Period 5 Westward Expansion

The Annexation of Texas

In 1820s, Americans moved westward to Texas and made cotton plantations there, partly because of the over-cultivation of soil in southeast. At first, Mexico encouraged American immigration but later tensions developed after Mexico outlawed slavery.
Texas independence (1836) = Texas rebelled against Mexico; Texans won under leadership of Sam Houston; Texas became the independent Republic of Texas
Texas annexation (1845) = at first, U.S. did not annex Texas because trying to avoid sectional tension by adding another “slave state”; but in 1845, president John Tyler pushed Texas annexation through Congress; Texas joined the U.S. as a slave state. Texas was the 28th state of the Union.