The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 49, July 1945 - April, 1946 Page: 267

ates ad DocuImeNts
Contemporary Newspaper Accounts of t e
uHHexatioH of CCxas
Edited by LLERENA FRIEND
T EXAS existed as a republic from March 2, 1836, to
December 29, 1845. One of the issues voted upon in the
first national election, September, 1836, was annexation to the
United States. Only ninety-one persons among nearly six
thousand voters voted against annexation. On August 4, 1837,
Memucan Hunt formally presented the matter of annexation
to the United States government, but the United States Sec-
retary of State, John Forsythe, said that treaty obligations
with Mexico prevented the United States from entertaining
the subject. The matter was discussed in the United States
Congress in 1838, but on January 23, 1839, the Congress of
Texas withdrew the offer of annexation. The subject was not
reopened until 1843. On October 16, 1843, President John Tyler
opened negotiations for annexation by treaty. The treaty was
signed on April 12, 1844, but was rejected by the United States
Senate. In December, 1844, Tyler again placed the subject
before Congress, which passed a joint resolution for annexation
on February 28, 1845. The Texas Congress accepted the offer
of annexation, and a convention was called to draw up a
constitution for the state of Texas. The state constitution was
ratified by the voters of Texas on October 13, 1845, and ac-
cepted by Congress and President James K. Polk, on December
29, 1845. The final act in the drama of annexation took place
on February 19, 1846, when President Anson Jones transferred
executive authority to the new governor, James Pinckney
Henderson.'
Some idea of contemporary reaction to the event is revealed
in the material relative to annexation in the newspapers of
1846. The Telegraph and Texas Register of Houston, Texas,
on January 14, 1846, carried the following:
'R. N. Richardson, Texas: The Lone Star State (1943), 147-167.