John Tyler, James K. Polk and the Annexation of Texas
In his long career as a United States Senator, it seemed that Henry Clay was on one side or another when it came to contentious issues, from the War of 1812 to the Compromise of 1850. While Clay is remembered as the "Great Compromiser", he wasn't always looking to compromise and was often championing one side or the other of some contentious issue, such as war with England, the National Bank, or the annexation of Texas.
The Spanish had laid claim to what is now Texas in 1519, and it was part of the vast Spanish empire taken by force by Spanish Conquistadors from the indigenous people. When the Louisiana territory was purchased by the United States from France in 1803, the border along the northern frontier of Texas was negotiated between Secretary of State John Quincy Adams and the Spanish ambassador to the United States, Luis de Onís y González-Vara. The Florida Treaty of February 22, 1819 established its boundaries, but, Texas remained an object of fervent interest to American expansionists because of its fertile lands.
The Missouri Compromise increased southerners' desire for expansion south of the 36°30' parallel, which divided free-soil and slave-soil outside of Missouri, among them Representative John Tyler of Virginia. He saw territorial growth as a national goal to counter the rise of sectional differences over slavery.
When Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, the United States did not contest the new republic's claims to Texas. Both John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson made attempts to negotiate the purchase of some or all of provincial Texas from the Mexican government, but were not successful. Anglo-American immigrants, primarily from the Southern United States, began emigrating to Mexican Texas in the early 1820s at the invitation of the Texas state government, which sought to populate the sparsely inhabited lands of its northern frontier for cotton production. Stephen F. Austin managed the regional affairs of the mostly American-born population, mainly slaveholders, and Mexican authorities were initially content to allow slavery, under the legal fiction of 'permanent indentured servitude', similar to Mexico's system of peonage.
It was difficult for the Mexican government to enforce its laws in the vast Texas frontier, especially the prohibition against slavery or the requirement that all settlers be Catholic or convert to Catholicism. New restrictions were imposed in 1829–1830, outlawing slavery throughout the nation and terminating further American immigration to Texas. In 1835, an army under Mexican President Santa Anna entered its territory of Texas and abolished self-government. Texans responded by declaring their independence from Mexico on March 2, 1836. On April 20–21, rebel forces under Texas General Sam Houston defeated the Mexican army at the Battle of San Jacinto. In June 1836, Santa Anna agreed to Texas independence, but the Mexican government refused to honor Santa Anna's pledge. Texans obtained a form of independence not officially recognized by Mexico. In the years following independence, the migration of white settlers and importation of slave labor into the vast republic slowed down because Americans who considered migrating to the new republic were hesitant because of the volatile political situation with Mexico. Texas experienced labor shortages, reduced tax revenue, large national debts and a diminished militia.
The Anglo-American immigrants living in newly-independent Texas overwhelmingly wanted to become part the United States. But President Andrew Jackson delayed recognizing the new republic until the last day of his presidency to avoid raising the issue during the 1836 general election. Jackson was concerned about losing support in the north because of concerns that Texas could potentially form several new slave states and undermine the North-South balance in Congress.
Jackson's successor, Martin Van Buren, viewed Texas annexation as a political liability that would lose his party its support in northern states. He was presented with a formal annexation proposal from Texas minister Memucan Hunt, Jr. in August 1837, but rejected it, not wanting a repeat of the conflict that had occurred in 1820. Annexation resolutions were presented in each house of Congress but these were either soundly defeated or tabled. After the election of 1838, new Texas president Mirabeau B. Lamar withdrew his republic's offer of annexation.
Hopes for annexation grew in 1841 when John Tyler became president, following the death of William Henry Harrison, who had defeated US President Martin Van Buren in the 1840 general election. Harrison died just 31 days into his presidency. Tyler became president, but was soon expelled from the Whig party later in 1841 for repeatedly vetoing his party's domestic finance legislation, and generally because he had clashed with leading Whigs such as Henry Clay over his right to assume the presidency and his unwillingness to follow their dictates. Tyler found himself isolated and outside the two-party mainstream. He hoped that foreign affairs would salvage his presidency.
