Luis de Onís y González-Vara (4 June 1762 – 17 May 1827) was a career Spanish diplomat who served as Spanish Envoy to the United States from 1809 to 1819, and is remembered for negotiating the cession of Florida to the US in the Adams–Onís Treaty with United States Secretary of State John Quincy Adams , in 1819.
175-771: The Republic of Texas was annexed into the United States and admitted to the Union as the 28th state on December 29, 1845. The Republic of Texas declared independence from the Republic of Mexico on March 2, 1836. It applied for annexation to the United States the same year, but was rejected by the United States Secretary of State . At that time, the majority of the Texian population favored
350-472: A "loan plot" by American abolitionists, in league with Lord Aberdeen , British Foreign Secretary, to provide funds to the Texans in exchange for the emancipation of its slaves. Minister Everett was charged with determining the substance of these confidential reports alleging a Texas plot. His investigations, including personal interviews with Lord Aberdeen, concluded that British interest in abolitionist intrigues
525-620: A House amendment on January 13, 1845, that was designed to enhance slaveowner gains in Texas beyond those offered by the Democratic-sponsored Tyler-Calhoun treaty bill. The legislation proposed to recognize Texas as a slave state which would retain all its vast public lands, as well as its bonded debt accrued since 1836. Furthermore, the Brown amendment would delegate to the U.S. government responsibility for negotiating
700-588: A Mexican force of over 500 men, led by Ráfael Vásquez , invaded Texas for the first time since the revolution. They soon headed back to the Rio Grande after briefly occupying San Antonio . About 1,400 Mexican troops, led by the French mercenary general Adrián Woll , launched a second attack and captured San Antonio on September 11, 1842. A Texas militia retaliated at the Battle of Salado Creek while simultaneously,
875-484: A charter in 1844 for the Herman University for medicine but classes never started due to lack of funds. The University of San Augustine was chartered June 5, 1837, but did not open until 1842 when Marcus A. Montrose became president. There were as many as 150 students enrolled. However, attendance declined to 50 in 1845, and further situations including animosity and embittered factions in the community closed
1050-550: A convention on July 4, 1845, to consider the annexation and a constitution. On June 23, the Texan Congress accepted the US Congress's joint resolution of March 1, 1845, annexing Texas to the United States, and consented to the convention. On July 4, the Texas convention debated the annexation offer and almost unanimously passed an ordinance assenting to it. The convention remained in session through August 28, and adopted
1225-474: A corridor through which both free and enslaved African-Americans could be "diffused" southward in a gradual exodus that would ultimately supply labor to the Central American tropics, and in time, empty the United States of its slave population. This "safety-valve" theory "appealed to the racial fears of northern whites" who dreaded the prospect of absorbing emancipated slaves into their communities if
1400-434: A crash in the price of cotton, the country's main export commodity. The situation led to labor shortages, reduced tax revenue, large national debts and a diminished Texas militia. The Anglo-American immigrants residing in newly independent Texas overwhelmingly desired immediate annexation by the United States. But, despite his strong support for Texas independence from Mexico, then-President Andrew Jackson delayed recognizing
1575-500: A day after achieving a preliminary treaty draft agreement with the Texas Republic. The Princeton disaster proved a major setback for Texas annexation, in that Tyler expected Secretary Upshur to elicit critical support from Whig and Democratic Senators during the upcoming treaty ratification process. Tyler selected John C. Calhoun to replace Upshur as Secretary of State and to finalize the treaty with Texas. The choice of Calhoun,
1750-800: A different relationship with the Spanish crown. Some Anglo Americans fought on the side of Mexico against Spain in filibustering expeditions. One of these, the Gutiérrez–Magee Expedition (also known as the Republican Army of the North), consisted of a group of about 130 Anglo Americans under the leadership of Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara . Gutiérrez de Lara initiated Mexico's secession from Spain with efforts contributed by Augustus Magee . Bolstered by new recruits, and led by Samuel Kemper (who succeeded Magee after his death in battle in 1813),
1925-716: A failed battle to retake Ciudad Mier . The Naval Battle of Campeche took place on April 30, 1843, and May 16, 1843. The battle featured the most advanced warships of its day, including the Mexican steamer Guadalupe and the equally formidable Montezuma which engaged a squadron of vessels from the Republic of Yucatan and the Republic of Texas. The latter force consisted of the Texas Navy flagship sloop-of-war Austin , commanded by Commodore Edwin Ward Moore ,
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#17327722051402100-468: A highly regarded but controversial American statesman, risked introducing a politically polarizing element into the Texas debates, but Tyler prized him as a strong advocate of annexation. With the Tyler-Upshur secret annexation negotiations with Texas near consummation, Senator Robert J. Walker of Mississippi, a key Tyler ally, issued a widely distributed and highly influential letter, reproduced as
2275-519: A letter to the US Minister to Great Britain, Edward Everett , conveying his displeasure with Britain's global anti-slavery posture, and warning their government that forays into Texas's affairs would be regarded as "tantamount to direct interference 'with the established institutions of the United States ' ". In a breach of diplomatic norms, Upshur leaked the communique to the press to inflame popular Anglophobic sentiments among American citizens. In
2450-508: A mile and a half away, Mexican soldiers massacred a militia of fifty-three Texas volunteers who had surrendered after a skirmish. That night, upon their defeat, the Mexican Army retreated from San Antonio, back to Mexico, while being pursued by Texas soldiers. The Texas Army took the city of Laredo, at which point they were given official orders from Sam Houston to return to San Antonio. Several soldiers ignored this order, and launched
2625-417: A new constitution formalized under President Antonio Santa Anna, called Siete Leyes , and began to strengthen the central government. American immigrants described it as restoring pre-enlightened forms of governance, depriving them of their rights and liberties. They objected to mandatory Catholicism and when Santa Anna began enforcing anti-slavery laws, many feared religious coercion could be next. In 1835,
2800-661: A number of northern delegates, blocked anti-expansion candidate Martin Van Buren at the convention, which instead nominated the pro-expansion champion of Manifest Destiny, James K. Polk of Tennessee. Polk unified his party under the banner of Texas and Oregon acquisition. In August 1844, in the midst of the campaign, Tyler withdrew from the race. The Democratic Party was by then unequivocally committed to Texas annexation, and Tyler, assured by Polk's envoys that as president he would effect Texas annexation, urged his supporters to vote Democratic. Polk narrowly defeated Whig Henry Clay in
2975-468: A pamphlet, making the case for immediate annexation. In it, Walker argued that Texas could be acquired by Congress in a number of ways – all constitutional – and that the moral authority to do so was based on the precepts for territorial expansion established by Jefferson and Madison , and promulgated as doctrine by Monroe in 1823. Senator Walker's polemic offered analysis on the significance of Texas with respect to slavery and race. He envisioned Texas as
3150-580: A part of Mexico, thus ending much of the vagueness in the boundaries of the Louisiana Purchase. Spain also ceded, to the US, its claims to the Oregon Country . For Spain, it meant that it kept Texas and retained a buffer zone between its Californian and New Mexican possessions and the territories of the United States. In 1820 Onís published a 152-page memoir on the diplomatic negotiation. It
3325-675: A second expedition. Fifty men attempted to join him from the United States, but they were arrested by American authorities as they tried to cross into Texas. The men who had joined Long were disappointed they were paid in scrip, and they gradually began to desert. By December 1820, Long commanded only 50 men. With the aid of Ben Milam and others, Long revitalized the Supreme Council. He later broke with Milam. The expedition led an uncertain existence until September 19, 1821, when Long and 52 men marched inland to capture Presidio La Bahía. The town fell easily on October 4, but four days later Long
3500-526: A second term in the White House, and it became a deeply personal obsession for the president, who viewed the acquisition of Texas as the "primary objective of his administration". Tyler delayed direct action on Texas to work closely with his Secretary of State Daniel Webster on other pressing diplomatic initiatives. With the Webster–Ashburton Treaty ratified in 1843, Tyler was ready to make
3675-506: A slaveholding country and Mexico's claim on the territory caused significant problems in the foreign relations of Texas with other nations. Although it was supported by the vast majority of Texians at the time of independence, annexation by the United States was prevented by the leadership of both major U.S. political parties, the Democrats and the Whigs , who opposed the introduction of
