In Early Statehood (1845-1860), students in grades 6-8 will explore the pivotal period in Texas history following the United States' annexation, which directly led to the US-Mexican War and reshaped the nation’s borders. This book covers the events and consequences of Texas joining the United States, its role in the war with Mexico, and how these events impacted the political and economic landscape of Texas and the broader United States.

After Texas was annexed in 1845, it became a staging ground for the US-Mexico War (1846-1848), during which American armies invaded Mexico from Texas. The war ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, which ceded vast territories, including California, to the United States and established the modern US-Mexico border. This territorial expansion ignited fierce debates over whether slavery would be allowed in the new western lands, adding to the growing political divide between the North and South.

In the years that followed, Texas experienced rapid growth. Between 1850 and 1860, the population tripled, fueled by an influx of settlers from the southern United States. As a result, cotton farming boomed, and the number of enslaved African Americans in Texas soared, mirroring the expansion of slavery in the Deep South. By 1860, Texas had become a major cotton producer, with over 430,000 bales exported from just 58,000 in 1849. Slavery became deeply entrenched in Texas society, with the enslaved population rising to 182,000 by 1860.

The economic boom in cotton production and the expansion of slavery drew Texas further into national debates over the future of slavery in the United States. Throughout the 1850s, Texas political leaders aligned with the pro-slavery Deep South, opposing Northern efforts to limit slavery’s westward expansion. These political tensions eventually culminated in the secession crisis of 1860-61. In February 1861, Anglo-Texans voted to secede from the Union and joined the Confederate States of America, setting the stage for Texas’s role in the American Civil War.

Aligned with US History curriculum standards for grades 6-8, this book provides students with a comprehensive understanding of the critical events during Texas’s early statehood. Students will gain insight into the US-Mexico War, Texas’s economic transformation, and the political debates that led to its involvement in the Civil War through engaging text, maps, and illustrations.