In his first address to Congress in special session on June 1, 1841, Tyler announced his intention to pursue an expansionist agenda. He believed that annexing Texas would win him a second term in the White House, and this became his personal obsession, calling the acquisition of Texas as the "primary objective of his administration".
Following the resignation of his anti-annexation Secretary of State Daniel Webster in June of 1843, Tyler appointed Abel P. Upshur, a Virginia states' rights champion and ardent proponent of Texas annexation. In late September 1843, Upshur sent communications to Great Britain, intended to raise concerns about British designs to acquire Texas. He leaked the communique to the press to inflame popular Anglophobic sentiments. He also leaked information about American abolitionists who had been meeting with Lord Aberdeen, British Foreign Secretary, to provide funds to the Texas in exchange for the emancipation of its slaves. American Minister (Ambassador) Edward Everett concluded that British interest in the abolitionists plan was weak, but Tyler downplayed this conclusion.
John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, a pro-slavery advocate, claimed that British designs on Texas were real and required immediate action to prevent a takeover of Texas by Great Britain. On September 18, 1843, Tyler ordered secret talks opened with Texas Minister to the United States Isaac Van Zandt to negotiate the annexation of Texas. Face-to-face negotiations commenced on October 16, 1843.
Meanwhile, Texas President Sam Houston was negotiating with the Mexican government to consider a treaty that would permit Texas self-governance, possibly as a state of Mexico, with Great Britain acting as mediator. Houston believed that Tyler lacked political support for Texas annexation. The 1844 general election in the United States was approaching and the leadership in both the Democratic and Whig parties remained unwilling to support Texas annexation and Houston thought that brokering a deal with Mexico, with British support, was his best option.
Secretary of State Upshur pursued Texas diplomats to begin annexation talks. He wrote President Sam Houston in January 1844 claiming that a two-thirds majority in Senate could be obtained to ratify a Texas treaty. Texans were reluctant to pursue a US-Texas treaty without a written commitment of military defense from America. Because only Congress could declare war, the Tyler administration lacked the constitutional authority to commit the US to support of Texas. Upshur provided a verbal assurance of military defense for Texas, and President Houston authorized the reopening of annexation negotiations.
Mexican diplomats soon learned that US-Texas talks were taking place. Mexican minister to the U.S. Juan Almonte warned Upshurthat if Congress sanctioned a treaty of annexation, Mexico would break diplomatic ties and declare war. Upshur pressed forward with the negotiations, while lobbying US Senators to support annexation. By early 1844, Upshur told Texas officials that 40 of the 52 members of the Senate were pledged to ratify the Tyler-Texas treaty. Tyler, in his annual address to Congress in December 1843, did not mention the secret negotiations.
The Tyler-Texas treaty was in its final stages when Upshur and Secretary of the Navy Thomas W. Gilmer, died in an accident aboard USS Princeton on February 28, 1844, just a day after completing a preliminary treaty draft agreement with the Texas Republic. The Princeton disaster was a major setback for Texas annexation. Tyler relied on Secretary Upshur to obtain critical support from Whig and Democratic Senators during the upcoming treaty ratification process. To make matters worse, Tyler selected John C. Calhoun to replace Upshur as Secretary of State and to finalize the treaty with Texas. The choice of Calhoun was problematic, because it made it appear that the focus of the negotiations was all about the expansion of slavery, but Tyler believed Calhoun to be a strong advocate of annexation.
Senator Robert J. Walker of Mississippi, a key Tyler ally, issued a widely distributed letter, reproduced as a pamphlet, which made the case for immediate annexation of Texas. Walker argued that Texas referenced the Monroe Doctrine and claimed that annexation was necessary to prevent European involvement in North American affairs. He also appealed to racial prejudice and said that when slavery ultimately ended, freed slaves would have a corridor to South America to resettle, rather than remaining in the United States. Walker also warned that if annexation failed, imperialist Great Britain would manipulate the Republic of Texas into emancipating its slaves, forecasting a dangerous destabilizing influence on southwestern slaveholding states. Walker's pamphlet increased support for Texas annexation from pro-slavery expansionists in the South
The Tyler-Texas treaty was signed on April 12, 1844. It called for Texas to join the Union as a territory, following constitutional protocols. Texas would cede all its public lands to the United States, and the federal government would assume all its bonded debt, up to $10 million. Four new states could ultimately be carved from the former republic. Any reference to slavery was omitted from the document so as not to antagonize anti-slavery sentiments during Senate debates, although it provided for the "preservation of all [Texas] property". When the treaty was signed, Tyler complied with the Texans' demand for military and naval protection, sending troops to Fort Jesup in Louisiana and a fleet of warships to the Gulf of Mexico. Secretary of the Treasury John C. Spencer protested the constitutional implications of Tyler's application of military force without congressional approval. He refused to transfer contingency funds for the naval mobilization, and tendered his resignation.
