1852-1859: Texas,California, And Baja
Texas sought a peaceful relationship with Mexico and the United States. President Joseph U. Fields was rather happy with the recognized border at the Rio Grande. If war with Mexico was no longer a primary concern, funding for the Texan Army was cut and put towards other goals. Like paying off the enormous debt that the Republic had gathered. With a lack of funding, the army was scaled down to a small regiment with old equipment. President Fields continued to treat the Comanches in the north with equality, not wanting an Indian War as Lamar had done years earlier. Leaving office in 1853, his successor was fellow Houstonian John J. Kennedy, who had served in the Texan army during the war with Mexico. Kennedy’s time in office was similar to Field’s with the exception of expanding the Texan military, ending quietly in 1856. The next President, Stephen F. Austin, would leave a greater mark on Texan history.
Austin, 8th President of Texas.
While Texans saw Houston as their Washington, Austin was seen as the “Father of Texas.” After losing the presidential election to Houston in 1836, Austin was content to serve as Secretary of State for several presidents. But for the first time in twenty years, Austin ran and won as an independent, identifying with both the Houstonians and the Nationalists.
Mexico was embroiled in civil war between the liberals and the conservatives in 1857 during the Reform War. Texans clamored for war to gain the “proper border” with Mexico. In truth, it was a shameless land grab while a foreign power was in the grips of domestic instability. Texas was bordered by four Mexican states: Coahuila, Chihuahua, Tamaulipas, and Nuevo Mexico. Austin decided to go after the largest liberal state. The Liberal states wanted to curtail the power of the church and military in national affairs, something that The Texan President thought would be the easiest to find common ground on when assimilating the population. Austin chose Coahuila. While putting up resistance, the populace became relatively welcoming to the Texan army. If their own government couldn’t keep order, maybe a new one was needed. That, and Coahuila had a history of disagreeing with the government in Mexico City as part of the short lived Republic of the Rio Grande. In response to this, the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon re-separated from the wayward state. The Liberals, too busy fighting with the Conservatives, failed to devote enough resources to take back the state. Coahuila would remain with Texas for the time being.
While Mexico fought a civil war, Alta California waged a war for its independence in a similar vein as Texas had almost two decades ago. But the Californios knew that America would not give them aid, seeing as that was a catalyst for the Mexican American war seven years earlier. One of the Californios, former governor Pio Pico, suggested reaching out to the United Kingdom for help. In 1858, California received aid from the British, who offered to cut in half the debt the Juarez government owed in return for the territory. Desperate, the Liberals agreed. California was a large, empty land that was always resistive to rule from the capital anyway.
Flag of the Dominion of California
In the midst of the Reform War, another faction took advantage of Mexico’s weakness. The William Walker Expedition, though originally planned in 1852-1853, had been pushed back due to a series of factors such as lack of funding and the perception of Mexico as a strong power. But as the Reform War (sometimes known as the Maiming War after the loss of territory to foreign powers) dragged on, Walker soon found himself with new benefactors who wished to expand the range of slavery to the Pacific Ocean. Their hope was to either ensure another slave friendly power in North America or, preferably, admit the land as a slave state. Departing in late 1858 and journeying through Texas, William Walker arrived in the Mexican city of La Paz just after the beginning of the American Civil War in mid February of 1859. The Walker Expedition numbered 103 men who would capture the city of La Paz with only seven casualties. The British, after witnessing this, thought that a buffer would be useful between them and Mexico, should a war arise. Baja, controlled by the Conservatives, attempted to oust Walker but failed. The Conservatives instead made a deal with him, secretly recognizing his “Republic of Baja California” to allow themselves to throw their weight at the Liberal faction while still being publicly at war with the “King Gringo.”
William Walker: President of Baja California
Walker’s Republic of Baja California would receive limited recognition from the United Kingdom as a belligerent in April, 1859.
flag by
@Marc Pasquin