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#17327722051403850-606: A small European population. Spain maintained a small military presence to protect Catholic missionaries working among Native American tribes, and to act as a buffer against the French in Louisiana and British North America . Following defeats by the British in North America and Europe, in 1762 Bourbon France ceded to Bourbon Spain most of its claims to the interior of North America, including its claim to Texas, as well as
4025-595: A state of the Union upon provisions authorized in the Constitution. Tyler's cabinet was split on the administration's handling of the Texas agreement. Secretary of War William Wilkins praised the terms of annexation publicly, touting the economic and geostrategic benefits with relation to Great Britain. Secretary of the Treasury John C. Spencer was alarmed at the constitutional implications of Tyler's application of military force without congressional approval,
4200-733: A takeover of Texas by the United Kingdom. When Tyler confirmed in September that the British Foreign Secretary Aberdeen had encouraged détente between Mexico and Texas, allegedly pressing Mexico to maneuver Texas towards emancipation of its slaves, Tyler acted at once. On September 18, 1843, in consultation with Secretary Upshur, he ordered secret talks opened with Texas Minister to the United States Isaac Van Zandt to negotiate
4375-654: A two-thirds majority in the Senate. Bringing the House of Representatives into the equation boded well for Texas annexation, as the pro-annexation Democratic Party possessed nearly a 2:1 majority in that chamber. By resubmitting the discredited treaty through a House-sponsored bill, the Tyler administration reignited sectional hostilities over Texas admission. Both northern Democratic and southern Whig Congressmen had been bewildered by local political agitation in their home states during
4550-488: A vast slave-holding region into a country already divided into pro- and anti-slavery sections and wished to avoid a war with Mexico. On March 3, 1837, U.S. President Andrew Jackson appointed Alcée La Branche as chargé d'affaires to the Republic of Texas, thus officially recognizing Texas as an independent republic. France granted official recognition of Texas on September 25, 1839, appointing Alphonse Dubois de Saligny to serve as chargé d'affaires . The French Legation
4725-449: A violation of the separation of powers. Refusing to transfer contingency funds for the naval mobilization, he resigned. Tyler submitted his treaty for annexation to the Senate, delivered April 22, 1844, where a two-thirds majority was required for ratification. Secretary of State Calhoun (assuming his post March 29, 1844) had sent a letter to British minister Richard Packenham denouncing British anti-slavery interference in Texas. He included
4900-501: Is engraved on the cylinder of every Colt 1851 Navy , 1860 Army, and 1861 Navy revolver. Mexico's attacks on Texas intensified conflicts between political factions, including an incident known as the Texas Archive War . To "protect" the Texas national archives, President Sam Houston ordered them removed from Austin. The archives were eventually returned to Austin, albeit at gunpoint. The Texas Congress admonished Houston for
5075-547: The 1844 United States presidential election approaching, the leadership in both the Democratic and Whig parties remained unequivocally opposed to the annexation of Texas. Texas-Mexico treaty options under consideration included an autonomous Texas within Mexico's borders, or an independent republic with the provision that Texas should emancipate its slaves upon recognition. Van Zandt, though he personally favored annexation by
5250-592: The Constitution of Texas on August 27, 1845. The citizens of Texas approved the annexation ordinance and new constitution on October 13, 1845. Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( Spanish : República de Tejas ), or simply Texas , was a breakaway state in North America . It existed for 10 years, from March 2, 1836 to February 19, 1846. It shared borders with Mexico , the Republic of
5425-643: The Convention of 1836 came to order, and the next day declared independence from Mexico, establishing the Republic of Texas. Sam Houston was elected as the new President of the Republic of Texas on September 5, 1836. The second Congress of the Republic of Texas convened a month later, in October 1836, at Columbia (now West Columbia) . Stephen F. Austin , known as the Father of Texas , died December 27, 1836, after serving two months as Secretary of State for
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5600-590: The Electorate of Saxony in Dresden , Germany, who was known as one of the most accomplished men in politics, science, and belles lettres of the time. Luis joined the legation as his personal secretary and assumed duties as a trade commissioner. In the course of his work, he visited the royal courts of Berlin and Vienna as well as the courts of the other capital cities in Central Europe. In 1786, when he
5775-586: The Louisiana Purchase to the United States. The status of Texas during these transfers was unclear and was not resolved until 1819, when the Adams–Onís Treaty between Spain and the United States ceded Spanish Florida to the United States, and established a clear boundary between Texas and Louisiana. Starting in 1810 with the outbreak of the Mexican War of Independence , New Spain sought
5950-546: The Mississippi , was delayed until the last moment, as Onís aimed at all costs to keep Texas, New Mexico and California under the dominion of Spain. The signing of the treaty received a surprisingly favorable response from the public and the United States Senate. Onís returned to Europe, convinced that the alternative to signing the treaty would have been the loss of all Spanish territories as far west as
6125-809: The Pacific Ocean , but ultimately decided to claim the Rio Grande as boundary, including much of New Mexico , which the Republic never controlled. They also hoped, after peace was made with Mexico, to run a railroad to the Gulf of California to give "access to the East Indian, Peruvian and Chilean trade". When negotiating for the possibility of annexation to the U.S. in late 1836, the Texian government instructed its minister Wharton in Washington that if
6300-542: The Panic of 1837 . The Texas "escape route" conceived by Walker promised to increase demand for slaves in fertile cotton-growing regions of Texas, as well as the monetary value of slaves. Cash-poor plantation owners in the older eastern South were promised a market for surplus slaves at a profit. Texas annexation, wrote Walker, would eliminate all these dangers and "fortify the whole Union." Walker's pamphlet brought forth strident demands for Texas from pro-slavery expansionists in
6475-814: The Plan of Iguala , which created Mexico as a constitutional monarchy under its first Emperor Agustín de Iturbide . During the transition from a Spanish territory to a part of the independent country of Mexico, Stephen F. Austin led a group of American immigrants known as the Old Three Hundred , who negotiated the right to establish colonies in Texas with the Spanish Royal governor of the territory, and to bring their slaves with them. These colonies were limited in quotas and to specific locations. Since Mexican independence had been ratified by Spain shortly thereafter, Austin later traveled to Mexico City to secure
6650-627: The Texas Revolution and signatories of the Texas Declaration of Independence from Mexico 20 years later. After the failure of the expedition, there would be no serious push for a "Republic of Texas" for another six years, until 1819. That year Virginian filibuster James Long invaded Spanish Texas in an attempt to liberate the region. The Americans were eager to gain territory where they could extend slavery for agricultural and other development. Eli Harris led 120 men across
6825-475: The brig Wharton , and several schooners and five gunboats from the Republic of Yucatán, commanded by former Texas Navy Captain James D. Boylan. Texas had declared its independence in 1836, but by 1843, Mexico had refused to recognize it. In Yucatán, a similar rebellion had begun and was fought off-and-on from 1836 to 1846. The battle ended in a combined Yucatecan and Texian victory. A scene from this battle
7000-551: The "preservation of all [Texas] property as secured in our domestic institutions." Upon the signing of the treaty, Tyler complied with the Texans' demand for military and naval protection, deploying troops to Fort Jesup in Louisiana and a fleet of warships to the Gulf of Mexico. In case the Senate failed to pass the treaty, Tyler promised the Texas diplomats that he would officially exhort both houses of Congress to establish Texas as
7175-414: The 1840s after a cotton price crash, in a failed attempt to coerce Texas to give up slavery (replacing slave-produced cotton from southern U.S. states) and to stop expansion of the United States to the southwest. The cotton price crash of the 1840s bankrupted the Republic, increasing the urgency of finding foreign allies who could help prevent a reconquest by Mexico. Luis de On%C3%ADs Luis de Onís
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7350-516: The 1844 presidential campaigns. Now, northern Democrats found themselves vulnerable to charges of appeasement of their southern wing if they capitulated to Tyler's slavery expansion provisions. On the other hand, Manifest Destiny enthusiasm in the north placed politicians under pressure to admit Texas immediately to the Union. Constitutional objections were raised in House debates as to whether both houses of Congress could constitutionally authorize admission of territories, rather than states. Moreover, if
7525-649: The Comanches attacked Texas in a series of raids. After peace talks in 1840 ended with the massacre of 34 Comanche leaders in San Antonio , the Comanches launched a major attack deep into Texas, known as the Great Raid of 1840 . Under command of Potsanaquahip ( Buffalo Hump ), 500 to 700 Comanche cavalry warriors swept down the Guadalupe River valley, killing and plundering all the way to the shore of