Tyler submitted his treaty for annexation to the Senate on April 22, 1844. A two-thirds majority was required for ratification. Tyler had wanted the treaty to be debated secretly in Senate executive session, but news of Calhoun's warning to Great Britain leaked to the public. Critics of the treaty argued that the sole objective of Texas annexation was the preservation of slavery. Anti-annexation support in the North grew among both major parties. The leading presidential hopefuls of both parties, Democrat Martin Van Buren and Whig Henry Clay, each publicly denounced the treaty. Texas annexation became a key issue in the 1844 general election.
Tyler began to organize a third party in hopes of inducing the Democrats to embrace a pro-expansionist platform. Pro-annexation delegates among southern Democrats quashed the hopes of anti-expansion candidate Martin Van Buren at the Democratic Party's Presidential nominating convention, and the convention ended up choosing "Dark Horse" candidate James K. Polk of Tennessee, a supporter of Annexation.
In August 1844, Tyler withdrew from the race, because the Democratic Party was now committed to Texas annexation. Assured that Polk would champion Texas annexation, Tyler urged his supporters to vote Democratic. In the election, Polk narrowly defeated Whig Henry Clay in the November election. Polk proposed to acquire Texas under the doctrine of Manifest Destiny rather than on the pro-slavery agenda of Tyler and Calhoun.
The Senate had voted on Tyler's proposed treaty on June 8, 1844, and the treaty failed by a vote of 16 for to 35 against. Whigs had opposed it almost unanimously (1–27), while Democrats were mostly in favor (15–8). Undaunted, Tyler had asked 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 in June reassembled in December 1844 in a brief lame-duck session. In his annual address to Congress on December 4, Tyler 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. The national sentiment for Manifest Destiny made electors feel obligated to admit Texas to the Union. By early February 1845, the Senate began to debate the amended Tyler treaty, but its passage seemed unlikely. Anti-annexation Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri had been the only Southern Democrat to vote against the Tyler-Texas measure in June 1844. Now, as pro-annexation sentiment grew in his home state, Benton reconsidered his position. He advanced an alternative resolution that 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 was intended to calm northern anti-slavery Democrats and allow President-elect James K. Polk to work out details of the annexation. Polk had expressed his wish that Texas annexation should be accomplished before his inauguration on March 4, 1845, the same day Congress would end its session. On his arrival in the capital, he found the senate stalled and he urged Senate Democrats to unite under a dual resolution that would leaving enactment of the legislation to Polk's discretion when he took office. On February 27, 1845, less than a week before Polk's inauguration, the Senate voted 27–25 to admit Texas. All twenty-four Democrats voted for the measure, joined by three southern Whigs. The next day, in an almost strict party line vote, the resolution was passed in the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives. President Tyler signed the bill the following day, March 1, 1845.
On his last full day in office, President Tyler, with the urging of his Secretary of State Calhoun, dispatched an offer of annexation to the Republic of Texas by courier. Calhoun apprised President-elect Polk of the action. When President Polk took office on (at noon EST) March 4, he was in a position to recall Tyler's dispatch to Texas, but, after conferring with his cabinet, Polk allowed the courier to proceed with the offer of immediate annexation to Texas. Polk believed that protracted negotiation would cause what had taken place to go off the rails.
