The Texas Annexation of 1845 Year 1845 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar) was the voluntary annexation Annexation is the legal incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity (either adjacent or non-contiguous). Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities. It can also imply a certain measure of coercion, expansionism or unilateralism of the Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas was a sovereign nation in North America between the United States and Mexico that existed from 1836 to 1846 to the United States of America The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. Texas Texas ( /ˈtɛksəs/ ) is a state in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. It is bordered by Mexico to the south, New Mexico to the west, Oklahoma to the north, Arkansas to the northeast, and Louisiana to the east. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, with an area of 268,820 square miles (696 became the twenty-eighth state This is a list of U.S. states by date of statehood, that is, the date when each U.S. state joined the Union. Although the first 13 states can be considered to have been members of the United States from the date of the Declaration of Independence – Thursday, July 4, 1776 – they are presented here as being "admitted" on the date each and included all of present-day Texas and parts of present-day Colorado The State of Colorado ( /kɒləˈrædoʊ/ or /kɒləˈrɑːdoʊ/ (help·info)) is a state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States of America. It may also be considered to be part of the Western and Southwestern regions of the United States. Colorado entered statehood in 1876 and was nicknamed the “Centennial State”. It is, Kansas The State of Kansas ( /ˈkænzəs/ ) is a Midwestern state in the central region of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the American "Heartland" or "America's Breadbasket" referring to the state's enormous wheat-growing agribusiness. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn, New Mexico New Mexico ( /nuːˈmɛksɨkoʊ/ or Spanish: Nuevo México) is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. Inhabited by Native American populations for many centuries, it has also been part of the Imperial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S. territory. Among U.S. states, New Mexico has the highest, Oklahoma Oklahoma ( /ˌoʊkləˈhoʊmə/ ) is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,617,316 residents in 2007 and a land area of 68,667 square miles (177,847 km²), Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state. The state's name is derived from the Choctaw words okla and humma, meaning &, and Wyoming The State of Wyoming ( /waɪˈoʊmɪŋ/ ) is a state in the Western United States. The majority of the state is dominated by the mountain ranges and rangelands of the Rocky Mountain West, while the easternmost section of the state includes part of a high altitude prairie region known as the High Plains. While the tenth largest U.S. state by size,.

Annexation

Background

Anglo-American immigrants, primarily from the South The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, Down South, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive region in the southeastern and south-central United States. Because of the region's unique cultural and historic heritage, including Native Americans; early European settlements of Spanish, English and, began immigrating to Mexican Texas Mexican Texas is the given name by Texas history scholars to the period between 1821 and 1836, when Texas was governed by Mexico. The period began with Mexico's victory over Spain in its war of independence in 1821. For the first several years of its existence, Mexican Texas operated very similarly to Spanish Texas. The 1824 Constitution of Mexico in the early 1820s at the request of the Mexican government, which sought to populate the sparsely inhabited lands of its northern frontier.^[1] Anglo-Americans soon became a majority in Texas and eventually became disillusioned with Mexican rule. Coahuila y Texas, a Mexican state of which Texas was a constituent part after 1824, endorsed a plan for gradual emancipation in 1827, which angered many slaveholding settlers who had moved to Texas from the South.^[2] For this and other reasons, Texas declared independence The Texas Declaration of Independence was the formal declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico in the Texas Revolution. It was adopted at the Convention of 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos on March 2, 1836, and formally signed the following day after errors were noted in the text from Mexico, resulting in war with Mexico The Texas Revolution or Texas War of Independence was fought from October 2, 1835 to April 21, 1836 between Mexico and settlers in the Texas portion of the Mexican state Coahuila y Tejas. Animosity between the Mexican government and the American settlers in Texas , as well as many Tejas residents of Mexican ancestry, began with the Siete Leyes of 1. In 1836, the fighting ended and Sam Houston Samuel Houston was a 19th century American statesman, politician, and soldier. Born on Timber Ridge, just north of Lexington in Rockbridge County, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley, Houston was a key figure in the history of Texas, including periods as President of the Republic of Texas, Senator for Texas after it joined the United States, and became the first president of the Republic of Texas, elected on a platform that favored annexation to the United States.