7700-690: The Count proposed to appoint him as a minister to the United States, a promotion that he could not then accept. In 1792, Onís was decorated with the Cross of Charles III of Spain ( Cruz de Carlos III ). In 1798, he returned to Spain, where he was appointed to a position in the office of the First Secretary of State ( Primer Secretaría de Estado ) in Madrid , being responsible for conducting negotiations with France. In April 1802, he took an active part in
7875-528: The French; and to counter Bonapartist propaganda in the US. He was to pursue these objectives despite the refusal of President James Madison to recognize him while the Peninsular war still raged in Europe. Arriving at the port of New York on 4 October 1809 aboard the Spanish frigate Cornelia , after a rough passage of 44 days, Onís requested an audience to present his credentials to President Madison but
8050-654: The General Provisions of the Constitution stated that all persons who resided in Texas on the day of the Declaration of Independence were considered citizens of the Republic, excepting "Africans, the descendants of Africans, and Indians." For white immigrants, Section 6 established to become citizens, they needed to reside in Texas for at least six months and take an oath of loyalty to the Republic; in contrast, under Section 9, African slaves brought to Texas were to remain slaves and could not be emancipated without
8225-464: The Gulf of Mexico, where they sacked the towns of Victoria and Linnville . The Comanches retreated after being pursued by 186 rangers and were caught at the Battle of Plum Creek , in which they lost the plunder they had taken. Houston became president again in 1841 and, with both Texians and Comanches exhausted by war, a new peace was established. Although Texas achieved self-government, Mexico refused to recognize its independence. On March 5, 1842,
8400-681: The House of Representatives to consider other constitutional means to authorize passage of the treaty. Congress adjourned before debating the matter. The same Senate that had rejected the Tyler–Calhoun treaty by a margin of 2:1 in June 1844 reassembled in December 1844 in a short lame-duck session . (Though pro-annexation Democrats had made gains in the fall elections, those legislators – the 29th Congress – would not assume office until March 1845.) Lame-duck President Tyler, still trying to annex Texas in
8575-691: The House-amended treaty. The fact that Senator Foster had drafted the House amendment under consideration improved prospects of Senate passage. Anti-annexation Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri had been the only Southern Democrat to vote against the Tyler-Texas measure in June 1844. His original proposal for an annexed Texas had embodied a national compromise, whereby Texas would be divided in two, half slave-soil and half free-soil. As pro-annexation sentiment grew in his home state, Benton retreated from this compromise offer. By February 5, 1845, in
8750-499: The Lone Star Flag. Internal politics of the Republic were focused on two factions. The nationalist faction, led by Lamar, advocated the continued independence of Texas, the expulsion of the native Americans , and the expansion of Texas to the Pacific Ocean . Their opponents, led by Houston, advocated the annexation of Texas to the United States and peaceful coexistence with the native Americans where possible. The Congress of
8925-465: The Louisiana Purchase, a significant minority objected. Virginian editor Thomas Ritchie of the Richmond Enquirer predicted that with the proviso restrictions, the South would ultimately require Texas: "If we are cooped up on the north, we must have elbow room to the west." Representative John Floyd of Virginia in 1824 accused Secretary of State Adams of conceding Texas to Spain in 1819 in the interests of Northern anti-slavery advocates, and so depriving
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#17327722051409100-400: The Mexican Congress refused to recognize the independence of the Republic of Texas, as the Treaties of Velasco was signed by Mexican President General Antonio López de Santa Anna under duress as prisoner of the Texians. The majority of the Mexican Congress did not approve the agreement. Intermittent conflicts between Mexico and Texas continued into the 1840s. The United States recognized
9275-400: The Mexican army at the Battle of San Jacinto . In June 1836 while held prisoner by the Texians, Santa Anna signed an agreement for Texas independence, but the Mexican government refused to ratify the agreement made under duress. Texians, now de facto independent, recognized that their security and prosperity could never be achieved while Mexico denied the legitimacy of their revolution. In
9450-437: The Mexican government, without success. Spanish and indigenous immigrants, primarily from northeastern provinces of New Spain , began to settle Texas in the late 17th century. The Spanish constructed Catholic missions and presidios in what is today Louisiana, east Texas, and south Texas. The first missions were designed for the Tejas Indians, near Los Adaes . Soon thereafter, the San Antonio Missions were founded along
9625-404: The Mexican leadership, the Anglo Americans under Kemper returned to the United States. The ephemeral Republic of Texas came to an end on August 18, 1813, with the Battle of Medina , where the Spanish Army crushed the Republican Army of the North. The harsh reprisals against the Texas rebels created a deep distrust of the Royal Spanish authorities. Veterans of the Battle of Medina became leaders of
9800-459: The Ministry. He soon received a proposal to lead a diplomatic mission to St. Petersburg, and then a designation to Sweden, neither of which came to pass. Finally, the Junta Central (the anti-French Spanish Government fighting Napoleon's brother, Joseph Bonaparte , now king of Spain as José I), decided to send him to the United States. On 29 June 1809, Onís was appointed minister plenipotentiary (with full powers to take independent action) to
9975-448: The November election. The victorious Democrats were poised to acquire Texas under President-elect Polk's doctrine of Manifest Destiny, rather than on the pro-slavery agenda of Tyler and Calhoun. As a treaty document with a foreign nation, the Tyler-Texas annexation treaty required the support of a two-thirds majority in the Senate for passage. But in fact, when the Senate voted on the measure on June 8, 1844, fully two-thirds voted against
10150-431: The Packenham Letter with the Tyler bill, intending to create a sense of crisis in Southern Democrats. In it, he characterized slavery as a social blessing and the acquisition of Texas as an emergency measure necessary to safeguard the "peculiar institution" in the United States. In doing so, Tyler and Calhoun sought to unite the South in a crusade that would present the North with an ultimatum: support Texas annexation or lose
10325-470: The Republic of Texas even passed a resolution over Houston's veto , claiming The Californias for Texas. The 1844 Republic of Texas presidential election split the electorate dramatically, with the newer western regions of the Republic preferring the nationalist candidate Edward Burleson , while the cotton country, particularly east of the Trinity River , went for Anson Jones . The Comanche Indians, whose territory included northwest Texas, furnished
10500-515: The Republic of Texas in March 1837 but declined to annex the territory at that time. Texas was annexed by the United States on December 29, 1845, and was admitted to the Union as the 28th state on that day, with the transfer of power from the Republic to the new state of Texas formally taking place on February 19, 1846. However, the United States inherited the southern and western border-disputes with Mexico, which had refused to recognize Texas's independence or to accept U.S. offers to purchase
10675-405: The Republic of Texas into emancipating its slaves, forecasting a dangerous destabilizing influence on southwestern slaveholding states. The pamphlet characterized abolitionists as traitors who conspired with the British to overthrow the United States. A variation of the Tyler's "diffusion" theory, it played on economic fears in a period when slave-based staple crop markets had not yet recovered from
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#173277220514010850-413: The Republic of Texas, a nation in its own right, were admitted as a state, its territorial boundaries, property relations (including slave property), debts and public lands would require a Senate-ratified treaty. Democrats were particularly uneasy about burdening the United States with $ 10 million in Texas debt, resenting the deluge of speculators, who had bought Texas bonds cheap and now lobbied Congress for
11025-456: The Rio Grande (another Mexican breakaway republic), and the United States of America . Much of its territory was controlled by Mexico or Comancheria ; Mexico considered it a rebellious province during its entire existence. It was bordered by Mexico to the west and southwest, the Gulf of Mexico to the southeast, the two U.S. states of Louisiana and Arkansas to the east and northeast, and United States territories encompassing parts of
11200-457: The Sabine River to Nacogdoches. Long followed two weeks later with an additional 75 men. On June 22, the combined force declared a new government, with Long as president and a 21-member Supreme Council. The following day, they issued a declaration of independence, modeled on the United States Declaration of Independence . The document cited several grievances, including "Spanish rapacity" and "odious tyranny" and promised religious freedom, freedom of