On May 5, 1845, Texas President Jones called for 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 the Constitution of Texas on August 27, 1845. The citizens of Texas approved the annexation ordinance and new constitution on October 13, 1845. President Polk signed the legislation making Texas a state of the Union on December 29, 1845. Texas formally relinquished its sovereignty to the United States on February 14, 1846.
The Spanish had laid claim to what is now Texas in 1519, and it was part of the vast Spanish empire taken by force by Spanish Conquistadors from the indigenous people. When the Louisiana territory was purchased by the United States from France in 1803, the border along the northern frontier of Texas was negotiated between Secretary of State John Quincy Adams and the Spanish ambassador to the United States, Luis de Onís y González-Vara. The Florida Treaty of February 22, 1819 established its boundaries, but, Texas remained an object of fervent interest to American expansionists because of its fertile lands.
The Missouri Compromise increased southerners' desire for expansion south of the 36°30' parallel, which divided free-soil and slave-soil outside of Missouri, among them Representative John Tyler of Virginia. He saw territorial growth as a national goal to counter the rise of sectional differences over slavery.
When Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, the United States did not contest the new republic's claims to Texas. Both John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson made attempts to negotiate the purchase of some or all of provincial Texas from the Mexican government, but were not successful. Anglo-American immigrants, primarily from the Southern United States, began emigrating to Mexican Texas in the early 1820s at the invitation of the Texas state government, which sought to populate the sparsely inhabited lands of its northern frontier for cotton production. Stephen F. Austin managed the regional affairs of the mostly American-born population, mainly slaveholders, and Mexican authorities were initially content to allow slavery, under the legal fiction of 'permanent indentured servitude', similar to Mexico's system of peonage.
It was difficult for the Mexican government to enforce its laws in the vast Texas frontier, especially the prohibition against slavery or the requirement that all settlers be Catholic or convert to Catholicism. New restrictions were imposed in 1829–1830, outlawing slavery throughout the nation and terminating further American immigration to Texas. In 1835, an army under Mexican President Santa Anna entered its territory of Texas and abolished self-government. Texans responded by declaring their independence from Mexico on March 2, 1836. On April 20–21, rebel forces under Texas General Sam Houston defeated the Mexican army at the Battle of San Jacinto. In June 1836, Santa Anna agreed to Texas independence, but the Mexican government refused to honor Santa Anna's pledge. Texans obtained a form of independence not officially recognized by Mexico. In the years following independence, the migration of white settlers and importation of slave labor into the vast republic slowed down because Americans who considered migrating to the new republic were hesitant because of the volatile political situation with Mexico. Texas experienced labor shortages, reduced tax revenue, large national debts and a diminished militia.
The Anglo-American immigrants living in newly-independent Texas overwhelmingly wanted to become part the United States. But President Andrew Jackson delayed recognizing the new republic until the last day of his presidency to avoid raising the issue during the 1836 general election. Jackson was concerned about losing support in the north because of concerns that Texas could potentially form several new slave states and undermine the North-South balance in Congress.
Jackson's successor, Martin Van Buren, viewed Texas annexation as a political liability that would lose his party its support in northern states. He was presented with a formal annexation proposal from Texas minister Memucan Hunt, Jr. in August 1837, but rejected it, not wanting a repeat of the conflict that had occurred in 1820. Annexation resolutions were presented in each house of Congress but these were either soundly defeated or tabled. After the election of 1838, new Texas president Mirabeau B. Lamar withdrew his republic's offer of annexation.
Hopes for annexation grew in 1841 when John Tyler became president, following the death of William Henry Harrison, who had defeated US President Martin Van Buren in the 1840 general election. Harrison died just 31 days into his presidency. Tyler became president, but was soon expelled from the Whig party later in 1841 for repeatedly vetoing his party's domestic finance legislation, and generally because he had clashed with leading Whigs such as Henry Clay over his right to assume the presidency and his unwillingness to follow their dictates. Tyler found himself isolated and outside the two-party mainstream. He hoped that foreign affairs would salvage his presidency.
In his first address to Congress in special session on June 1, 1841, Tyler announced his intention to pursue an expansionist agenda. He believed that annexing Texas would win him a second term in the White House, and this became his personal obsession, calling the acquisition of Texas as the "primary objective of his administration".
