An alternative history of the Republic of Texas

Speculation alert.

As a native of Texas, one is required to learn about her history.  At least, this was true while I was still in school.  Maybe not so true today.  Despite this, there is a lot to learn and there are a few things that I missed.  For example, I thought it was Sam Houston who kept Santa Ana alive after San Jacinto.  But, actually, the interim President of the Republic, David G Burnet, may have been more responsible.

The significance of Santa Ana alive cannot be underestimated.  It turned out to be a great boon to Texas and to the United States, and a great misfortune for the people of Mexico.

Burnet negotiated the Treaty of Velasco with Santa Ana, in which the dictator promised to recognize Texas independence.  Amongst its provisions was the one in which promised the safe return of the dictator to Mexico.  This was quite unpopular amongst the Texans, who wanted Santa Ana to be executed for his brutality in the recent war.  As a result of this opposition, Santa Ana wasn't returned to his country directly, but eventually that part of the treaty was honored.  Good for Texas, not so good for Mexico.  If Santa Ana was executed, there would be nobody to order the Mexican troops to leave Texas.  There were a lot more Mexican troops than Texans at that point.  Texas was not safe yet.

With the safety of Santa Ana came the safety of Texas.  With the return of Santa Ana to Mexico came the same incompetence that lost Texas in the first place.  When Santa Ana returned, he only made things worse for Mexico.  In 1842, he ordered a military expedition to Texas.  This rather foolish expedition only made the loss of Texas to the United States inevitable.  For the people of Texas were given a choice at the time of annexation to the United States.  This option was negotiated at the last minute in order to prevent the annexation, but with Mexican depredations such as this one, the attempt to influence events were futile.

Now David G Burnet was part of that faction that favored a Texan Republic.  What could Santa Ana have done instead?  He could have honored that part of the treaty which proposed friendship between the countries.  That would have strengthened the hand of Burnet and his allies, and weakened the hand of annexation, which was being led by Sam Houston.  If Santa Ana had only honored his own treaty, he may have put together the political will to establish a buffer republic against the expansionist United States.  Moreover, the United States itself was divided over the issue of slavery.  It may have remained so indefinitely if Texas hadn't been admitted to the Union.

The admission of Texas and the resulting war with Mexico left a problem with how to administer the new lands thus acquired.  It exacerbated the sectional controversy, as the South demanded an equal share of the  booty won from Mexico.  The sectional controversy led to the Civil War.  But what if Texas had not ever entered the Union?  The two sections may have kept an uneasy truce between each other indefinitely.  Instead, the war ended the sectional controversy and united the country, which became the most powerful country on earth.  All of this may not have happened if things had gone just a little bit differently.

Moral of the story:  Leadership is everything to the nation.  A nation is born or suffers according to the quality of its leadership.