11375-456: The San Antonio River. The City of San Antonio , then known as San Fernando de Bexar, was founded in 1718. In the early 1760s, José de Escandón created five settlements along the Rio Grande River, including Laredo. Anglo-American immigrants, primarily from the Southern United States , began emigrating to Mexican Texas in the early 1820s at the invitation of the Texas faction of the Coahuila y Tejas state government, which sought to populate
11550-399: The Senate special session had adjourned on March 20, 1845, no names for US commissioners to Texas had been submitted by him. Polk denied charges from Senator Benton that he had misled Benton on his intention to support the new negotiations option, declaring "if any such pledges were made, it was in a total misconception of what I said or meant." On May 5, 1845, Texas President Jones called for
11725-452: The South of additional slave states. Then-Representative John Tyler of Virginia invoked the Jeffersonian precepts of territorial and commercial growth as a national goal to counter the rise of sectional differences over slavery. His "diffusion" theory declared that with Missouri open to slavery, the new state would encourage the transfer of underutilized slaves westward, emptying the eastern states of bondsmen and making emancipation feasible in
11900-435: The South, than southern Democrats." The bill also served to distinguish them from their northern Whig colleagues who cast the controversy, as Calhoun did, in strictly pro- versus anti-slavery terms. While almost all Northern Whigs spurned Brown's amendment, the Democrats quickly co-opted the legislation, providing the votes necessary to attach the proviso to Tyler's joint resolution, by a 118–101 vote. Southern Democrats supported
12075-415: The South. President Tyler expected that his treaty would be debated secretly in Senate executive session. However, less than a week after debates opened, the treaty, its associated internal correspondence, and the Packenham letter were leaked to the public. The nature of the Tyler-Texas negotiations caused a national outcry, in that "the documents appeared to verify that the sole objective of Texas annexation
12250-480: The South; in the North, it allowed anti-slavery expansionists to embrace Texas without appearing to be aligned with pro-slavery extremists. His assumptions and analysis "shaped and framed the debates on annexation but his premises went largely unchallenged among the press and public. The Tyler-Texas treaty, signed on April 12, 1844, was framed to induct Texas into the Union as a territory, following constitutional protocols. To wit, Texas would cede all its public lands to
12425-410: The Spanish Secretary of State, Pedro Cevallos , and had to wait several months for formal recognition of Onís's ambassadorship to the United States. Cevallos opposed making any significant concessions to secure a treaty and endeavored to buy more time for Spain with the mere appearance of negotiations. Cevallos transferred consultations from Madrid to Washington and ensured further delays by sending Onís
12600-656: The Texas House bill. House Democrats, at an impasse, relinquished the legislative initiative to the southern Whigs. Anti-Texas Whig legislators had lost more than the White House in the general election of 1844. In the southern states of Tennessee and Georgia, Whig strongholds in the 1840 general election, voter support dropped precipitously over the pro-annexation excitement in the Deep South—and Clay lost every Deep South state to Polk. Northern Whigs' uncompromising hostility to slavery expansion increasingly characterized
12775-429: The Texas lands – three likely to qualify as slave states – Brown's plan would permit Texas state lawmakers to configure a total of five states from its western region, with those south of the 36°30’ Missouri Compromise line pre-authorized to permit slavery upon statehood, if Texas designated them as such. Politically, the Brown amendment was designed to portray Southern Whigs as "even more ardent champions of slavery and
12950-480: The US Senate ratified it unanimously; but because of Spain's stalling, a new ratification was necessary and this time there were objections. Clay and other western spokesmen demanded that Spain also give up Texas, but that proposal was defeated by the Senate, which ratified the treaty a second time on 19 February 1821, following ratification by Spain on 24 October 1820. Ratifications were exchanged three days later and
13125-681: The United States to penetrate into Florida, as well as its covert support for French agents moving to infiltrate the Spanish provinces. He paid special attention to the activities of Spanish and Latin American revolutionary agents, who sought to exploit the sympathy that American citizens felt for Spain's rebelling colonies in South America. Secretary of State James Monroe rejected his written protests but clandestinely lent his support to insurgent movements led by filibusterers and irregular American forces. The occupation of West Florida in 1810
13300-621: The United States to work around the abolition of slavery. Angered at the interference of the Mexican government, the Empresarios held the Convention of 1832 , which was the first formal step in what became the Texas Revolution . By 1834, American immigrants in the area greatly outnumbered Mexicans. Following a series of minor skirmishes between Mexican authorities and the immigrants, the Mexican government increased its military presence in Texas throughout 1834 and early 1835. Mexico created
13475-473: The United States, J.Res. 8, enacted March 1, 1845, 5 Stat. 797 ). Senate and House legislators who had favored Benton's renegotiated version of the Texas annexation bill had been assured that President Tyler would sign the joint house measure, but leave its implementation to the incoming Polk administration. But, during his last full day in office, President Tyler, with the urging of his Secretary of State Calhoun, decided to act decisively to improve
13650-421: The United States, and the federal government would assume all its bonded debt, up to $ 10 million. The boundaries of the Texas territory were left unspecified. Four new states could ultimately be carved from the former republic – three of them likely to become slave states. Any allusion to slavery was omitted from the document so as not to antagonize anti-slavery sentiments during Senate debates, but it provided for
13825-511: The United States, his letter of appointment instructing him to embark as soon as possible for New York. His assignment was to ensure peace between the two nations and win formal recognition of Fernando VII as the legitimate ruler of Spain. He was to negotiate all points in dispute within certain defined limits; to encourage the loyalty of Spain's colonies in the New World ; to buy supplies, armaments, and ships for Spain to use in its war against
14000-665: The United States, was not authorized to entertain any overtures from the US government on the subject. Texas officials were at the moment deeply engaged in exploring settlements with Mexican diplomats, facilitated by Great Britain. Texas's predominant concern was not British interference with the institution of slavery – English diplomats had not alluded to the issue – but the avoidance of any resumption of hostilities with Mexico. Still, US Secretary of State Upshur vigorously exhorted Texas diplomats to begin annexation talks, finally dispatching an appeal to President Sam Houston in January 1844. In
14175-508: The Whig party, quickly began to organize a third party in hopes of inducing the Democrats to embrace a pro-expansionist platform. By running as a third-party candidate, Tyler threatened to siphon off pro-annexation Democratic voters; Democratic party disunity would mean the election of Henry Clay, a staunchly anti-Texas Whig. Pro-annexation delegates among southern Democrats, with assistance from
14350-402: The White House in 1841. William Henry Harrison , Whig Party presidential nominee, defeated US President Martin Van Buren in the 1840 general election. Upon Harrison's death shortly after his inauguration, Vice-President John Tyler assumed the presidency. President Tyler was expelled from the Whig party in 1841 for repeatedly vetoing their domestic finance legislation. Tyler, isolated and outside
14525-486: The annexation measure stalled in the US Senate, Texas could face a war alone against Mexico. Because only Congress could declare war, the Tyler administration lacked the constitutional authority to commit the US to support of Texas. But when Secretary Upshur provided a verbal assurance of military defense, President Houston, responding to urgent calls for annexation from the Texas Congress of December 1843, authorized
14700-463: The annexation of Texas his "top priority". Representative Thomas W. Gilmer of Virginia was authorized by the administration to make the case for annexation to the American electorate. In a widely circulated open letter, understood as an announcement of the executive branch's designs for Texas, Gilmer described Texas as a panacea for North-South conflict and an economic boon to all commercial interests. The slavery issue, however divisive, would be left for
14875-510: The annexation of Texas in a bid to gain a base of support for another four years in office. His official motivation was to outmaneuver suspected diplomatic efforts by the British government for the emancipation of slaves in Texas, which would undermine slavery in the United States . Through secret negotiations with the Houston administration, Tyler secured a treaty of annexation in April 1844. When
15050-489: The annexation of Texas. Face-to-face negotiations commenced on October 16, 1843. By the summer of 1843 Sam Houston's Texas administration had returned to negotiations with the Mexican government to consider a rapprochement that would permit Texas self-governance, possibly as a state of Mexico, with Great Britain acting as mediator. Texas officials felt compelled by the fact that the Tyler administration appeared unequipped to mount an effective campaign for Texas annexation. With