Following the resignation of his anti-annexation Secretary of State Daniel Webster in June of 1843, Tyler appointed Abel P. Upshur, a Virginia states' rights champion and ardent proponent of Texas annexation. In late September 1843, Upshur sent communications to Great Britain, intended to raise concerns about British designs to acquire Texas. He leaked the communique to the press to inflame popular Anglophobic sentiments. He also leaked information about American abolitionists who had been meeting with Lord Aberdeen, British Foreign Secretary, to provide funds to the Texas in exchange for the emancipation of its slaves. American Minister (Ambassador) Edward Everett concluded that British interest in the abolitionists plan was weak, but Tyler downplayed this conclusion.
John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, a pro-slavery advocate, claimed that British designs on Texas were real and required immediate action to prevent a takeover of Texas by Great Britain. On September 18, 1843, Tyler ordered secret talks opened with Texas Minister to the United States Isaac Van Zandt to negotiate the annexation of Texas. Face-to-face negotiations commenced on October 16, 1843.
Meanwhile, Texas President Sam Houston was negotiating with the Mexican government to consider a treaty that would permit Texas self-governance, possibly as a state of Mexico, with Great Britain acting as mediator. Houston believed that Tyler lacked political support for Texas annexation. The 1844 general election in the United States was approaching and the leadership in both the Democratic and Whig parties remained unwilling to support Texas annexation and Houston thought that brokering a deal with Mexico, with British support, was his best option.
Secretary of State Upshur pursued Texas diplomats to begin annexation talks. He wrote President Sam Houston in January 1844 claiming that a two-thirds majority in Senate could be obtained to ratify a Texas treaty. Texans were reluctant to pursue a US-Texas treaty without a written commitment of military defense from America. Because only Congress could declare war, the Tyler administration lacked the constitutional authority to commit the US to support of Texas. Upshur provided a verbal assurance of military defense for Texas, and President Houston authorized the reopening of annexation negotiations.
Mexican diplomats soon learned that US-Texas talks were taking place. Mexican minister to the U.S. Juan Almonte warned Upshurthat if Congress sanctioned a treaty of annexation, Mexico would break diplomatic ties and declare war. Upshur pressed forward with the negotiations, while lobbying US Senators to support annexation. By early 1844, Upshur told Texas officials that 40 of the 52 members of the Senate were pledged to ratify the Tyler-Texas treaty. Tyler, in his annual address to Congress in December 1843, did not mention the secret negotiations.
The Tyler-Texas treaty was in its final stages when Upshur and Secretary of the Navy Thomas W. Gilmer, died in an accident aboard USS Princeton on February 28, 1844, just a day after completing a preliminary treaty draft agreement with the Texas Republic. The Princeton disaster was a major setback for Texas annexation. Tyler relied on Secretary Upshur to obtain critical support from Whig and Democratic Senators during the upcoming treaty ratification process. To make matters worse, Tyler selected John C. Calhoun to replace Upshur as Secretary of State and to finalize the treaty with Texas. The choice of Calhoun was problematic, because it made it appear that the focus of the negotiations was all about the expansion of slavery, but Tyler believed Calhoun to be a strong advocate of annexation.
Senator Robert J. Walker of Mississippi, a key Tyler ally, issued a widely distributed letter, reproduced as a pamphlet, which made the case for immediate annexation of Texas. Walker argued that Texas referenced the Monroe Doctrine and claimed that annexation was necessary to prevent European involvement in North American affairs. He also appealed to racial prejudice and said that when slavery ultimately ended, freed slaves would have a corridor to South America to resettle, rather than remaining in the United States. Walker also warned that if annexation failed, imperialist Great Britain would manipulate the Republic of Texas into emancipating its slaves, forecasting a dangerous destabilizing influence on southwestern slaveholding states. Walker's pamphlet increased support for Texas annexation from pro-slavery expansionists in the South
The Tyler-Texas treaty was signed on April 12, 1844. It called for Texas to join the Union as a territory, following constitutional protocols. Texas would cede all its public lands to the United States, and the federal government would assume all its bonded debt, up to $10 million. Four new states could ultimately be carved from the former republic. Any reference to slavery was omitted from the document so as not to antagonize anti-slavery sentiments during Senate debates, although it provided for the "preservation of all [Texas] property". When the treaty was signed, Tyler complied with the Texans' demand for military and naval protection, sending troops to Fort Jesup in Louisiana and a fleet of warships to the Gulf of Mexico. Secretary of the Treasury John C. Spencer protested the constitutional implications of Tyler's application of military force without congressional approval. He refused to transfer contingency funds for the naval mobilization, and tendered his resignation.