Initial Texan proposal

In August 1837 Year 1837 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar), James Freeman, the Texan ambassador to the United States, submitted an annexation proposal to the Van Buren administration Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States from 1837 to 1841. Before his presidency, he served as the eighth Vice President (1833-1837) and the 10th Secretary of State under Andrew Jackson. He was a key organizer of the Democratic Party, a dominant figure in the Second Party System, and the first president who was not of. Believing that annexation would lead to war with Mexico, the administration declined Texas’ proposal. After the election of Mirabeau B. Lamar Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar was an American politician, diplomat and soldier who was a leading Texas political figure during the Texas Republic era. He was the second president of the Republic of Texas, after David G. Burnet (1836 as ad-interim president) and Sam Houston, an opponent of annexation, as president of Texas in 1838 and the United States’ apprehension regarding annexation, Texas withdrew its offer.^[3]

Annexation by treaty

In 1843, President John Tyler John Tyler, Jr. was the tenth President of the United States (1841–1845) and the first ever to obtain that office via succession came out in support of annexation, entering negotiations with the Republic of Texas for an annexation treaty, which he submitted to the Senate The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators, regardless of population. This ensures equal.^[4] On 8 June 1844, the treaty was defeated 35 to 16, well below the two-thirds majority necessary for ratification.^[5] Of the 29 Whig The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from 1833 to 1856, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and the Democratic Party. In particular, the Whigs supported the supremacy of Congress over senators, 28 voted against the treaty with only one Whig, a southerner, supporting it.^[6] The Democratic The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. Today, the party supports a center-left platform.[citation needed] senators were more divided on the issue with six northern Democrats and one southern Democrat opposing the treaty and five northern Democrats and ten southern Democrats supporting it.^[7]

Annexation by joint resolution

James K. Polk James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the eleventh President of the United States (1845–1849). Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, but mostly lived in and represented the state of Tennessee. A Democrat, Polk served as Speaker of the House (1835–1839) and Governor of Tennessee (1839–1841) prior to becoming, a Democrat and a strong supporter of territorial expansion, was elected The United States presidential election of 1844 saw Democrat James Knox Polk defeat Whig Henry Clay in a close contest that turned on foreign policy, with Polk favoring the annexation of Texas and Clay opposed president in November 1844 with a mandate to acquire both the Republic of Texas and Oregon Country Oregon Country or Oregon was a predominantly American term referring to a region of the Pacific Northwest of North America. The region was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders from before 1810, and American settlers from the mid-1830s, with its coastal areas north from the Columbia River frequented by ships from all nations engaged.^[8] After the election, the Tyler administration realized that public opinion was in favor of annexation, consulted with President-elect Polk, and set out to accomplish annexation by means of a joint resolution In the United States Congress, a joint resolution is a legislative measure that requires approval by the Senate and the House and is presented to the President for his approval or disapproval, in exactly the same case as a bill.^[9] The resolution declared that Texas would be admitted as a state as long as it approved annexation by 1 January 1846, that it could split itself up into four additional states, and that possession of the Republic’s public lands would shift to the state of Texas upon its admission.^[10] On 26 February 1845, about a month before Polk took office, Congress passed the joint resolution.^[11] Not long afterward, Andrew Jackson Donelson Andrew Jackson Donelson was an American diplomat and a candidate for Vice President of the United States, the American chargé d'affaires in Texas and the nephew of former president Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States (1829–1837). He was military governor of Florida (1821), commander of the American forces at the Battle of New Orleans (1815), and eponym of the era of Jacksonian democracy. A polarizing figure who dominated American politics in the 1820s and 1830s, his political ambition combined, presented the American resolution to President Anson Jones Jones was born on January 20, 1798 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. In 1820, Jones was licensed as a doctor by the Oneida, New York, Medical Society, and began medical practice in 1826. However, his practice didn't prosper, and he moved several more times before finally being arrested in Philadelphia by a creditor. He stayed in Philadelphia for of Texas.^[12] In July 1845, the Texan Congress endorsed the American annexation offer with only one dissenting vote and began writing a state constitution.^[13] The citizens of Texas approved the new constitution and the annexation ordinance in October 1845 and Polk signed the documents formally integrating Texas into the United States on 29 December 1845.^[14]

