Sam Houston: A Brief Biography

The book explores a life story of Sam Houston from this beginning in Tennessee to joining school, then the military, up to when he became a political leader. The book also focuses on expressing ideas that present his impact on Texas, since he had become an influential person. The book explains that he managed to establish a War against Mexico. The book focuses on characterizing Sam’s influence on Texas, through a focus on the political environment in the region during the early days as a Republic.

He then became a Senator from Texas to the United States Congress, but was removed due to his strong opposition to the secession of Texas. This ended his career in public service and in 1863, Sam Houston died in his home in Huntsville, Texas.

A poem written by South Carolina pastor, Jeremy Rutledge has given readers a lot to think about. The poem was composed after the great Hurricane Harvey tragedy in Houston. In his poem Rutledge mentions the word pray many times but the meaning of it goes way beyond that. When praying for something it is important to know the aspects and struggles of it, and that is exactly what Rutledge is doing in this poem, stating all the things that make Houston unique, diverse, and capable to rise from it all.

Sam Houston was one of the founding fathers of Texas known as a soldier, statesman and man of integrity. Spending most of his youth in Tennessee, he was impatient and reckless with a sense of adventure which lead him to the Cherokee country. His time spent with family and the Cherokee Indians is where he developed his practical, level-headed and grounded character. Houston’s passion for peace and support for the Cherokee’s came from having seen the effects of war and strife on the Indians. The values instilled from these early experiences are prevalent in Houston’s political and personal viewpoints throughout his life and career.

Sam Houston has made many decisions when he was in Texas. They included becoming friends with the indians, voting against slavery, and voting against seceding from the Union.

In August 1859, the citizens of Texas elected Sam Houston as their governor. The result of this election placed the Unionists in control of the state, but in just eighteen months’ individual events or circumstances allowed the secessionists to regain power. Following the 1859 Gubernatorial election, the secessionists sought to restore political and social power in Texas over the Unionists. Texas’ one party system continued to support the other Southern states ideologically in dealing with slavery despite cultural and economic differences between the Upper and Lower South. Sam Houston’s continued popularity among Texas citizens temporarily outweighed his support for Unionist views, but the Southern Democratic propaganda machine eventually led to his defeat. Texas became the only state to bring a vote of secession to the people of the state and historians continue to debate the voting returns from the referendum on the Ordinance of Secession, 1861. The secession movement in Texas became a hotly debated topic as past, and present historians determined how the secessionists obtained enough power to overcome the Unionist-controlled government.

Born in Virginia to a plantation owner, his family’s fortune began to fade and upon the death of his father the family moved to Maryville, Tennessee. He was the fifth of nine children and found that work on the family farm and clerking in the family store were boring so he decided to runaway and live with the Cherokee. He lived with the Cherokee for about three years before returning to Maryville where he taught school for a year and then decided to enlist in the military where he met his idol, his mentor and his political protector, Andrew Jackson. Houston’s last and greatest battle of the Creek Indian War came in March of 1814 at Horseshoe Bend along the Tallapoosa River in Alabama. There he helped Jackson defeat the

Sam Houston was a prominent political figure in the 19th century whose fame is attributed to his role of bringing Texas into the United States. Even though he was a life-long slave owner, Houston was opposed to the expansion of the institution of slavery into the west. Despite that his attitude seemed contradictory, Houston had good reasons for his resistance of the expansion of slavery.

