Subscribe

7th grade · Social Studies · Unit 6 of 13

Republic & Early Statehood

Houston, Lamar, Jones and annexation

What your child practices

The Republic under Houston, Lamar and Jones (the Texas Navy and Rangers, Jack Coffee Hays, Chief Bowles, William Goyens, Mary Maverick, José Antonio Navarro, the Córdova Rebellion, the Council House Fight, the Santa Fe Expedition, slavery), the causes of annexation, and early statehood: the U.S.-Mexican War, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, slavery and the Compromise of 1850.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 7.4(A); 7.4(B); 7.4(C) · the Republic of Texas, annexation, and early Texas statehood

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Sam Houston sought peace with American Indian nations through treaties and trade; Lamar spent heavily and fought wars, so voters brought Houston back in 1841.
  2. Anson Jones was president as Texas accepted annexation in 1845.
  3. The U.S.-Mexican War (1846–1848) began over the border between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande.

Example: Why did voters return Sam Houston to the presidency in 1841? Compare Houston with Lamar. Lamar’s wars and spending had put Texas deep in debt. Answer: They wanted to cut Lamar’s spending and wars

Republic & Early Statehood in Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 6 of 13 in 7th grade Social Studies, after The Texas Revolution and before Civil War & Reconstruction.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Jack Coffee Hays was…

    • a Mexican official
    • the third president of the Republic
    • a famous Texas Ranger captain
    • a Comanche leader

  2. Question 2

    Mary Maverick is known for…

    • leading the Texas Navy
    • founding the Railroad Commission
    • her memoirs describing life in early San Antonio
    • discovering oil

  3. Question 3

    Sam Houston's policy toward American Indian nations as president was…

    • peace through treaties and trade
    • war to remove all of them
    • letting Mexico decide
    • ignoring them

  4. Question 4

    Anson Jones is called the "Architect of Annexation" because he…

    • was president as Texas accepted annexation
    • wrote the Constitution of 1876
    • defended the Alamo
    • led the Santa Fe Expedition

  5. Question 5

    William Goyens was…

    • a free African American businessman who helped negotiate with the Cherokee
    • a French trader
    • a Mexican general
    • the first governor of Texas

  6. Question 6

    When Texas joined the US, it kept…

    • its president
    • its own money
    • its navy
    • its public lands and its debts

More 7th grade