Options for secession and the formation of new states

Right to secede

Neither the ordinance of annexation nor the joint resolution included provisions giving Texas the right to secede.^[15] In its decision in Texas v. White Texas v. White, 74 U.S. 700 was a significant case argued before the United States Supreme Court in 1869. The case involved a claim by the reconstruction government of Texas that United States bonds owned by Texas since 1850 had been illegally sold by the Confederate state legislature during the American Civil War. The state filed suit directly in 1869, the United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal judiciary. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed with the "advice and consent" of the Senate. Once appointed, Justices effectively ruled that Texas’ secession in 1861 had been illegal. The Court held that “[t]he Constitution, in all its provisions, looks to an indestructible Union, composed of indestructible States.” The court did allow that divisibility might be possible "through revolution, or through consent of the States."^[16]

Forming new states

The joint resolution and ordinance of annexation contain language permitting that formation of up to four additional states out of the former territories of the Republic of Texas:

New States of convenient size not exceeding four in number, in addition to said State of Texas and having sufficient population, may, hereafter by the consent of said State, be formed out of the territory thereof, which shall be entitled to admission under the provisions of the Federal Constitution.^[17]

The joint resolution required that if any new states were formed out of Texas’ lands, those north of the Missouri Compromise The Missouri Compromise was an agreement passed in 1820 between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States Congress, involving primarily the regulation of slavery in the western territories. It prohibited slavery in the former Louisiana Territory north of the parallel 36°30' north except within the boundaries of the proposed line would become free states and those south of the line could choose whether or not to permit slavery.^[18] Article Four Article Four of the United States Constitution relates to the states. It provides for the responsibilities states have to each other, and the responsibilities the federal government has to the states. Furthermore, it provides for the admission of new states and the changing of state boundaries of the Constitution The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the United States. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of the United States of America and the Federal Government of the United States. It provides the framework for the organization of the United States Government. The document prohibits the creation of new states out of existing ones without the consent of both the legislature of that state and of Congress, and the division of Texas into multiple states has never been attempted.

Border dispute with Mexico

There was an ongoing border dispute between the Republic of Texas and Mexico prior to annexation. Texas claimed the Rio Grande The Rio Grande is a river that forms part of the border between the United States and Mexico. At 1,885 miles (3,034 km) long, it is the fourth-longest river system in the United States. It serves as a natural boundary along the border between the American state of Texas and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas as its border, while Mexico maintained that it was the Nueces The Nueces River is a river in the U.S. state of Texas, approximately 315 miles long. It drains a region in central and southern Texas southeastward into the Gulf of Mexico. It is the southernmost major river in Texas north of the Rio Grande. Nueces is Spanish for walnuts or pecans; early settlers named the river after the numerous pecan trees River and did not recognize Texan independence. President James K. Polk James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the eleventh President of the United States (1845–1849). Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, but mostly lived in and represented the state of Tennessee. A Democrat, Polk served as Speaker of the House (1835–1839) and Governor of Tennessee (1839–1841) prior to becoming ordered General Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor was an American military leader and the 12th President of the United States to garrison the southern border of Texas, as defined by the former Republic. Taylor moved into Texas, ignoring Mexican demands that he withdraw, and marched as far south as the Rio Grande, where he began to build a fort Fort Brown was a military post of the United States Army in Texas during the later half of 19th century and the early part of the 20th century near the river's mouth on the Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico is the ninth largest body of water in the world. Considered a smaller part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is an ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on. The Mexican government regarded this action as a violation of its sovereignty.

The Republic of Texas never controlled what is now New Mexico New Mexico ( /nuːˈmɛksɨkoʊ/ or Spanish: Nuevo México) is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. Inhabited by Native American populations for many centuries, it has also been part of the Imperial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S. territory. Among U.S. states, New Mexico has the highest. The failed Texas Santa Fe Expedition of 1841 was its only attempt to take that territory. El Paso El Paso is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and part of the American Southwest. According to the United States Census Bureau's 2006 population estimates, the city had a population of 606,913. It is the sixth-largest city in Texas and the 22nd-largest city in the United States. Its metropolitan area covers all was only taken under Texas governance by Robert Neighbors in 1850, over four years after annexation.^[19]

