Annexation

In their first election after Texas won its independence, Texans voted overwhelmingly in favor of annexation to the United States. However, throughout the Republic period, no annexation treaty was approved by both countries. When all attempts to arrive at a formal annexation treaty failed, the United States Congress passed—after much debate and only a simple majority—a Joint Resolution for Annexing Texas to the United States. Under the terms, Texas would keep both its public lands and its public debt, it would have the power to divide into four additional states "of convenient size" in the future if it so desired, and it would deliver all military, postal, and customs facilities and authority to the United States government. Neither this joint resolution or the ordinance passed by the Republic of Texas' Annexation Convention gave Texas the right to secede.

A popularly-elected Constitutional Convention met in Austin in July 1845 to consider this annexation proposal as well as a proposed peace treaty with Mexico which would end the state of war between the two nations—if Texas remained an independent country.

The Convention voted to accept the United States' proposal, with only one delegate dissenting: Richard Bache, Benjamin Franklin’s grandson. The Annexation Ordinance was submitted to a popular vote in October 1845.

Once approved by Texas voters, the proposed Annexation Ordinance and State Constitution were submitted to the United States Congress. The United States House and Senate, in turn, accepted the Texas state constitution in a Joint Resolution to Admit Texas as a State which was signed by the president on December 29, 1845 . Although the formal transfer of government did not occur until February 19, 1846, Texas statehood dates from the 29th of December.