Photo credits: The Marshall Project

Six months after the congress of the Republic of Texas accepts U.S. annexation of the territory, Texas is admitted into the United States as its 28th state.

After gaining independence from Spain in the 1820s, Mexico welcomed foreign settlers to sparsely populated Texas. A large group of Americans led by Stephen F. Austin settled along the Brazos River. The Americans soon outnumbered the resident Mexicans.

By the 1830s, attempts by the Mexican government to regulate these semi-autonomous American communities led to rebellion. In March 1836, in the midst of armed conflict with the Mexican government, Texas declared its independence from Mexico.

The Texas volunteers initially suffered defeat against the forces of Mexican General A. Nunez de Santa Anna—the Alamo fell and Sam Houston’s troops were forced into an eastward retreat. However, in late April, Houston’s troops surprised a Mexican force at San Jacinto, and General Santa Anna was captured (A&E, 2010).

This brought an end to Mexico and General de Santa Anna’s efforts to subdue Texas. The citizens of the independent Republic of Texas eventually elected Sam Houston president. Texans endorsed the entrance of their state into the Union.

The likelihood of Texas joining the Union as a slave state delayed any formal action by the U.S. Congress for more than a decade. In 1844, Congress finally agreed to annex the territory of Texas. On December 29, 1845, Texas entered the United States as a slave state.

This broadened the irrepressible differences in the United States over the issue of slavery and also set off the Mexican-American War (A&E, 2010).

Editors, History.com (2010, March 04) Texas enters the union. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/texas-enters-the-union

*BlackThen.com writer/historian Victor Trammell edited and contributed to this report.