Houston, Sam(uel)

Houston, Sam(uel)
born March 2, 1793, Rockbridge county, Va., U.S.
died July 26, 1863, Huntsville, Texas

U.S. politician.

After the death of his father in 1807, Houston moved with his family to a farm in rural Tennessee. In his mid-teens he ran away and lived for nearly three years with the Cherokee Indians. After service in the War of 1812 he practiced law in Nashville and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives (1823–27). He was elected governor of Tennessee in 1827. After his marriage failed in 1829, he resigned his office and sought refuge among the Cherokee, who formally adopted him into the tribe. He twice traveled to Washington, D.C., to expose fraud perpetrated by government agents against the Indians. In 1832 he was sent by Pres. Andrew Jackson to Texas, then a Mexican province, to negotiate treaties with the Indians there. When U.S. settlers in Texas began an armed rebellion in 1835, the provisional Texas government chose him to command its army, and he defeated the Mexicans at San Jacinto, securing Texan independence. He served as president of the Republic of Texas (1836–38, 1841–44) and helped it to win statehood (1845); he then served in the U.S. Senate (1846–59). He was elected governor in 1859, but his pro-Union views were opposed by Democratic state leaders, who voted to secede in 1861. After he refused to swear allegiance to the Confederacy, he was deposed. The city of Houston was named in his honour.

Sam Houston, photograph by Mathew Brady

By courtesy of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Houston, Sam(uel) — (2 mar. 1793, cond. Rockbridge, Va., EE.UU.–26 jul. 1863, Huntsville, Texas). Político estadounidense. Después de la muerte de su padre, en 1807, se trasladó junto con su familia a una granja en la zona rural de Tennessee. En la adolescencia se… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Houston — es una ciudad del estado de Texas en los Estados Unidos. Es la capital del condado de Harris y es en condado de Fort Bend y condado de Montgomery, la ciudad más grande de Texas y la cuarta más grande de los Estados Unidos. Es apodada Bayou City …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Houston — This article is about the U.S. city. For other uses, see Houston (disambiguation). City of Houston   City   …   Wikipedia

  • Houston — /hyooh steuhn/, n. 1. Sam(uel), 1793 1863, U.S. soldier and political leader: president of the Republic of Texas 1836 38 and 1841 44. 2. a city in SE Texas: a port on a ship canal, ab. 50 mi. (80 km) from the Gulf of Mexico. 1,594,086. * * * I… …   Universalium

  • Houston — Hous•ton [[t]ˈhyu stən[/t]] n. 1) big Sam(uel), 1793–1863, U.S. soldier: president of the Republic of Texas 1836–38 and 1841–44 2) geg a city in SE Texas: a port on a ship canal, connected with the Gulf of Mexico. 1,744,058 Hous•to′ni•an ˈstoʊ ni …   From formal English to slang

  • Houston, Texas — Infobox Settlement official name = City of Houston settlement type = City nickname = Space City imagesize = image caption = image #ifeq:Houston, Texas|Houston, Texas|Seal of Houston, Texas.png| mapsize = 250px map caption = Location in the state… …   Wikipedia

  • Houston — Para otros usos de este término, véase Houston (desambiguación). Houston Ciudad de los Estados Unidos …   Wikipedia Español

  • Greater Houston — Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown   MSA   Country United States of America State Texas Principal cities  – Houston  – Sugar Land  – Baytown  – …   Wikipedia

  • Samuel — samuel. m. C. Rica. Acción de samuelear. || echar un samuel. fr. C. Rica. samuelear. * * * Samuel, Herbert Louis (Šemū´ēl) …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Chicago Cubs all-time roster — The Chicago Cubs baseball club is an original member of the National League (1876 to date), established in 1874 or 1870. Here is a list of players who appeared in at least one regular season game beginning 1874. (Their 1870–1871 players are in… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”