Texas Admitted to the Union
On December 29, 1845, Texas was admitted as America’s 28th state.
About 30,000 Indians lived in Texas when the first Europeans arrived in the area. The Caddo were the largest of many tribes, and were known for farming and living in permanent homes. The Arkokisa, Attacapa, Karankawa, and other smaller tribes lived along the coast. The Coahuiltecans lived in southern Texas. The warlike Lipan Apaches lived on the Edwards Plateau in the west and the Comanche and Tonkawa Indians roamed the plains.
“Glory, God and gold” was the motto of the Spanish explorers who arrived in the Texas region during the early 1500s. In 1519, Alonso Álvarez de Piñeda mapped the gulf coastline from Florida to Mexico. Most historians believe the members of this expedition were the first Europeans to reach Texas. Many Spanish explorers set out into the interior of Texas looking for “golden cities,” called the Seven Cities of Cibola. In 1682, Franciscan missionaries built the first two missions in Texas. These expeditions and missions were the basis of Spain’s claim to Texas.
The French began to explore the area in 1685 and even built a mission there, called Fort Saint Louis. Spain sent a force to remove the French, but Indians killed the settlers and destroyed the fort before they could arrive. By 1731, the Spanish had sent over 90 expeditions into Texas and had established missions in the central, eastern, and southwestern portions of the region. Forts were built to protect missions from attack. In 1718, a fort near San Antonio de Bexar was built to defend the mission of San Antonio de Valero. The mission and fort stood at the site of present-day San Antonio. Spain made San Antonio the center of power in Texas.
In 1803, the United States made the Louisiana Purchase, buying 827,987 square miles of land from France. France had made claims involving Texas all the way to the Rio Grande. However, an 1819 treaty between the two nations fixed the southern boundary of the Louisiana Territory at the Sabine and Red rivers. Mexico became independent of Spain in 1821, and Texas became part of the Empire of Mexico. In 1824, Mexico became a republic.
In 1820, a Missouri banker, Moses Austin, obtained permission from Spanish officials to establish an American colony in Texas. His son, Stephen F. Austin, brought 300 families there. The colony grew rapidly. In 1823, he founded San Felipe de Austin in today’s Austin County, which became the colony’s seat of government. Soon, more Americans received land grants from Mexico. Between 1821 and 1836, the number of settlers grew to about 30,000 – and most were Americans.
The Mexican government became concerned over the high percentage of Americans living in its territory. In 1830, Mexico officially halted American immigration. Relations between the settlers and the government quickly deteriorated. In 1834, a Mexican politician and soldier, General Antonio López de Santa Anna, took over the Mexican government and established himself as a dictator. A year later, Texas began its quest for independence.
After a few clashes between Texans and Mexican soldiers, Texas leaders organized a temporary government on November 3, 1835. Texas troops under Colonel Benjamin Milam captured San Antonio on December 11, 1835. Enraged, Santa Anna sent a large army to San Antonio to put down the uprising. Texan forces withdrew to the walls of the Alamo. From February 23 to March 6, 1836, Santa Anna’s forces attacked the fort until it finally fell. Many famous men died while defending the Alamo, including Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett, and William B. Travis. Even while the Alamo was under siege, Texas delegates signed the Texas Declaration of Independence.
On March 27th, Santa Anna ordered 330 Texan rebels executed after they surrendered at Goliad. Rather than crush the independence movement, these actions galvanized Texan resolve. Texans rallied to the cries “Remember the Alamo” and “Remember Goliad.” On April 21, Sam Houston led a smaller Texan army against Santa Anna’s forces in a surprise attack at the Battle of San Jacinto. Houston captured Santa Anna and crushed his army. Texas had won its independence.
Texas faced many problems. It had no currency, and its economy was limited. Indians and Mexicans staged raids against its people. At the first national Texas elections, voters chose Sam Houston as President – and also voted to join the United States. European powers were against Texas becoming a state, as they feared the U.S. would come to dominate the southwest. There was also political conflict in the U.S. about Texas. Texas law allowed slavery, so the South favored admission and the North was against it. Furthermore, U.S. President Martin Van Buren was reluctant to admit Texas, as he feared it would lead to war with Mexico. Texas remained independent for 10 years. During that time, its population grew rapidly.
Texas was admitted to the Union on December 29, 1845. Mexico ceased diplomatic relations with the U.S. immediately after. Boundary disputes erupted a short time later, and in 1846 the Mexican–American War began. By 1848, Mexico surrendered, signing the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. With this treaty, Mexico ended all of its claims to Texas and much of the Southwest. Texas gained a great deal of territory. During the 1850s, settlers poured into the western region of the state, and 89 new counties were organized.
In March 1861, Texas seceded from the Union and joined the Confederate States of America. However, there were mixed feelings about the Confederacy in the state. Governor Houston refused to take an oath to support the Confederacy’s constitution, and he was forced out of office. More than 50,000 Texans fought in the Civil War. The last battle of the war was fought at Palmito Hill on May 13, 1865 – the soldiers had not yet heard that the war ended on April 9th.
After the war, Texas became embroiled in a struggle between Northern sympathizers called Radicals and the Ku Klux Klan. The state was ruled by a military government, an appointed governor, and three governors elected by the Radicals. Texas was readmitted to the Union on March 30, 1870.
Starting in the mid-1860s, Texans drove cattle along trails to major railroad centers. Between 1900 and 1920, the state greatly improved its rail and road systems, great irrigation projects were begun, and the state’s oil and gas industries were started. At that time, many Texans began working in cities. During the 1960s, Texas took a major role in the nation’s space program. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration began constructing the Manned Spacecraft Center near Houston in 1962. It was renamed the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in 1973.
Texas has 28 metropolitan areas – more than any other state. The state’s industries have grown since World War II, with only occasional periods of stagnation. Today, Texas is a leader in oil, cattle, sheep, and cotton production. Tourists in Texas spend over 420.6 billion dollars each year.
Click here to see what else happened on This Day in History.
Remember Wounded Knee – December 29, 1890!
And exactly what does wounded knee have to do with Texas????
Wounded Knee (note the capitals) was a part of the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota where the US Army massacred a large number of Sioux who were on the reservation. No warning was given. Also killed in the massacre was Sitting Bull who was considered a hero by his people. The murder was apparently committed by reservation police. It happened on this day in 1890!!!
About 25% of the State was against secession. My Great-Great Grandfather’s family moved into the Texas area in the 1840’s and he and his brothers were a few of the approximately 2,500 to
3,000 Texans who fought for the Union.
The heroic legends attached to the Alamo and the fight for Texan independence have for most Americans obscured the basic fact that in essence recent American settlers stole the territory from Mexico. The fact that some of them wanted to bring slaves into the territory even though Mexico had outlawed slavery also had something to do with this.
Yes, I realize that this is a somewhat inflammatory comment. It’s also true.
Santa Ana lost Texas because he was caught with his pants down. Go “Yellow Rose”. May we, as a nation, never get caught in that position.
This short article sort of glosses over just how the Mexican-American War started. James K. Polk was elected President in 1844 on a platform promising territorial expansion, “Manifest Destiny.” A dispute arose about the southern border of Texas and other issues. When negotiations broke down, Polk sent an army into the disputed territory between the Sabine River and the Rio Grande, basically daring Mexico to attack. When the Mexican army attacked, the U.S, declared war. It’s also ironic that after waiting ten years to be admitted as a state in 1845, Texas seceded from the Union sixteen years later in 1861. Governor Sam Houston warned that the Confederacy would be defeated and bring ruin on the South and on Texas. After four years of war, that prediction proved to be true.