Texas Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Statehood=== {{main|History of Texas (1845–1860)}} {{further|Texas annexation|Admission to the Union|Mexican–American War|Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo}} {{see also|List of U.S. states by date of admission to the Union}} [[File:3c Texas Centennial Sam Houston, Stephen Austin, and Alamo, 1936 issue.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|On March 2, 1936, the U.S. Post Office issued a [[commemorative stamp]] commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Texas Declaration of Independence, featuring Sam Houston (left), Stephen Austin and the Alamo.]] Texas was finally [[Texas annexation|annexed]] when the expansionist [[James K. Polk]] won the [[1844 United States presidential election|election of 1844]].<ref>Buescher, John. [http://www.teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/23927 "Senatorial Division"], [http://www.teachinghistory.org/ Teachinghistory.org], accessed August 21, 2011. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711054633/http://teachinghistory.org/ |date=July 11, 2011 }}</ref> On December 29, 1845, the [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]] admitted Texas to the U.S.<ref name="TAnnexation">{{cite Handbook of Texas|id=mga02|title=Annexation|first=C. T. |last=Neu|orig-year=June 9, 2010 |date=December 2, 2015}}</ref> After Texas's annexation, Mexico broke diplomatic relations with the United States. While the United States claimed Texas's border stretched to the Rio Grande, Mexico claimed it was the [[Nueces River]] leaving the [[Rio Grande Valley (Texas)|Rio Grande Valley]] under contested Texan sovereignty.<ref name="TAnnexation" /> While the former Republic of Texas could not enforce its border claims, the United States had the military strength and the political will to do so. President Polk ordered General [[Zachary Taylor]] south to the Rio Grande on January 13, 1846. A few months later Mexican troops routed an American cavalry patrol in the disputed area in the [[Thornton Affair]] starting the [[Mexican–American War]]. The first battles of the war were fought in Texas: the [[Siege of Fort Texas]], [[Battle of Palo Alto]] and [[Battle of Resaca de la Palma]]. After these decisive victories, the United States invaded Mexican territory, ending the fighting in Texas.<ref name="Mwar">{{cite Handbook of Texas|id=qdm02|title=Mexican War|first= K. Jack |last=Bauer|orig-year=June 15, 2010 |date=March 28, 2016}}</ref> [[File:Remember Your Regiment, U.S. Army in Action Series, 2d Dragoons charge in Mexican War 1846.jpg|thumb|left|Captain [[Charles A. May]]'s squadron of the 2nd Dragoons slashes through the Mexican Army lines. [[Battle of Resaca de la Palma|Resaca de la Palma]], Texas, May 1846.]] The [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]] ended the two-year war. In return for US$18,250,000, Mexico gave the U.S. undisputed control of Texas, ceded the [[Mexican Cession]] in 1848, most of which today is called the American Southwest, and Texas's borders were established at the Rio Grande.<ref name="Mwar" /> The [[Compromise of 1850]] set Texas's boundaries at their present position: Texas ceded its claims to land which later became half of present-day [[New Mexico]],<ref name="comp1850" /> a third of [[Colorado]], and small portions of [[Kansas]], [[Oklahoma]], and [[Wyoming]] to the federal government, in return for the assumption of $10 million of the old republic's debt.<ref name="comp1850">{{cite Handbook of Texas|id=nbc02|title=Compromise of 1850|first=Roger A. |last=Griffin|orig-year=June 12, 2010 |date=March 21, 2016}}</ref> Post-war Texas grew rapidly as migrants poured into the cotton lands of the state.<ref name="CCulture">{{cite Handbook of Texas|id=afc03|title=Cotton Culture|first1=Karen Gerhardt |last1=Britton |first2=Fred C. |last2=Elliott |first3=E. A. |last3=Miller|date=June 12, 2010}}</ref> They also brought or purchased enslaved African Americans, whose numbers tripled in the state from 1850 to 1860, from 58,000 to 182,566.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/visualizing-slavery/ |first=Susan |last=Schulte |title=Visualizing Slavery: A Map of Slavery Interactive Feature |work=The New York Times |date=December 9, 2010}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page