By: Siddarth Kunisetty (Manifest Destiny: Project 6)
The Presidency of Texas Annexation
James K. Polk
James K. Polk helped John Tyler greatly when annexing Texas. He rallied the Democrats in favor of annexation and achieved the majority vote. However, when Polk took control of the United States, he had the choice of either reversing Tyler's treaty or keeping it. In the end, he chose to keep it, and sent a messenger to Texas on March 10th, telling them that they were a part of the United States. On December 29th, 1845 he finally made the Texas Republic the 28th state.
The Tyler-Texas Treaty and Joint Resolution
The Tyler-Texas treaty was proposed by John Tyler and this treaty stated that all of Texan lands would be given to the United States and that their debt, up to 10 million dollars, would be paid by the US. Along with this, the treaty stated that Texas would receive military protection from Mexico. This did not pass through the Senate with a 2/3 majority vote. Soon after this, Tyler proposed a joint resolution between the Senate and the House of Representatives. With the support of James K. Polk, who was elected president at the same time the joint resolution was introduced, John Tyler was able to achieve this goal. Polk rallied the democrats, which greatly helped achieve the majority vote.
John Tyler
Tyler became president after the death of President William Henry Harrison, who died of pneumonia 31 days after being inaugurated. Tyler was a strong believer of slavery and wanted to expand the power of the slave states by annexing Texas. It was his biggest priority throughout his presidency. He stated, "“Was there ever a clique of such unprincipled men? . . . Their love of office is their controlling passion. In despite of them however we shall leave the government sound and prosperous, and if the annexation of Texas shall crown off my public life, I shall neither retire ingloriously nor be soon forgotten.” This quote expressed that Tyler's biggest goal in his presidency was to annex Texas. He knew that by achieving this, he would never be forgotten. While Tyler negotiated for annexation, the Texas administration felt that he simply didn't have the resources and the support to do this. Therefore, the Texas administration started to negotiate with Mexico for self-governance. The Texans were scared of signing a treaty with the United States or negotiating with them as it might provoke Mexico to start a war. Without the assurance that they would be protected from Mexico, Texas could not remain talks with the US. However, the Congress of Texas was pressuring president Sam Houston to remain talks, so in December 1843, negotiations opened up. `