After the Texas Revolution, the idea of U.S. statehood became a popular topic in what was now known as the Lone Star Republic. There were two main reasons for the Texans wanting to become a U.S. state. The first was that the republic would not be able to stay independent for long. The Mexicans greatly outnumbered the Texans. At this time, Mexico had a population of around eight million as opposed to the Lone Star Republic's population of only fifty thousand. The republic feared that Mexico would attack with a much larger army. “Second, most of the republic's population was originally from the U.S.”[1] Becoming part of the U.S. would not only protect the republic from Mexico, it would also give the citizens the benefits of U.S. citizenship.
The U.S. knew that accepting Texas as a state would mean war with Mexico, but the U.S. was not opposed to such a conflict. If the U.S. was victorious against Mexico, they knew that they would be in a great position to ask for much more land. Although the U.S. had a slightly smaller standing army, they were heavily industrialized, and had many cannon factories. Mexico had very little heavy industrialization and very few cannon factories. So, Mexico would be at a definite disadvantage.
In the U.S. there were already signs of tensions between the North and South beginning. Instead of welcoming the thought of gaining more land, the Northerners rejected it. They feared if Texas was brought into the country, the South would gain control of the government. When William Henry Harrison died suddenly in office, John Tyler took his place as president. When this occurred, Mexico feared that the move would soon be made. It ended up never happening in his presidency.
Tensions continued to rise between Texas and Mexico when Texas sent a wagon train full of tradable goods to the capital of New Mexico. The wagon train was guarded by 250 men. The purpose of this was to try to encourage New Mexico to revolt as well. Mexico still saw Texas as a part of Mexico and considered this treason. In response, a superior Mexican force of 10,000 men was sent to capture it. The 250 Texans did not even put up a fight. The prisoners were marched 1,200 miles. Many of them died on the way.
The newly elected president of the Lone Star Republic, Sam Houston, was pressured by the citizens angered by the imprisonment of their people to make a move. “Houston wisely vetoed full scale war on Mexico. Instead, Houston sent 750 troops across the Rio Grande”[2]. This act was meant to show Mexico that the republic could retaliate. When the troops were ordered back, 300 refused. They were soon captured and suffered the same fate as the other Texans. The decision to accept Texas into the U.S. came down to the 1844 elections. The two candidates were Henry Clay and James Polk. Clay was against giving Texas statehood and Polk wanted to give it to Texas. When Polk was elected, he made no hesitation accepting Texas as a state. Mexico's reaction was somewhat delayed, but as they had said, on May 12, 1846, Mexico declared war on the U.S.