete with geographical division: the Eastern regions of Texas were more supportive and based around slavery than the ranching-oriented Western regions.

Then again there was also the fact that it lay in a very uncomfortable position. The United States and Mexico were two much stronger nations who, if they ever brought their full might to bear, could easily occupy and annex the Republic. The only reason Mexico hadn't already was its own internal struggles and the almost guaranteed threat of U.S. intervention if they tried. There were other issues with Mexico as well, namely that Texas claimed more than twice the area Mexico said it owned and that this dispute had never been satisfactorily resolved. It got its chance during the Californian Revolution in 1849 as Alta California began its own independence revolt, breaking away as the California Republic. Texas supported their effort, which gave them a chance to invade Mexico again and enforce its claims despite once again facing initial setbacks by the much larger and better-equipped Mexican army.

When all was said and done Mexico was again beaten back when the United States supported both California and Texas, but that was where the friendly relations ended. California was founded as a "free nation", opposed to slavery and automatically hostile towards Texas for continuing to rely on and support the institution. The United States was pressing down on them further as well, having effectively won the war for Texas and pushing them into becoming what was practically a client state of the U.S. both politically and economically. The 1850s began with tensions just further inflaming as they struggled to develop themselves, increasingly dependent on the United States despite the latter continuing to refuse annexation, and California just shooting further ahead as their gold rush rocketed their development forward. At the intersection of three nations, Texas found itself isolated diplomatically.

Making matters worse, the internal issues of slavery flared when Llanos Territory became the first in Texas to explicitly outlaw slavery in 1854, followed by the state of Rio Grande outlawing it the next year. Again this division between east and west continued to grow stronger, as ranching barons gained more wealth and began to challenge the entrenched power of the slaveowners both politically and economically. Making matters worse, there was pretty much nowhere for slavery to expand to that would be worth it, it had almost always been an institution that cost more than it gave back but now the western territories were almost impossible to expand slavery to in a practical capacity, emphasized further as the Potter Territory also outlawed it. This was all just part of a wider conflict across North America, which was rapidly becoming the last bastion of slavery in the world as the European powers outlawed it.

With the world coming apart, it finally snapped in 1862. Across the border, 11 states seceded to form the Confederacy of American States, explicitly to preserve the institution of slavery despite the Federal Government's lackluster efforts to actually oppose it. The resultant chaos spilled into Texas, where a number of politicians called to join the Confederacy and unite for the cause of slavery's preservation, especially as California had been absorbing a number of escaped slaves. Others still called for abolition, some for manumission, many called for remaining independent and others called for union with the United States or the Confederacy. It finally spilled over in the Battle of Potter's Barn, as in 1864 a clash between pro-U.S. and pro-Confederate sympathizers spiraled out of control. The Pinos state militia was called in, shots were fired, and national outrage spurred other similar clashes. The war had come to Texas.

By now the "Great American War" had split Texas as much as it had the U.S. Three separate governments were formed at this time: the government of the Republic of Texas and two state governments pledging loyalty to either the United States or the Confederacy. Making matters worse a rebellion based out of El Paso funded by the ranching barons and who actively sought to oppose slavery. It had devolved into what amounted to a four-way civil war, dragging the militias of the U.S. and Confederacy in as they supported the factions that pledged loyalty to one or the other. Austin itself descended into street brawls and a bomb detonated by pro-Union partisans destroyed the harbor in Port Natchez. California was officially neutral, but gave its support to the El Paso government both diplomatically and by surreptitiously smuggling weapons to pro-abolition forces, along with arming the Comanche who raided and attacked any Texan force regardless of affiliation.

It dragged on that way for years, and only finally began to shift for Texas in particular when the El Paso and Austin governments reached an agreement on manumission and to appoint John Hansford to the Presidency, finally reuniting their efforts against the efforts of the breakaway factions and in effect going to war against both the Confederacy and the U.S. Interestingly it also gained support from Mexico in this effort, which was eager to see the United States taken down a peg even if it meant supporting a former enemy. Despite the logistical hurdles, the years of building up, development, and settlement finally managed to give Texas the victories it had been looking for, pushing back against both the Union and Confederacy and even managing to capture the self-proclaimed governor of the pro-Confederate government.

The struggle came to an end in 1869 when the Confederacy was defeated, and with its defeat the United States lost its willingness to push any pro-Union effort in Texas. A new treaty signed that same year in Austin restored a status quo ante bellum and withdrew U.S. support for the pro-Union government, allowing Texas to clean up the remaining efforts at resistance and finally put itself back together. It was bankrupt, its infrastructure was badly crippled, and its economy was in shambles, but it was still standing and going into the 1870s struggling to rebuild itself off the back of British, French, and Californian credit. Less alone in the world, the Lone Star State began to slowly climb back, finally confident it had achieved some semblance of self-reliance even if it came at the expense of foreign debt. But now it was at peace with California, Mexico, and the United States. The future finally began looking up.

Description
The entire history of the Republic of Texas has been defined by its relationship to the United States of America. Hell, its independence came about as a result of U.S. settlers crossing into Mexico, mostly by the invitation of the Mexican government but quickly spiraling into chaos as the pro-slave settlers declared their independence from Mexico. The new ramshackle republic was one plagued by financial instability and a slapdash political system, one that was predicated almost entirely on annexation by the United States. This goal continued on for 4 years until the Election of 1844 in the United States, when Henry Clay managed to defeat James Polk, and who reiterated his opposition to annexing Texas out of fears it would inflame both relations with Mexico and internal disputes over slavery. Once again facing rejection, Texas was left on its own.

