In 1845, Texas wanted to join the United States – so why was it rejected?

In between throwing off the rule of Mexico and joining the United States, the Lone Star State had a brief run as the Lone Star Nation Texas became the 28th state to join the Union in 1845, bringing an end to centuries of settlement involving Spain, France, Mexico and Native American tribes, and, most recently, a decade-long experiment as its own country. Just like the United States, the Republic of Texas had been borne out of war. By the 1830s, the land that would be the modern state, plus huge swathes of the western US, was under the control of Mexico, which had won its independence from the Spanish in 1821. They permitted thousands of Anglo-Americans from the east to settle there, and these Texians (not Texans) soon outnumbered the Mexican inhabitants, or Tejanos. Tensions rose between the settlers and the increasingly dictatorial Mexican government until revolution broke out in 1835. The rebels won the first engagement – the battle of Gonzales on 2 October – and formed a provisional government. The following year, they held a convention at Washington-on-the-Brazos and adopted the official Texas Declaration of Independence. It listed a number of grievances against Mexican rule before ending: “The necessity of self-preservation, therefore now decrees our eternal political separation.” At the same time as the convention, several hundred miles away,the Mexican army laid siege to the Alamo, a Spanish mission turned fort in the town of San Antonio de Bexar. Despite being a total rout, in which all of the defenders perished, the famed battle proved a turning point in the Texas Revolution. It emboldened Texans and, with the cry of “Remember the Alamo!”, inspired their decisive victory at San Jacinto just six weeks later. There, the Mexican president, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, who had taken personal command of the army, was captured and forced to sign the treaties of Velasco, recognising Texan independence. Meanwhile, the victorious general Sam Houston became president of the Republic of Texas. Modelled on the system of government in the US, this new country had its own constitution, bill of rights, laws, Congress, Supreme Court and rights of citizenship. It initially had a flag of blue with a golden star in the centre, although this was changed to the now-familiar Lone Star Flag of the state of Texas. Yet the Republic was intended as a short-lived experiment: many Texans wanted to become a state straight away, but their application of annexation was refused as the US did not want to risk war with Mexico nor welcome a new state that permitted slavery, as the Republic did. So, the Texans spent the next nine years living in their own country instead. It did not prove a highly successful one. The Republic economy crashed, they struggled to find international allies and trade partners, and much of their efforts were spent with near-constant border disputes with Mexico and Comanche Native Americans. A mobile armed force, the Texas Rangers, protected the border, which was much larger than the state seen today. Only in 1845, and to the delight of many in the Republic, did the US Congress pass a bill to annex Texas, driven by ambitions of westward expansion. It immediately became the largest state in the Union until it was surpassed by Alaska more than a century later. Even after Texas became a state, Mexico laid claim to their former territory, leading to the Mexican-American War that, ultimately, brought more land into American hands. Jonny Wilkes is a former staff writer for BBC History Revealed, and he continues to write for both the magazine and HistoryExtra. He has BA in History from the University of York.