The Republic of Texas was created from part of the Mexican state Coahuila y Tejas as a result of the Texas Revolution. Although the Texans originally fought for changes in the Mexican constitution, by 1836 the aim of the war had changed. The Convention of 1836 declared independence on March 2, 1836 and officially formed the Republic of Texas, a new nation between the borders of Mexico and the United States.
Despite some early discussion of joining the United States to the north, the death of Sam Houston during his presidency in 1837 effectively ended that movement. The nationalist faction, led by then vice-president Mirabeau B. Lamar, advocated the continued independence of Texas, the expulsion of the Native Americans, and the expansion of Texas to the Pacific Ocean. The fledgeling republic would more than double in size after the United States election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, which led to the seccession of the states of South Carolina, Mississippi, Missouri, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and Georgia in an effort to protect states rights and their existing economy, which relied fairly heavily on the use of slave labor from the distant shores of Africa.
The resulting war lasted nearly a decade, at the end of which time the United States recovered some of its lost territory and international pressures on the Republic would force them to outlaw slavery within their own territories shortly after the war's end. The war was costly for both sides, though the latter years of the war were fought primarily on Texan soil and cost the Republic most of their eastern territories. Texas would continue to make plans to expand their influence even after the war, claiming, though rarely occupying, vast tracts of land to the southwest. Their expansionist nature would eventually lead them into a series of brief wars against the people of Fusang and countless border skirmishes against the United States to the north.
The industrial revolution split the nation between agriculturalists who preferred the agrarian lifestyle that they had established over the last several decades and the industrialists who favored greater industrialization along the narrow urban band along the Rio Grande. Most of the industry emerged along the Gulf shores, where access to oil and protected ports would allow them to produce and ship products all over the world. Despite the steady growth of industry, the Republic continued to lag behind the rest of the world technologically, their reluctance to adopt new technology severely impacting their ability to compete on a global scale.
An aggressive push into Mexico during the Great War, coupled with the slow collapse of New Spain, would allow the Republic to expand south as far as the Bolivar canal, though their southern borders would retreat before the Bolivian army shortly after. Since then, their borders have remained largely stable, though continued military buildup along the borders continues to be a concern to neighboring nations.