15225-477: The annexation of the Republic by the United States. The leadership of both major U.S. political parties (the Democrats and the Whigs ) opposed the introduction of Texas — a vast slave-holding region — into the volatile political climate of the pro- and anti-slavery sectional controversies in Congress. Moreover, they wished to avoid a war with Mexico, whose government had outlawed slavery and refused to acknowledge
15400-584: The anti-slavery northern Whig opposition – especially if annexation provoked a war with Mexico. Presented with a formal annexation proposal from Texas minister Memucan Hunt Jr. in August 1837, Van Buren summarily rejected it. Annexation resolutions presented separately in each house of Congress were either soundly defeated or tabled through filibuster . In 1838, Texas President Mirabeau B. Lamar withdrew his republic's offer of annexation over these failures. Texians were at an annexation impasse when John Tyler entered
15575-438: The appeal, Upshur assured Houston that the political climate in the United States was currently amenable to Texas statehood and that a two-thirds majority in Senate could be obtained to ratify a Texas treaty. Texans were hesitant to pursue a US-Texas treaty without a written commitment of military defense from America, since a full-scale military attack by Mexico seemed likely when the negotiations became public. If ratification of
15750-399: The bill almost unanimously (59–1), while Northern Democrats split strongly in favor (50–30). Eight of eighteen Southern Whigs cast their votes in favor. Northern Whigs unanimously rejected it. The House proceeded to approve the amended Texas treaty 120–98 on January 25, 1845. The vote in the House had been one in which party affiliation prevailed over sectional allegiance. The bill was forwarded
15925-505: The boundaries of the Rio Grande and parts of the interior provinces ( Provincias Internas ) of New Spain. The Adams–Onís Treaty closed the first era of United States expansion by providing for the cession of East Florida; the abandonment of the controversy over West Florida (a portion of which had been seized by the United States); and the delineating of a boundary with the Spanish province of Mexico that clearly made Spanish Texas
16100-584: The boundary were an issue, Texas was willing to settle for a boundary at the watershed between the Nueces River and Rio Grande, and leave out New Mexico. During its existence, the Republic of Texas received diplomatic recognition from only six nations: Belgium , France , the Netherlands , the Republic of Yucatán , the United Kingdom , and the United States of America . Texas' status as
16275-587: The central government split Coahuila y Tejas into two separate departments. The Texian leadership under Austin began to organize its own military, and hostilities broke out on October 2, 1835 at the Battle of Gonzales , the first engagement of the Texas Revolution . In November 1835, a provisional government known as the Consultation was established to oppose the Santa Anna regime (but stopped short of declaring independence from Mexico). On March 1, 1836,
16450-450: The conflict, siding with the law-and-order party. Sam Houston ordered 500 militia to help end the feud. Citizenship was not automatically granted to all previous inhabitants of Texas, and some residents were not allowed to continue living legally within the Republic without the consent of Congress. The Constitution of the Republic of Texas (1836) established different rights according to the race and ethnicity of each individual. Section 10 of
16625-442: The consent of Congress. Furthermore, the Congress was not allowed to make laws banning or restricting either slavery or the slavery trade. Section 9 also established that: "No free person of African descent, either in whole or in part, shall be permitted to reside permanently in the Republic, without the consent of Congress." In September 1836 Texas elected a Congress of 14 senators and 29 representatives. The Constitution allowed
16800-542: The current U.S. states of Oklahoma , Kansas , Colorado , Wyoming , and New Mexico to the north and west. The Anglo residents of the area and of the republic were referred to as Texians . The Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas declared its independence from Mexico during the Texas Revolution in 1835–1836, when the Centralist Republic of Mexico abolished autonomy from states of the Mexican federal republic . Major fighting ended on April 21, 1836, but
16975-664: The disputed Texas-Mexico boundary. The issue was a critical one, as the size of Texas would be immensely increased if the international border were set at the Rio Grande River, with its headwaters in the Rocky Mountains, rather than the traditionally recognized boundary at the Nueces River, 100 miles to the north. While the Tyler-Calhoun treaty provided for the organization of a total of four states from
17150-499: The documents were submitted to the U.S. Senate for ratification, the details of the terms of annexation became public and the question of acquiring Texas took center stage in the presidential election of 1844 . Pro-Texas-annexation southern Democratic delegates denied their anti-annexation leader Martin Van Buren the nomination at their party's convention in May 1844. In alliance with pro-expansion northern Democratic colleagues, they secured
17325-414: The dual alternative treaty bill. On February 27, 1845, less than a week before Polk's inauguration, the Senate voted 27–25 to admit Texas, based on the Tyler protocols of simple majority passage. All twenty-four Democrats voted for the measure, joined by three southern Whigs. Benton and his allies were assured that Polk would act to establish the eastern portion of Texas as a slave state; the western section
17500-556: The early debates on the Brown-amended House bill, he advanced an alternative resolution that, unlike the Brown scenario, made no reference whatsoever to the ultimate free-slave apportionment of an annexed Texas and simply called for five bipartisan commissioners to resolve border disputes with Texas and Mexico and set conditions for the Lone Star Republic's acquisition by the United States. The Benton proposal
17675-552: The eastern boundary of Spanish Texas and western boundary of the Missouri Territory . Under that treaty, the United States had renounced its claim to Spanish land to the east of the Rocky Mountains and to the north of the Rio Grande , which it claimed to have acquired as part of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. The southern and western boundary of the Republic of Texas with Mexico was disputed throughout
17850-408: The eventual acquisition of its fertile lands. The Missouri crisis of 1819–1821 sharpened commitments to expansionism among the country's slaveholding interests, when the so-called Thomas proviso established the 36°30' parallel , imposing free-soil and slave-soil futures in the Louisiana Purchase lands. While a majority of southern congressmen acquiesced to the exclusion of slavery from the bulk of
18025-489: The expedition gained a series of victories against soldiers led by the Spanish governor, Manuel María de Salcedo . Their victory at the Battle of Rosillo Creek convinced Salcedo to surrender on April 1, 1813; he was executed two days later. On April 6, 1813, the victorious Republican Army of the North drafted a constitution and declared the independent Republic of Texas, with Gutiérrez as its president. Soon disillusioned with
18200-481: The final months of his administration, wished to avoid another overwhelming Senate rejection of his treaty. In his annual address to Congress on December 4, he declared the Polk victory a mandate for Texas annexation and proposed that Congress adopt a joint resolution procedure by which simple majorities in each house could secure ratification for the Tyler treaty. This method would avoid the constitutional requirement of
18375-438: The first president to serve for two years and subsequent presidents for three years. To hold an office or vote, a man had to be a citizen of the Republic. The first Congress of the Republic of Texas convened in October 1836 at Columbia (now West Columbia). Stephen F. Austin , often referred to as the "Father of Texas", died on December 27, 1836, after serving just two months as the republic's secretary of state. Due mainly to
18550-483: The first English-language newspaper ever published in Texas, named the Texas Republican . It operated only for the month of August 1819. Long contacted Jean Lafitte , a French pirate who ran a large smuggling operation on Galveston Island . His letter suggested that the new government establish an admiralty court at Galveston, and offered to appoint Lafitte governor of Galveston. Unbeknownst to Long, Lafitte
18725-418: The first chief justice. The county-court system consisted of a chief justice and two associates, chosen by a majority of the justices of the peace in the county. Each county was also to have a sheriff, a coroner, justices of the peace, and constables to serve two-year terms. Congress formed 23 counties, whose boundaries generally coincided with the existing municipalities. In 1839, Texas became the first nation in
18900-470: The following day, he encouraged Texas to accept Tyler’s offer. Texas ratified the agreement with popular approval from Texians. The bill was signed by President Polk on December 29, 1845, accepting Texas as the 28th state of the Union. Texas formally joined the union on February 19, 1846, prompting the Mexican–American War in April of that year. First mapped by Spain in 1519, for over 300 years Texas
19075-696: The gates to St. James's Palace , the original Embassy of the Republic of Texas is now a hat shop but is clearly marked with a large plaque and there was a nearby restaurant in Trafalgar Square called the Texas Embassy Cantina, which closed in June 2012. A plaque on the exterior of 3 St. James's Street in London notes that the upper floors of the building housed the Texas Legation. The United Kingdom eventually recognized Texas in
