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The Early Statehood Era: 1845-1860

  1. Foreign Diplomacy and Annexation
  2. New State Government
  3. The Mexican-American War
  4. Population  & Economic Growth

Foreign Diplomacy and Annexation

After Texas won its independence from Mexico, Texas officials were sent to Washington, D.C., to ask for the United States� formal recognition. The United States, however, did not acknowledge Texas as an independent nation until March 3, 1837. There were two main reasons that the United States did not immediately recognize Texas independence. First, many Northerners in the United States did not want to recognize Texas because the new nation allowed slavery to exist within its borders. More importantly, many Americans feared that formal recognition of Texas would jeopardize the United States government�s relationship with Mexico. War might be the result.

European nations were also slow to officially acknowledge Texas independence. The first European country to recognize Texas was France in 1839. The French government signed a trade agreement with Texas. It allowed the two countries to buy and sell goods from each other. In 1840, England, Belgium and Holland followed France�s example and officially recognized the Republic of Texas. European recognition brought an increase in trade and an overall improvement in the Texas economy.

Relationships between Texas and Mexico were less cordial. Mexico�s refusal to recognize Texas independence led many Texans to believe that war with their southern neighbor was imminent. For the most part, Houston overlooked the problem, but President Lamar tried to force Mexico to acknowledge Texas as a separate nation.

Tensions between the two countries eventually erupted into military conflict. Lamar, like many other Texans, claimed that the western borders of the country included the busy trading center of Santa Fe. On June 21, 1841, Lamar sent 320 volunteers, under the leadership of Brigadier General Hugh McLeod, to protect Texas claim to the Santa Fe territory in what was known as the Santa Fe Expedition. One of the most famous of the volunteers was Jose Antonio Navarro, a Mexican-born congressman and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. After a long three-month journey, the Texans reached Santa Fe only to be captured by the Mexican army stationed there. Following their surrender, the Texas volunteers were marched more than 1,000 miles and placed in a prison in Mexico City, Mexico.

During Houston�s second term in office, Mexican President Santa Anna sent 500 soldiers under the command of Rafael Vasquez into Texas in March of 1842. In a relatively short period of time, Santa Anna�s army occupied the Texas towns of San Antonio, Goliad and Refugio. After two days, as President Houston rallied the Texas army, the Mexicans retreated back to Mexico.

During this invasion of Texas, many people panicked when they heard that Mexican troops were entering the country. President Houston called out the militia and made arrangements to move the government archives from Austin. Some influential citizens suspected that Houston wanted to move the capital from Austin to its former location in Houston. These citizens, led by Angelina Eberly, fired shots at officials as they were loading the documents into wagons. This conflict, commonly referred to as the Archives War, ended with the documents remaining in Austin.

The Mexican army invaded Texas again on September 11, 1842. General Adrian Woll and 1,500 men captured San Antonio. Following the occupation of San Antonio, Texas forces, under the leadership of Colonel Mathew Caldwell, met and defeated part of General Woll's forces at the Battle of Salido Creek. At the same time, a contingent of Texas volunteers, led by Captain Nicholas M. Dawson, were overrun by another group of General Woll's forces, in what became know as the Dawson Massacre.

President Houston then sent Alexander Somerville to San Antonio with approximately 750 men, but when they arrived General Woll had retreated toward Mexico. Somerville and his men were ordered to the Rio Grande border to ensure that the Mexican armies had indeed left Texas. Once Somerville had determined the threat of another invasion had passed, he tried to disband his men, but about 300 Texans refused to leave. These men wanted to invade Mexico.

Under the command of William Fisher, they crossed the border and made their way toward the Mexican town of Mier. Their expedition is commonly known as the Mier Expedition. Upon reaching this small town, the Texans were overwhelmed by a force of 2,000 Mexican soldiers. For two days the ragged group of Texans fought against their numerically superior foe, but eventually they were forced to surrender.

Monument Hill and Tomb, LaGrange, Texas. This memorial recognizes the sacrifices made by Texas martyrs from the Dawson massacre and the Mier Expedition.

Following their surrender, the captives were marched to Mexico City, where Santa Anna gave an order that every tenth Texan was to be put to death. In deciding who would be executed, each Texan had to draw a bean from an earthen jar. The jar contained 159 white beans and 17 black beans. Those who were unlucky enough to pull a black bean from the jar were removed from the prison, blindfolded and shot. The last of the Mier Expedition prisoners was released in September 1844.

By 1845, Mexico, fearing that Texas was on the verge of becoming part of the United States, offered official recognition of Texas independence, but it was too late. Texas was about to become the twenty-eighth star on the American flag.

In Texas� early days of independence, many Texans had supported the idea of annexation to the United States. Americans, however, were divided on the issue. Some people in the United States, especially in the southern states, wanted Texas to become a state for a variety of reasons. Southerners had many relatives living in Texas, and those in the South knew that Texas would enter the Union as a slave state. That would give the southern slave states more power in the United States Congress. 

Many Northerners, especially businessmen, also supported annexation. United States businesses in the Northern states had profited handsomely from trade with Texas, and the owners of Northern factories felt that annexation would strengthen the country�s economy. In addition, Americans feared that Texas might become part of foreign country; either Mexico, France or England. 

Those who were opposed to the annexation of Texas argued that Mexico would declare war on the United States if Texas was admitted to the Union. Many also pointed out that the United States would have to spend a large sum of money to bail Texas out of its financial troubles. Finally, those who opposed slavery did not want another slave-holding state in their country. 

Because of a perceived interest in Texas by Great Britain, the United States president, James Tyler, proposed annexation of Texas in 1844. The proposal was rejected by the U.S. Senate. Tyler then suggested that annexation be accomplished by a joint resolution offering Texas statehood on certain conditions. These included that the debts of the republic of Texas would be paid by the new state and not become a liability on the United States and that up to four new states could be formed from the territory of Texas not included in the new state. These states would have slavery prohibited if they were north of the Missouri Compromise line. If they were south of the Missouri Compromise line, the people of the new states would vote on whether to allow slavery. 

The United States Congress passed the annexation resolution on March 1, 1845. Despite the objections of a minority of Americans, Texas was officially annexed into the United States on December 29, 1845.

Additional Resources

bulletRead some primary documents about the Santa Fe Expedition.
bulletLearn more about Jose Antonio Navarro.
bulletFind out more about the Battle of Salido and Dawson Massacre.
bulletRead more about the Mier Expedition.
bulletRead a first hand account about the annexation of Texas.

Study Guide Questions:

  1. Why did the United States delay in recognizing Texas independence?(7.4:B)
  2. What was the first European country to recognize Texas Independence?
  3. Why did President Lamar send troops to Santa Fe? What happened to those troops?(7.4:A)
  4. Who was Jose Antonio Navarro?(7.4:A)
  5. What was the Archives War?(7.4:A)
  6. What happened following General Woll's occupation of San Antonio?(7.4:A)
  7. What was the Mier Expedition? What happened to the Mier Expedition prisoners?(7.4:A)
  8. What were the arguments for and against annexation of Texas to the United States?(7.4,B)
  9. When was the official annexation of Texas to the United States?(7.1:C)

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