Controversy over legality of annexation

The original controversy about the legality of the annexation of Texas stems from the fact that Congress approved the annexation of Texas as a territory with a simple majority vote approval instead of annexing the land by Treaty A treaty is an agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as: agreement, protocol, covenant, convention, exchange of letters, etc. Regardless of the terminology, all of these international agreements under international law are, as was done with Native American Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as intact political communities. There has lands. After the United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the and The Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas was a sovereign nation in North America between the United States and Mexico that existed from 1836 to 1846 were unable to reach a Treaty A treaty is an agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as: agreement, protocol, covenant, convention, exchange of letters, etc. Regardless of the terminology, all of these international agreements under international law are agreement, Congress passed a Joint Resolution for Annexing Texas to the United States.^[20] The Republic of Texas' Annexation Convention then submitted the Ordinance of Annexation^[21] to popular vote in October 1845 Year 1845 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar) and the public approved the measure. This Ordinance of Annexation was submitted and approved by the House and Senate of the United States and signed by the President on December 29, 1845. While this was an awkward, if not unusual, treaty process it was fully accepted by all parties involved, and more importantly all parties performed on those agreements making them legally binding (see Contract Law). In addition, the United States Supreme Court decided in the case of DeLima v. Bidwell that annexation by a joint resolution of Congress is legal.^[22]

Footnotes

1. ^ Ray Allen Billington,The Far Western Frontier, 1830-1860 (New York: Harper & Row, 1956), p. 116.
2. ^ Ibid. , pp. 116-117.
3. ^ Richard Bruce Winders, Crisis in the Southwest: The United States, Mexico, and the Struggle over Texas (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002), p. 41.
4. ^ T.R. Fehrenbach, Lone Star: A History of Texas and Texans (Cambridge: Da Capo Press, 2000), p. 263.
5. ^ Thomas M. Hietala, Manifest Design: American Exceptionalism and Empire (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1985), p. 40.
6. ^ Ibid.
7. ^ Ibid.
8. ^ Fehrenbach, Lone Star, p. 264
9. ^ Ibid., p. 265
10. ^ Ibid.
11. ^ Ibid
12. ^ Ibid.; Hietala, Manifest Design, p. 43.
13. ^ Fehrenbach, Lone Star, p. 266.
14. ^ Ibid., p. 267
15. ^ Joint Resolution of Congress, Section 2, March 1, 1845; Ordinance of the Convention of Texas, signed July 4, 1845.
16. ^ Aleksandar Pavković and Peter Radan, Creating New States: Theory and Practice of Secession (Farnham: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2007), 222; Texas v. White, 74 U.S. 700 (1868), Supreme Court Collection, Cornell University Law School.
17. ^ Quote is from Joint Resolution of Congress, Section 2, March 1, 1845; see also Section 3 of Ordinance of the Convention of Texas, signed 1845 July 4.
18. ^ Joint Resolution of Congress, Mar. 1, 1845
19. ^ http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/CC/nbc2.html
20. ^ Peters, Richard, ed., The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, v.5 (Boston: Chas C. Little & Jas. Brown, 1850), 797-798.
21. ^ Journals of the Constitution Convention of Texas (Austin: Miner & Cruger, Printers to the Constitution, 1845) 367-370.
22. ^ De Lima v. Bidwell 182 U.S. 1 (1901). FindLaw.

See also

• Adams-Onís Treaty
• History of Texas
• Mexican-American War
• Republic of Texas
• Texas Revolution

External links

Primary Sources

• Avalon Project at Yale Law School. Texas from Independence to Annexation.
• Joint Resolution for Annexing Texas to the United States, Approved March 1, 1845.
• Jones, Anson. Letters, Relating to the History of Annexation. Galveston: Civilian Office, 1848.
• Ordinance of Annexation, Approved by the Texas Convention on July 4, 1845.
• Dewey, Orville. Discourse on Slavery and the Annexation of Texas. New York: C.S. Francis & Co., 1844.

Secondary Sources

• "Annexation." Handbook of Texas Online.
• Carefoot, Jean. “Narrative History of Texas Annexation.” Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
• Silbey, Joel H. Storm over Texas: The Annexation Controversy and the Road to Civil War. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
• Smith, Justin H. The Annexation of Texas. Unknown publisher, 1911.

Categories: History of Texas | History of United States expansionism | 1845 in the United States | Presidency of James K. Polk

See Also:

• Texas Annexation
• Texan
• Texas
• East Texas
• Annexation

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