19250-491: The honors of Consejero de Estado (Councilor of State) and was appointed minister to St. Petersburg . The revolution of 1820, however, prevented his assuming this office. The new constitutional government revoked the appointment and instead assigned him to the embassy in Naples . The same year, he published a work in two volumes, entitled Memoria sobre las Negociaciones entre España y los Estados Unidos de América (Memoir Upon
19425-585: The incident, and this episode in Texas history solidified Austin as Texas's seat of government for the Republic and the future state. There were also domestic disturbances. The Regulator–Moderator War involved a land feud in Harrison and Shelby Counties in East Texas from 1839 to 1844. The feud eventually involved Nacogdoches , San Augustine, and other East Texas counties. Harrison County Sheriff John J. Kennedy and county judge Joseph U. Fields helped end
19600-452: The institution of slavery collapsed in the South. This scheme for racial cleansing was consistent, on a pragmatic level, with proposals for overseas colonization of blacks , which were pursued by a number of American presidents, from Jefferson to Lincoln. Walker bolstered his position by raising national security concerns, warning that in the event annexation failed, Great Britain would maneuver
19775-480: The legislation to Polk's discretion when he took office. In private and separate talks with supporters of both the Brown and Benton plans, Polk left each side with the "impression he would administer their [respective] policy. Polk meant what he said to Southerners and meant to appear friendly to the Van Burenite faction." Polk's handling of the matter had the effect of uniting Senate northern Democrats in favor of
19950-559: The limits of the United States' extensive western lands and of Spain's vast possessions in North America. The Florida Purchase Treaty of February 22, 1819 emerged as a compromise that excluded Spain from the lower Columbia River drainage basin , but established southern boundaries at the Sabine and Red Rivers , "legally extinguish[ing]" any American claims to Texas. Nonetheless, Texas remained an object of fervent interest to American expansionists, among them Thomas Jefferson , who anticipated
20125-498: The main tribal opposition to the Republic, manifested in multiple raids on Mexican, indigenous, and European settlements. In the late 1830s, Sam Houston negotiated peace between Texas and the Comanches. When Lamar ascended to presidency in 1838 he reversed the Houston administration's policy towards the Native Americans. War soon resumed with the Comanches and Lamar ordered an invasion of Comancheria itself. In retaliation,
20300-573: The mines, Onís learned of the existence of a surplus of miners looking for employment. Subsequently, the Count of Floridablanca decided to entrust the mission to the young man. He met with a diplomatic minister of Saxony, who was prepared to reject his request, but he was so impressed by the young man's knowledge of the pertinent facts and the force of his arguments that he agreed to his request and allowed him to choose thirty-six miners, including six managers, to send to Spain. In recognition of Onis's success,
20475-409: The necessary powers but no instructions to proceed. Resisting American pressure to begin negotiations in earnest, Onís tried to delay official recognition by Madrid of the US embassy through various subterfuges, such as maneuvering for the replacement of Cevallos, which occurred on 30 October 1816. During his years in the United States, Onís published several pamphlets critical of its government under
20650-562: The negotiations for and the conclusion of the Treaty of Amiens and, in October, he was granted the customary perks of a "secretary to the King" ( Secretario del rey ), including a house and an expense account. Following Napoleon Bonaparte 's invasion of Spain in 1808 and with the impending abdication of Ferdinand VII , the remnant of the royal government moved to Seville, where Onís continued in his capacity as longest-serving senior officer of
20825-538: The negotiations. In tandem with moving forward with Texas diplomats, Upshur was secretly lobbying US senators to support annexation, providing lawmakers with persuasive arguments linking Texas acquisition to national security and domestic peace. In early 1844, Upshur assured Texas officials that 40 of the 52 members of the Senate were pledged to ratify the Tyler-Texas treaty — more than the two-thirds majority required for ratification. In his annual address to Congress in December 1843, Tyler maintained his silence with respect to
21000-467: The new Republic. In 1836, five sites served as temporary capitals of Texas ( Washington-on-the-Brazos , Harrisburg , Galveston , Velasco and Columbia ), before President Sam Houston moved the capital to Houston in 1837. The next president, Mirabeau B. Lamar , moved the capital to the new town of Austin in 1839. The first flag of the republic was the " Burnet Flag " (a single gold star on an azure field), followed in 1839 by official adoption of
21175-470: The new country and name Lafitte as governor. Within weeks, 500 Spanish troops arrived in Texas and marched on Nacogdoches. Long and his men withdrew. Over 40 of his men were captured. Long escaped to Natchitoches, Louisiana . Others fled to Galveston and settled along Bolivar Peninsula. Undeterred in defeat, Long returned again in 1820. He joined the refugees at Bolivar Peninsula on April 6, 1820, leading more reinforcements. He continued to raise money to equip
21350-476: The new republic until the last day of his presidency to avoid raising the issue during the 1836 general election. Jackson's political caution was dictated by northern concerns that Texas could potentially form several new slave states and undermine the North-South balance in Congress. Jackson's successor, President Martin Van Buren , viewed Texas annexation as an immense political liability that would empower
21525-608: The nomination of James K. Polk , who ran on a pro-Texas Manifest destiny platform. In June 1844, the Senate, with its Whig majority, soundly rejected the Tyler–Texas treaty. Later that year, the pro-annexation Democrat Polk narrowly defeated anti-annexation Whig Henry Clay in the 1844 presidential election . In December 1844, lame-duck President Tyler called on Congress to pass his treaty by simple majorities in each house. The Democratic-dominated House of Representatives complied with his request by passing an amended bill expanding on
21700-458: The odds for the immediate annexation of Texas. On March 3, 1845, with his cabinet's assent, he dispatched an offer of annexation to the Republic of Texas by courier, exclusively under the terms of the Brown–Foster option of the joint house measure. Secretary Calhoun apprised President-elect Polk of the action, who demurred without comment. Tyler justified his preemptive move on the grounds that Polk
21875-411: The old South. This doctrine would be revived during the Texas annexation controversy. When Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, the United States did not contest the new republic's claims to Texas, and both presidents John Quincy Adams (1825–1829) and Andrew Jackson (1829–1837) persistently sought, through official and unofficial channels, to procure all or portions of provincial Texas from
22050-477: The ongoing war for independence, five sites served as temporary capitals of Texas in 1836: ( Washington-on-the-Brazos , Harrisburg , Galveston , Velasco and Columbia). The capital was moved to the new city of Houston in 1837. In 1839, a small pioneer settlement situated on the Colorado River in central Texas was chosen as the republic's seventh and final capital. Incorporated under the name Waterloo,
22225-521: The party, and southern members, by association, had suffered from charges of being "soft on Texas, therefore soft on slavery" by Southern Democrats. Facing congressional and gubernatorial races in 1845 in their home states, a number of Southern Whigs sought to erase that impression with respect to the Tyler-Texas bill. Southern Whigs in the Congress, including Representative Milton Brown and Senator Ephraim Foster , both of Tennessee, and Representative Alexander Stephens of Georgia collaborated to introduce
22400-511: The plantation business model. In the Law of April 6, 1830 , Mexican President Anastasio Bustamante outlawed American immigration to Texas, following several conflicts with the Empresarios over the status of slavery, which had been abolished in Mexico in 1829, but which the Texians refused to end. Texians replaced slavery with long-term indentured servitude contracts signed by "liberated" slaves in
22575-624: The policy of benign rule. New restrictions were imposed in 1829–1830, outlawing slavery throughout the nation and terminating further American immigration to Texas. Military occupation followed, sparking local uprisings. Texas conventions in 1832 and 1833 submitted petitions for redress of grievances to overturn the restrictions, with limited success. In 1835, an army under Mexican President Santa Anna entered its territory of Texas and abolished self-government. Texians responded by declaring their independence from Mexico on March 2, 1836. On April 20–21, rebel forces under Texas General Sam Houston defeated
22750-527: The press, and free trade. The council allocated 10 square miles of land to each member of the expedition, and authorized the sale of additional land to raise cash for the fledgling government. Within a month, the expedition had grown to 300 members. The new government established trading outposts near Anahuac along the Trinity River and the Brazos River . Long's Republic of Texas also established
