when did texas become apart of the united states
History of Texas ( 1845 -- 1860 ) - wikipedia History of Texas ( 1845 -- 1860 ) Part of a series on the History of Texas Timeline Pre-Columbian Texas Early Spanish explorations 1520 -- French Texas 1684 -- 1689 Spanish Texas 1690 -- 1821 Mexican Texas 1821 -- 1836 Republic of Texas 1836 -- 1845 Statehood 1845 -- 1860 Civil War Era 1861 -- 1865 Reconstruction 1865 -- 1899 State of Texas Texas portal In 1845 , the Republic of Texas was annexed to the United States of America , becoming the 28th U.S. state . Border disputes between the new state and Mexico , which had never recognized Texas independence and still considered the area a renegade Mexican state , led to the Mexican -- American War ( 1846 -- 1848 ) . When the war concluded , Mexico relinquished its claim on Texas , as well as other regions in what is now the southwestern United States . Texas ' annexation as a state that tolerated slavery had caused tension in the United States among slave states and those that did not allow slavery . The tension was partially defused with the Compromise of 1850 , in which Texas ceded some of its territory to the federal government to become non-slave - owning areas but gained El Paso Contents ( hide ) 1 Annexation 2 Mexican -- American War 3 Compromise of 1850 4 Settlement 5 Indian wars 6 References 7 Sources 8 External links Annexation ( edit ) Main article : Texas Annexation The Republic of Texas had formed in 1836 , after breaking away from Mexico in the Texas Revolution . The following year , an ambassador from Texas approached the United States about the possibility of becoming an American state . Fearing a war with Mexico , which did not recognize Texas independence , the United States declined the offer . In 1844 , James K. Polk was elected the United States president after promising to annex Texas . Before he assumed office , the outgoing president , John Tyler , entered negotiations with Texas . On February 26 , 1845 , six days before Polk took office , the U.S. Congress approved the annexation . The Texas legislature approved annexation in July 1845 and constructed a state constitution . In October , Texas residents approved the annexation and the new constitution , and Texas was officially inducted into the United States on December 29 , 1845 . Mexican -- American war ( edit ) Main article : Mexican -- American War When Texas was annexed , Mexico broke diplomatic relations with the United States . The annexation bill did not specifically define the boundaries of Texas . The former republic claimed the Rio Grande as its southern border , while Mexican authorities had always considered the Nueces River , situated further north , to be the boundary of Mexican Texas . The United States sent John Slidell to negotiate with the Mexican government , offering $25 million ( $707,115,385 today ) to set the Texas border at the Rio Grande and to purchase Mexico 's provinces of Alta California and Santa Fe de Nuevo México . Popular sentiment in Mexico was against any sale , and the army deposed President José Joaquín de Herrera when he appeared inclined to negotiate with Slidell . The United States positioned troops along the Rio Grande . On April 25 , 1846 , in an event known as the Thornton Affair , a large contingent of Mexican cavalry attacked an American patrol in the area between the Rio Grande and the Nueces , killing 16 Americans . On May 3 , Mexican troops initiated the siege of Fort Texas , bombarding a makeshift American fort along the Rio Grande . On May 8 , Zachary Taylor led 2,500 U.S. troops to relieve the fort . He was intercepted by Mexican troops , leading to the Battle of Palo Alto . Mexican troops retreated a short distance to regroup , and the following day the two sides fought fiercely in the Battle of Resaca de la Palma . The U.S. cavalry captured the Mexican artillery , and the Mexican soldiers retreated . The United States officially declared war against Mexico on May 13 . Mexico declared war against the U.S. on July 7 . Throughout the official hostilities , the United States maintained two fronts -- one in the Mexican interior south of the Rio Grande , and one in California . There was no further fighting in Texas . The war ended on February 2 , 1848 , with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo . Mexico ceded claims to Texas , and the border was set at the Rio Grande . Compromise of 1850 ( edit ) The expansion of the United States after the Mexican -- American War led to tensions between the slave