Its goals defeated, Texas was forced to look back in on itself and begin the long and painful process of developing itself. This seemed like an impossible task given how vast Texas' land was and how underpopulated it was, but it managed to experience new success when President Thomas Rusk created the "New Lands Initiative" that offered to simply give away massive tracts of land to anyone willing to come and settle on the land. Though it would always lag behind the United States in this regard, immigration increased steadily through the rest of the 1840s and new railroad developments followed shortly afterwards. Ranching had always been a major industry in the region and now it was rapidly forming the bedrock of the nation's economy.

It did share another major trouble of the United States, however: slavery. The whole purpose of Texas' rebellion against Mexico had been over the ability to own slaves, and all of the most prominent politicians were slaveowners and supported the institution of slavery. The shifting demographics were changing this. Many European immigrants opposed slavery, most Hispanic migrants from Mexico opposed slavery, and the growing ranching industry opposed slavery as well. The whole thing seemed set up for conflict in a highly similar parallel to the United States, complete with geographical division: the Eastern regions of Texas were more supportive and based around slavery than the ranching-oriented Western regions.

Then again there was also the fact that it lay in a very uncomfortable position. The United States and Mexico were two much stronger nations who, if they ever brought their full might to bear, could easily occupy and annex the Republic. The only reason Mexico hadn't already was its own internal struggles and the almost guaranteed threat of U.S. intervention if they tried. There were other issues with Mexico as well, namely that Texas claimed more than twice the area Mexico said it owned and that this dispute had never been satisfactorily resolved. It got its chance during the Californian Revolution in 1849 as Alta California began its own independence revolt, breaking away as the California Republic. Texas supported their effort, which gave them a chance to invade Mexico again and enforce its claims despite once again facing initial setbacks by the much larger and better-equipped Mexican army.

When all was said and done Mexico was again beaten back when the United States supported both California and Texas, but that was where the friendly relations ended. California was founded as a "free nation", opposed to slavery and automatically hostile towards Texas for continuing to rely on and support the institution. The United States was pressing down on them further as well, having effectively won the war for Texas and pushing them into becoming what was practically a client state of the U.S. both politically and economically. The 1850s began with tensions just further inflaming as they struggled to develop themselves, increasingly dependent on the United States despite the latter continuing to refuse annexation, and California just shooting further ahead as their gold rush rocketed their development forward. At the intersection of three nations, Texas found itself isolated diplomatically.

Making matters worse, the internal issues of slavery flared when Llanos Territory became the first in Texas to explicitly outlaw slavery in 1854, followed by the state of Rio Grande outlawing it the next year. Again this division between east and west continued to grow stronger, as ranching barons gained more wealth and began to challenge the entrenched power of the slaveowners both politically and economically. Making matters worse, there was pretty much nowhere for slavery to expand to that would be worth it, it had almost always been an institution that cost more than it gave back but now the western territories were almost impossible to expand slavery to in a practical capacity, emphasized further as the Potter Territory also outlawed it. This was all just part of a wider conflict across North America, which was rapidly becoming the last bastion of slavery in the world as the European powers outlawed it.

With the world coming apart, it finally snapped in 1862. Across the border, 11 states seceded to form the Confederacy of American States, explicitly to preserve the institution of slavery despite the Federal Government's lackluster efforts to actually oppose it. The resultant chaos spilled into Texas, where a number of politicians called to join the Confederacy and unite for the cause of slavery's preservation, especially as California had been absorbing a number of escaped slaves. Others still called for abolition, some for manumission, many called for remaining independent and others called for union with the United States or the Confederacy. It finally spilled over in the Battle of Potter's Barn, as in 1864 a clash between pro-U.S. and pro-Confederate sympathizers spiraled out of control. The Pinos state militia was called in, shots were fired, and national outrage spurred other similar clashes. The war had come to Texas.

By now the "Great American War" had split Texas as much as it had the U.S. Three separate governments were formed at this time: the government of the Republic of Texas and two state governments pledging loyalty to either the United States or the Confederacy. Making matters worse a rebellion based out of El Paso funded by the ranching barons and who actively sought to oppose slavery. It had devolved into what amounted to a four-way civil war, dragging the militias of the U.S. and Confederacy in as they supported the factions that pledged loyalty to one or the other. Austin itself descended into street brawls and a bomb detonated by pro-Union partisans destroyed the harbor in Port Natchez. California was officially neutral, but gave its support to the El Paso government both diplomatically and by surreptitiously smuggling weapons to pro-abolition forces, along with arming the Comanche who raided and attacked any Texan force regardless of affiliation.

It dragged on that way for years, and only finally began to shift for Texas in particular when the El Paso and Austin governments reached an agreement on manumission and to appoint John Hansford to the Presidency, finally reuniting their efforts against the efforts of the breakaway factions and in effect going to war against both the Confederacy and the U.S. Interestingly it also gained support from Mexico in this effort, which was eager to see the United States taken down a peg even if it meant supporting a former enemy. Despite the logistical hurdles, the years of building up, development, and settlement finally managed to give Texas the victories it had been looking for, pushing back against both the Union and Confederacy and even managing to capture the self-proclaimed governor of the pro-Confederate government.

The struggle came to an end in 1869 when the Confederacy was defeated, and with its defeat the United States lost its willingness to push any pro-Union effort in Texas. A new treaty signed that same year in Austin restored a status quo ante bellum and withdrew U.S. support for the pro-Union government, allowing Texas to clean up the remaining efforts at resistance and finally put itself back together. It was bankrupt, its infrastructure was badly crippled, and its economy was in shambles, but it was still standing and going into the 1870s struggling to rebuild itself off the back of British, French, and Californian credit. Less alone in the world, the Lone Star State began to slowly climb back, finally confident it had achieved some semblance of self-reliance even if it came at the expense of foreign debt. But now it was at peace with California, Mexico, and the United States. The future finally began looking up.