22925-483: The pro-slavery provisions of the Tyler treaty. The Senate narrowly passed a compromise version of the House bill, designed to provide President-elect Polk the options of immediate annexation of Texas or new talks to revise the annexation terms of the House-amended bill. On March 1, 1845, President Tyler signed the annexation bill, and on March 3 (his last full day in office), he forwarded the House version to Texas, offering immediate annexation. When Polk took office at noon
23100-565: The pseudonym "Verus" (Latin: "True"). He advised the Viceroy of New Spain (Mexico), Francisco Javier Venegas , and the Governor of Cuba, the Marqués de Someruelos , of the expansionist ambitions of the growing young nation. During the Mexican War of Independence , he maintained a network of spies to prevent contact between the rebels and potential allies in the United States. The network
23275-537: The radicalism of Henry Clay in the United States Congress, and General Andrew Jackson , who was notoriously hostile to the Spanish presence in East Florida. Ratification of the treaty had been postponed for two years since Spain wanted to use it as an incentive to keep the United States from lending diplomatic support to the revolutionaries in South America. As soon as the treaty was signed,
23450-461: The reopening of annexation negotiations. As Secretary Upshur accelerated the secret treaty discussions, Mexican diplomats learned that US-Texas talks were taking place. Mexican minister to the U.S. Juan Almonte confronted Upshur with these reports, warning him that if Congress sanctioned a treaty of annexation, Mexico would break diplomatic ties and immediately declare war. Secretary Upshur denied any knowledge of these reports and pressed forward with
23625-455: The republic's existence, since Mexico refused to acknowledge the independence of Texas. Texas claimed the Rio Grande as its southern boundary, while Mexico insisted that the Nueces River was the boundary. In practice, much of the disputed territory was occupied by the Comanche people and outside the control of either state. Texian claims included the eastern portions of New Mexico , which
23800-533: The same day Congress would end its session. With his arrival in the capital, he discovered the Benton and Brown factions in the Senate "paralyzed" over the Texas annexation legislation. On the advice of his soon-to-be Secretary of the Treasury Robert J. Walker , Polk urged Senate Democrats to unite under a dual resolution that would include both the Benton and Brown versions of annexation, leaving enactment of
23975-554: The same day to the Senate for debate. By early February 1845, when the Senate began to debate the Brown-amended Tyler treaty, its passage seemed unlikely, as support was "perishing". The partisan alignments in the Senate were near parity, 28–24, slightly in favor of the Whigs. The Senate Democrats would require undivided support among their colleagues, and three or more Whigs who would be willing to cross party lines to pass
24150-503: The secret negotiations so as not to damage relations with the wary Texas diplomats. Throughout, Tyler did his utmost to keep the negotiations secret, making no public reference to his administration's single-minded quest for Texas. The Tyler-Texas treaty was in its final stages when its chief architects, Secretary Upshur and Secretary of the Navy Thomas W. Gilmer , died in an accident aboard USS Princeton on February 28, 1844, just
24325-476: The sovereignty of its rebellious northern province. With Texas's economic fortunes declining by the early 1840s, the President of the Texas Republic, Sam Houston , arranged talks with Mexico to explore the possibility of securing official recognition of independence, with the United Kingdom mediating. In 1843, U.S. President John Tyler , then unaligned with any political party, decided independently to pursue
24500-526: The sparsely inhabited lands of its northern frontier for cotton production . Colonizing empresario Stephen F. Austin managed the regional affairs of the mostly American-born population – 20% of them slaves – under the terms of the generous government land grants. Mexican authorities were initially content to govern the remote province through salutary neglect , "permitting slavery under the legal fiction of 'permanent indentured servitude', similar to Mexico's peonage system. A general lawlessness prevailed in
24675-455: The spring of 1843, the Tyler administration had sent executive agent Duff Green to Europe to gather intelligence and arrange territorial treaty talks with Great Britain regarding Oregon; he also worked with American minister to France, Lewis Cass , to thwart efforts by major European powers to suppress the maritime slave trade. Green reported to Secretary Upshur in July 1843 that he had discovered
24850-508: The state of Coahuila y Tejas . The capital was controversially located in southern Coahuila, the part farthest from Texas. Following Austin's lead, additional groups of immigrants, known as Empresarios , continued to colonize Mexican Texas from the United States. A spike in the price of cotton, and the success of plantations in Mississippi encouraged large numbers of white Americans to migrate to Texas and obtain slaves to try to replicate
25025-690: The states to decide as per the US Constitution. Domestic tranquility and national security, Tyler argued, would result from an annexed Texas; a Texas left outside American jurisdiction would imperil the Union. Tyler adroitly arranged the resignation of his anti-annexation Secretary of State Daniel Webster, and on June 23, 1843 appointed Abel P. Upshur , a Virginia states' rights champion and ardent proponent of Texas annexation. This cabinet shift signaled Tyler's intent to pursue Texas annexation aggressively. In late September 1843, in an effort to cultivate public support for Texas, Secretary Upshur dispatched
25200-493: The support of the new country for his right to colonize. The establishment of Mexican Texas coincided with the Austin-led colonization, leading to animosity between Mexican authorities and the acceleration of American immigration to Texas. The First Mexican Empire was short-lived, being replaced by a republican form of government in 1823. In 1824, the sparsely populated territories of Texas and Coahuila were joined to form
25375-595: The territory. Consequently, the annexation led to the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). The Republic of Texas claimed borders based upon the Treaties of Velasco between the newly created Republic of Texas and General Antonio López de Santa Anna . The eastern boundary had been defined by the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819 between the United States and the Spanish Empire , which recognized the Sabine River as
25550-442: The town was renamed Austin shortly thereafter in honor of Stephen F. Austin. The court system inaugurated by Congress included a Supreme Court consisting of a chief justice appointed by the president and four associate justices, elected by a joint ballot of both houses of Congress for four-year terms and eligible for re-election. The associates also presided over four judicial districts. Houston nominated James Collinsworth to be
25725-415: The treaty (16–35). The vote went largely along party lines: Whigs had opposed it almost unanimously (1–27), while Democrats split, but voted overwhelmingly in favor (15–8). The election campaign had hardened partisan positions on Texas among Democrats. Tyler had anticipated that the measure would fail, largely because of the divisive effects of Secretary Calhoun's Packenham letter. Undeterred, he formally asked
25900-525: The treaty was proclaimed on 22 February 1821, two years after its signing. The treaty consisted of 16 articles, half of which settled issues that had been in dispute since 1783, ceding all the lands of the Spanish Crown located east of the Mississippi, known as the Floridas , to the United States. Settling the most serious point of contention, determining the borders to the west and northwest of
26075-595: The two-party mainstream, turned to foreign affairs to salvage his presidency, aligning himself with a southern states' rights faction that shared his fervent slavery expansionist views. In his first address to Congress in special session on June 1, 1841, Tyler set the stage for Texas annexation by announcing his intention to pursue an expansionist agenda so as to preserve the balance between state and national authority and to protect American institutions, including slavery, so as to avoid sectional conflict. Tyler's closest advisors counseled him that obtaining Texas would assure him
26250-588: The university in 1847. Later it became the University of East Texas, and soon after that became the Masonic Institute of San Augustine in 1851. Guadalupe College at Gonzales was approved January 30, 1841; however, no construction efforts ensued for the next eleven years. The Texian independence movement was one of many such movements faced by Mexico between 1835 and 1935. The Texian leaders at first intended to extend their national boundaries to
26425-474: The vast Texas frontier, and Mexico's laws went largely unenforced among the Anglo-American settlers. In particular, the prohibitions against slavery and forced labor, as well as the requirement that all settlers be Catholic or convert to Catholicism were ignored. Mexican authorities, perceiving that they were losing control over Texas and alarmed by the unsuccessful Fredonian Rebellion of 1826, abandoned
26600-657: The vast interior west of the Mississippi River, which became Spanish Louisiana . During the years 1799 to 1803, the height of the Napoleonic Empire in France, Spain returned Louisiana to France. Following the loss of numerous troops and failure to suppress the revolution by slaves and free people of color in Saint-Domingue, Napoleon decided to abandon North America; he sold what became known as
26775-525: The while asserting that political considerations obliged it to remain neutral until the conclusion of the war in Spain despite assurances of support for the cause of Spanish independence by Madison. Soon after his arrival in the United States, Onís took up residence in Philadelphia , where he used the officially recognized consular office to run a shadow legation and worked tirelessly against attempts by
