Annexation of Texas

         In 1836, the Republic of Texas sent officials to Washington D.C. with a request.  They wanted the United States to annex Texas and have it become part of the U.S.  Although Andrew Jackson sympathized with the people of Texas, he refused to admit Texas into the Union out of fear that it would start a war with Mexico.  Many Texans were upset that the U.S. refused their request and hoped that they would one day become part of the Union.

        In 1837, the people of Texas elected Mirabeau Lamar to be the new President of Texas.  Lamar believed that Texas should remain an independent nation on not depend on the United States to come to  its rescue.  He sent officials to Great Britain, France, and Belgium and got those nations to fully recognize the independence of Texas.  Lamar withdrew Texas's request for statehood and focused on improving the Texan economy.  Despite Lamar's position on annexation, many in Texas believed that becoming part of the U.S. was key to Texas's future.

       In 1843, U.S. President John Tyler was faced with the political fight of his life.  Members of his own party were openly discussing nominating another person to run for President in 1844.  Tyler needed to do something to boost up his popularity and he saw Texas as an answer.  Tyler sent Andrew Jackson Donelson (President Jackson's nephew) to go to Texas to work on an annexation deal that would bring Texas into the Union.  Donelson reported back to the President that annexation would be supported by the people of Texas but there was a concern as to how Mexico would respond to the annexation.

      In the spring of 1844, Secretary of State John C. Calhoun wrote a letter to the British Ambassador to the United States asking for British support regarding Texas.  In the letter Calhoun explained that the annexation of Texas was key to ensuring the survival of slavery in the United States. When Calhoun's letter was leaked to the press it created an uproar in the North.

    Some Northern groups claimed that if Texas became a state then the balance of power in Congress would now belong to slave states and would further spread slavery across the country.  Many Northerners saw the annexation of Texas as illegal and unconstitutional.  Some critics of annexation claimed that Texas was too big to become a state, and by admitting Texas into the Union it would weaken the federal government.  Others felt that if the U.S. granted Texas statehood that it would lead to a war with Mexico.