and free states as to how to maintain the balance between the opposing viewpoints . Texas had been admitted to the United States as a slave state , yet Texas claimed territory north of the 36 ° 30 ' demarcation line for slavery set by the 1820 Missouri Compromise . According to the annexation agreement , if Texas were to be subdivided into multiple states , those north of the compromise line would become free states . Following the conclusion of the Mexican -- American War , Texas also tried to exert control over much of New Mexico . In an effort to avoid some states seceding from the United States , Congress passed the Compromise of 1850 . Texas gave up much of the western territories it had claimed in exchange for $10 million to pay off previous debts . Settlement ( edit ) Post-war Texas grew rapidly as migrants poured into the cotton lands of the state . German immigrants started to arrive in the early 1840s because of economic , social and political conditions in their states . In 1842 , German nobles organized the Adelsverein , banding together to buy land in central Texas to enable German settlement . The Revolutions of 1848 acted as another catalyst for so many immigrants that they became known as the `` Forty - Eighters . '' Many were educated artisans and businessmen . Germans continued to arrive in considerable numbers until 1890 . The first Czech immigrants started their journey to Texas on August 19 , 1851 headed by Jozef Šilar . The rich farmland of Central Texas attracted the Czech immigrants . The counties of Austin , Fayette , Lavaca , and Washington had early Czech settlements . The Czech - American communities are characterized by a strong sense of community and social clubs were a dominant theme of Czech - American life in Texas . By 1865 , the Czech population numbered 700 and climbed to over 60,000 Czech - Americans by 1940 . With their investments in cotton cultivation , Texas planters imported enslaved blacks from the earliest years of settlement . They established cotton plantations mostly in the eastern part of the state , where labor was done by enslaved African Americans . The central area of the state had more subsistence farmers . Indian wars ( edit ) Further information : Texas -- Indian Wars In the late 1850s , settlers continued to push west and north , and by 1856 had begun settling , parts of the Comancheria in large numbers . Angry at the loss of their traditional hunting grounds , several bands of Comanche conducted raids on Texas settlers . In an effort to stop the violence and subdue the Comanche , in 1858 the Texas Rangers paired with members of the Tonkawa tribe -- traditionally , enemies of the Comanche -- for the Antelope Hills Expedition . Federal law promised Indian tribes safety in Indian Territory , located just north of Texas . Nevertheless , the Rangers crossed into Indian Territory and attacked a Comanche village at the Battle of Little Robe Creek . This was the first time any American forces had penetrated to the heart of the Comancheria , attacked Comanche villages with impunity , and successfully made it home . The expedition exhausted the annual Texas defense budget , and the governor disbanded the Rangers . References ( edit ) Jump up ^ Richard Bruce Winders , Crisis in the Southwest : The United States , Mexico , and the Struggle over Texas ( Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield , 2002 ) , p. 41 . Jump up ^ Fehrenbach , Lone Star , pp. 264 -- 267 Jump up ^ Cotton Culture from the Handbook of Texas Online Jump up ^ `` German Immigration in Texas '' Archived 2010 - 04 - 30 at the Wayback Machine. , accessed April 27 , 2008 Jump up ^ Handbook of Texas Online Czechs accessed July 28 , 2008 Sources ( edit ) T.R. Fehrenbach , Lone Star : A History of Texas and Texans ( Cambridge : Da Capo Press , 2000 ) External links ( edit ) A Continent Divided : The U.S. - Mexico War , Center for Greater Southwestern Studies , the University of Texas at Arlington Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_Texas_(1845 -- 1860 ) &oldid = 841743439 '' Categories : History of Texas by period Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 17 May 2018 , at 19 : 26 ( UTC ) . Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply . By using this site , you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation , Inc. , a non-profit organization . About Wikipedia
1. Annexation of Texas to the United States
2. Mexican-American War
3. Compromise of 1850
4. Settlement and immigration in Texas
5. Indian wars in Texas