26950-424: The world to enact a homestead exemption , under which creditors cannot seize a person's primary residence. President Anson Jones signed the charter for Baylor University in the fall of 1845. Henry Lee Graves was elected Baylor's first president. It is believed to be the oldest university in Texas; however, Rutersville College was chartered in 1840 with land and the town of Rutersville . Chauncey Richardson
27125-440: The years following independence, the migration of white settlers and importation of black slave labor into the vast republic was deterred by Texas's unresolved international status and the threat of renewed warfare with Mexico. American citizens who considered migrating to the new republic perceived that "life and property were safer within the United States" than in an independent Texas. In the 1840s, global oversupply had also caused
27300-653: Was 24 years old, Onís was sent on an important mission by the Spanish government, which knew that Saxony had the most highly developed mining industry in Europe and desired to acquire experienced miners to send to its American colonies. He went to study at the School of Mines in Freiberg , a town dominated by the mining and smelting industries, and enrolled in a course taught by the Prussian mineralogist, Professor Abraham Gottlob Werner . Becoming acquainted with operations in
27475-520: Was a constant subject of concern in Onís's correspondence with Monroe. The US government finally officially recognized Onís as Ambassador of Spain, and he presented his credentials on December 20, 1815, five years after his arrival in New York. Thereafter, he continued asserting the Spanish arguments with his customary vigor. Monroe, meanwhile, sent an ambassador to Madrid, John Erving, who was snubbed by
27650-491: Was administered by Mexico throughout this period. During the late Spanish colonial era , Texas had been one of the Provincias Internas , and the region is known in the historiography as Spanish Texas . Though claimed by Spain, it was not formally colonized by the empire until competing French interests at Fort St. Louis were a catalyst for Spain to establish permanent settlements in the area. The region
27825-543: Was born in Cantalapiedra , Salamanca on 30 June 1762. He was the son of Joaquin de Onís, a landowner who was probably of noble Asturian origin. Luis received a classical education at home; he began the study of Greek and Latin when he was 8, and by 16, he had concluded his studies in the humanities and law at the University of Salamanca . In 1780, Onís joined his uncle, José de Onís, ambassador of Spain to
28000-694: Was built in 1841, and still stands in Austin as the oldest frame structure in the city. Conversely, the Republic of Texas embassy in Paris was located in what is now the Hôtel de Vendôme , adjacent to the Place Vendôme in the 1st arrondissement of Paris . The United Kingdom hesitated to grant official recognition to the Republic of Texas due to its own friendly relations with Mexico, but nevertheless admitted Texian goods into British ports. In London , opposite
28175-453: Was elected Rutersville first president. The college later became Southwestern University in Georgetown, Williamson county . University of Mary Hardin-Baylor was also chartered by the Republic of Texas in 1845, and received lands in Belton, Texas . Wesleyan College, chartered in 1844 and signed by president Sam Houston , another predecessor to Southwestern did not survive long due to competition from other colleges. Mirabeau Lamar signed
28350-405: Was forced to surrender by Spanish troops. He was taken prisoner and sent to Mexico City; about six months later he was shot and killed by a guard, who reportedly was bribed to do so by José Félix Trespalacio. The Long Expeditions were ended. Along with the rest of Mexico, Texas gained its independence from Spain in 1821 following the Treaty of Córdoba , and the new Mexican state was organized under
28525-463: Was intended to calm northern anti-slavery Democrats (who wished to eliminate the Tyler-Calhoun treaty altogether, as it had been negotiated on behalf of the slavery expansionists), and allow the decision to devolve upon the soon-to-be-inaugurated Democratic President-elect James K. Polk. President-elect Polk had expressed his ardent wish that Texas annexation should be accomplished before he entered Washington in advance of his inauguration on March 4, 1845,
28700-444: Was likely to come under pressure to abandon immediate annexation and reopen negotiations under the Benton alternative. When President Polk took office on (at noon EST) March 4, he was in a position to recall Tyler's dispatch to Texas and reverse his decision. On March 10, after conferring with his cabinet, Polk upheld Tyler's action and allowed the courier to proceed to Texas with the offer of immediate annexation. The only modification
28875-471: Was long occupied and claimed by the existing indigenous groups of Native Americans. During the period from the 1690s–1710s, sporadic missionary expeditions took place before the Spanish established San Antonio as a permanent civilian settlement. Because the area was relatively densely settled with Native American peoples, was remote from the population centers of New Spain , and lacked any obvious valuable resources such as silver, Texas had attracted only
29050-406: Was part of the vast Spanish Empire seized by the Spanish conquistadores from its indigenous people . The US-Spain border along the northern frontier of Texas took shape in the 1817–1819 negotiations between Secretary of State John Quincy Adams and the Spanish ambassador to the United States, Luis de Onís . The boundaries of Texas were determined within the larger geostrategic struggle to demark
29225-403: Was particularly active in the fight against the so-called "insurgent corsairs," many of them French privateers , who placed themselves at the service of the nascent republics of Spanish America. The Adams–Onís treaty was signed on 22 February 1819 after two years of difficult negotiations and the intervention of the French ambassador Hyde de Neuville , who defended the Spanish position against
29400-455: Was promptly informed that the US government could not receive or recognize any minister from the provisional governments of Spain as long as the crown was in dispute and that until that question was resolved, the United States would remain neutral. Consequently, no member of the Cabinet would recognize him or enter into any official communication with him. The United States did not officially recognize Onís as ambassador until December 1815, all
29575-671: Was serving as a Spanish spy. While making numerous promises – and excuses – to Long, Lafitte gathered information about the expedition and passed it on to Spanish authorities. By July 16, the Spanish Consul in New Orleans had warned the viceroy in Mexico City that "I am fully persuaded that the present is the most serious expedition that has threatened the Kingdom". Lafitte failed to assist the expedition, which soon ran low on provisions. Long dispersed his men to forage for food. Discipline began to break down, and many men, including James Bowie , returned home. In early October, Lafitte reached an agreement with Long to make Galveston an official port for
29750-403: Was the culmination of a prolonged series of events over the course of several years, as a consequence of the indeterminacy of the border between Florida and Louisiana Purchase when France ceded it to Spain in 1763. At the start of the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain , the danger of invasion of East Florida , a territory that had never been in dispute, escalated and
29925-443: Was the preservation of slavery." A mobilization of anti-annexation forces in the North strengthened both major parties' hostility toward Tyler's agenda. The leading presidential hopefuls of both parties, Democrat Martin Van Buren and Whig Henry Clay, publicly denounced the treaty. Texas annexation and the reoccupation of Oregon territory emerged as the central issues in the 1844 general election. In response, Tyler, already ejected from
30100-403: Was to exhort Texans to accept the annexation terms unconditionally. Polk's decision was based on his concern that a protracted negotiation by US commissioners would expose annexation efforts to foreign intrigue and interference. While Polk kept his annexation endeavors confidential, Senators passed a resolution requesting formal disclosure of the administration's Texas policy. Polk stalled, and when
30275-405: Was to remain unorganized territory, not committed to slavery. On this understanding, the northern Democrats had conceded their votes for the dichotomous bill. The next day, in an almost strict party line vote, the Benton-Milton measure was passed in the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives. President Tyler signed the bill the following day, March 1, 1845 (Joint Resolution for annexing Texas to
30450-402: Was translated from Spanish to English by US diplomatic commission secretary, Tobias Watkins , and republished in 1821 in the US. In 1818, the Spanish Cortes conferred on Onís the title of Regidor perpetuo de Salamanca (Perpetual alderman of Salamanca), a title that passed to his descendants in the male line. In mid-1819, Onís was awarded the Gran Cruz Americana (American Grand Cross) and
30625-446: Was weak, contradicting Secretary of State Upshur's conviction that Great Britain was manipulating Texas. Though unsubstantiated, Green's unofficial intelligence so alarmed Tyler that he requested verification from the US minister to Mexico, Waddy Thompson Jr. John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, a pro-slavery Democrat , counseled Secretary Upshur that British designs on American slavery were real and required immediate action to preempt
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