While finishing his second term as Texas attorney general he began his campaign for governor. He was a prime candidate and had made many

Houston, a Democrat, Southerner, veteran of the Mexican-American War, and hero of San Jacinto reigned unmatched and indefatigable in the Senate at his time, able to stimulate his colleagues even after it appeared as if they lost all faith. Before holding his position as the first Senator from Texas, Houston held the role of Commander in Chief during times of hardship during the Mexican-American War, undermining his disadvantageous amount of Texan recruits by achieving a victory against the entirety of the Mexican Army and claiming its independence. Afterwards, he held plenty of roles in the growing republic, elected as the first president of the Independent Republic of Texas, a member of its Congress, and for another term of presidency before the territory amalgamated with the United States. There, he rose to position as a Congressman from Tennessee, who, in 1820, supported the ratification of the Missouri Compromise, and later on in the Senate as a representative of Texas, eventually stated that he did not support the abandoning of the Compromise of 1850 regardless of his political party’s views. The democrats were outraged, accusing him of traitorous

Stephen f. Austin looked around for a new business opportunity, eventually deciding to go to New Orleans in the late 1820 to study law. His father moses had a dream of leading the first anglo american families into texas however at that time texas was still a part of mexico so his father moses had to go to mexico to get permission to emigrate the first anglo american families into texas but in 1821 soon after moses stephen’s father returned when Stephen was 27 Moses became very ill and his only wish was that his son would take on and the chance to bring the first anglo american families to texas that was his father’s dream so even though he was reluctant to take on his father’s dream he knew it was what his father wanted so he went ahead with his father's dream of leading the first anglo americans to the unknown wilderness of texas, so after the death of his father Austin traveled to san antonio where he received permission from governor Antonio Martinez to proceed under his father's prior arrangement. Austin was given the title empresario or land grant agent after he received this title the next step was to choose land so Austin chose land between the Brazos and the San Jacinto river . It was some of the best farmland in the area. Austin and Governor Antonio Martinez decided that

The horse appeared perfectly balanced on his hind legs and was very lifelike. It was agreed that he would be paid $12,000 to execute the statue and the bronze would be provided. It took 2 years to make the plaster cast and a lot of trial and error. A statue of this size of bronze had not been attempted in the United States to that date. The bronze was from cannons which were captured by Andrew Jackson during the second war with England. The statue was dedicated in January 8, 1853 and placed in LaFayette Square in Washington, D.C. It is still there, directly across from the White House. Congress was so pleased with the delightfully original statue that they added $20,000 to the fee which had already been paid. With the mold already made, Mills was commissioned to make the same statue to be placed in New Orleans in 1856. A third replica was ordered for Nashville, Tennessee and dedicated in 1880.

Contrary to the typical stereotypes of Texans, Sam Houston was much more than a drunkard and an excellent gunslinger. Although, he possessed these traits as well, Houston displayed a certain level of maturity, honor, and critical thinking that most men, or even women, at the time did not own. To assume Sam Houston was a one trick pony, or only skilled in one aspect merely because of his heritage and place of birth would be an understatement, as his father was a major . The tall, handsome troublemaker did not fit in with the standard expected of boys or men during his time, however, he is one of the most revered political figures not only in Texas’s history, but also the history of the nation as a whole. Houston held numerous political

Andrew Jackson of Tennessee and William Crawford former sectary of war and treasury of state. Candidates fought and campaigned for the presidential seat that although Jackson won the popular vote also no candidate won a majority in the Electoral College. Like the 1828 presidential elections, the final two candidates where Jackson and Adams; the vote was to be decided by the house of representatives. Henry Clay who was the presiding chief speaker at that time made a corrupt bargain with John Quincy Adams, which made John Q Adams win the election, however, he made Henry Clay the secretary of states. Adams victory caused dispute between Adams supporters and Jackson’s supporters, which gave John Quincy Adams a terrible presidency due to `the hostility he experienced from the Jacksonians in

Another comparison and contrast between Charles Dickens, Alexis De Tocqueville, and Fanny Trollope is how they managed and experienced life within the newly found Americas. Charles Dickens, Alexis De Tocqueville, and Fanny Trollope traveled to the United States to experience what America had to offer and they all experienced something different and new. America is well known for its immigrants and migration to America, this dates all the way back to the 1820’s throughout the Nineteenth Century. Alexis De Tocqueville and his traveling companion Beaumont traveled for nine months by steamboat, by stagecoach, on horseback and in canoes, visiting America’s penitentiaries and experiencing the newly found Americas. Tocqueville spent time interviewing