Tyler submitted his treaty for annexation to the Senate on April 22, 1844. A two-thirds majority was required for ratification. Tyler had wanted the treaty to be debated secretly in Senate executive session, but news of Calhoun's warning to Great Britain leaked to the public. Critics of the treaty argued that the sole objective of Texas annexation was the preservation of slavery. Anti-annexation support in the North grew among both major parties. The leading presidential hopefuls of both parties, Democrat Martin Van Buren and Whig Henry Clay, each publicly denounced the treaty. Texas annexation became a key issue in the 1844 general election.
Tyler began to organize a third party in hopes of inducing the Democrats to embrace a pro-expansionist platform. Pro-annexation delegates among southern Democrats quashed the hopes of anti-expansion candidate Martin Van Buren at the Democratic Party's Presidential nominating convention, and the convention ended up choosing "Dark Horse" candidate James K. Polk of Tennessee, a supporter of Annexation.
In August 1844, Tyler withdrew from the race, because the Democratic Party was now committed to Texas annexation. Assured that Polk would champion Texas annexation, Tyler urged his supporters to vote Democratic. In the election, Polk narrowly defeated Whig Henry Clay in the November election. Polk proposed to acquire Texas under the doctrine of Manifest Destiny rather than on the pro-slavery agenda of Tyler and Calhoun.
The Senate had voted on Tyler's proposed treaty on June 8, 1844, and the treaty failed by a vote of 16 for to 35 against. Whigs had opposed it almost unanimously (1–27), while Democrats were mostly in favor (15–8). Undaunted, Tyler had asked 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 in June reassembled in December 1844 in a brief lame-duck session. In his annual address to Congress on December 4, Tyler 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. The national sentiment for Manifest Destiny made electors feel obligated to admit Texas to the Union. By early February 1845, the Senate began to debate the amended Tyler treaty, but its passage seemed unlikely. Anti-annexation Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri had been the only Southern Democrat to vote against the Tyler-Texas measure in June 1844. Now, as pro-annexation sentiment grew in his home state, Benton reconsidered his position. He advanced an alternative resolution that 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 was intended to calm northern anti-slavery Democrats and allow President-elect James K. Polk to work out details of the annexation. Polk had expressed his wish that Texas annexation should be accomplished before his inauguration on March 4, 1845, the same day Congress would end its session. On his arrival in the capital, he found the senate stalled and he urged Senate Democrats to unite under a dual resolution that would leaving enactment of the legislation to Polk's discretion when he took office. On February 27, 1845, less than a week before Polk's inauguration, the Senate voted 27–25 to admit Texas. All twenty-four Democrats voted for the measure, joined by three southern Whigs. The next day, in an almost strict party line vote, the resolution was passed in the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives. President Tyler signed the bill the following day, March 1, 1845.
On his last full day in office, President Tyler, with the urging of his Secretary of State Calhoun, dispatched an offer of annexation to the Republic of Texas by courier. Calhoun apprised President-elect Polk of the action. When President Polk took office on (at noon EST) March 4, he was in a position to recall Tyler's dispatch to Texas, but, after conferring with his cabinet, Polk allowed the courier to proceed with the offer of immediate annexation to Texas. Polk believed that protracted negotiation would cause what had taken place to go off the rails.
On May 5, 1845, Texas President Jones called for 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 the Constitution of Texas on August 27, 1845. The citizens of Texas approved the annexation ordinance and new constitution on October 13, 1845. President Polk signed the legislation making Texas a state of the Union on December 29, 1845. Texas formally relinquished its sovereignty to the United States on February 14, 1846.