In the general election held in September, 1836, to ratify the constitution of the republic and to elect the national officers, the voters of Texas declared themselves almost unanimously in favor of annexation to the United States. Owing mainly to the slavery question, however, the desire of Texas was not at this time reciprocated.1 In 1843 overtures were again made and a treaty of annexation was signed, but was rejected by the United States Senate in April, 1844.2 The expedient of a joint resolution was then adopted by the friends of Texas in Congress, and on March 1, 1845, the United States proposed annexation. President Jones of the republic called a convention, which on July 4, 1845, passed an ordinance accepting the proposal of the United States, and this ordinance and the constitution for the new state which had been framed by the convention were ratified by a popular vote on October 13, 1845.3 Annexation was consummated by the joint resolution of the United States, December 29, 1845; and on February 19, 1846, President Jones turned over the government of the republic to the officers of the new state. The first chapter of the state's financial history ended in 1861, when secession took place and a war was entered upon which prostrated the finances of the state and the general economic life of the state for many years to follow.

Texas shared with the rest of the United States the great prosperity and material development which characterized the years 1846 to 1857. About the time of annexation, population numbered roughly 135,000; in 1850 it had increased to 212,592, and in 1860 it was 604,215. In 1850 the per cent of the total population that was negro was 27.54; in 1860 it was 30.1. The white population of the state increased 173.24 per cent in the decade 1850-1860; the rate of increase of the slave population was 213.89 per cent; while the total population increased 184.2 per cent.4 Thus, while the population of the state grew prodigiously between 1850 and 1860, the large negro element minimized the value of the growth.

1 Garrison, Texas, p. 255.

2 Ibid., p. 257.

3 Ibid., p. 260.

4 Eighth Census of the United States. 1860. Vol. Population, p. 598.

The population of the state was almost wholly rural. Galveston was the leading town in 1850 with a population of 4,177; San Antonio was next with 3,488; Houston was third with 2,396; New Braunfels was fourth with 1,298, and Marshall was fifth with 1,189. The total number of people in the twenty-three Texas towns listed in the United States Census of 1850 was only 20,209. Only five of the twenty-three towns had over one thousand inhabitants. Counting as urban the population of all the towns, the per cent of the population of the state that was urban was 9.5. The population was spread very thinly over the state, there being on the average in 1850 only eight-tenths of a person to the square mile. By 1860 the average density of population was 2.3 persons to the square mile. There was practically no increase in the urban proportion of the population between 1850 and 1860. In 1860 San Antonio was the leading city with 8.235 inhabitants; Galveston was next with 7,307; Houston was third with 4,845; and Austin was fourth with 3,494. The United States Census of 1860 lists forty-two cities and towns with a total population of 59,651. Their population was 9.8 per cent of the total population.

Population continued to follow rather closely the navigable waterways, but transportation was nevertheless largely by means of the ox wagon. Railroad building began before the middle of the fifties, but the towns affected by it were comparatively few and were on or near the coast. The number of miles of railroad in operation was 32 in 1854, 40 in 1855, 71 in 1856, 157 in 1857, 205.5 in 1858, 284.5 in 1859, and 306 in I860.1 The estimated cost of construction of the 306 miles was $11,232,345.2

1 Eighth Census of the United States. 1860. Vol. Mortality and Miscellaneous Statistics, p. 333. See also, Potts, Railroad Transportation in Texas, p. 42. Compare Ringwalt, Development of Transportation Systems in the United States, p. 166, who gives the following mileage statistics for Texas:

2 Eighth Census of the United States. 1860. Vol. Mortality and Miscellaneous' Statistics, p. 328.

Agriculture was practically the sole occupation of the people, as was shown by the large per cent of the population that was rural. In 1850 the number of acres of improved land in farms was 643,976, and the number of acres of unimproved land in farms was 10,852,363. In 1860 the respective amounts were 2,650.781 and 22,693,247. Though agriculture was almost the sole occupation of the people of the state, the farm area was only 6.8 per cent of the total land area in 1850 and 15.1 per cent in 1860. The balance of the land area was unoccupied and uncultivated, but it was owned either by the state or by land speculators. The cash value of the farms in 1850 was $16,550,-008, and in 1860, $88,101,320. The value of farming implements was $2,151,704 in 1850, and $6,259,452 in 1860. The value of livestock was $10,412,927 in 1850, and $42,825,447 in 1860. Cotton was the principal crop, and corn was the second crop in importance. There were 58,072 bales of cotton of 400 pounds each produced in 1849, and 431,463 bales in 1859.1 The average price per pound for upland cotton was 12.3 cents in 1849, and 11 cents in 1859.2

Manufactures were either brought in from outside of the state or were made in the home, though there were some local manufacturing establishments. In 1850 there were 309 manufacturing establishments, including shops doing custom's work and repairing, with a total annual product valued at only $1,168,538. In 1860 there were 983 establishments, whose annual product was valued at only $6,577,202.3 The value of home manufactured products was $266,984 in 1850, and $584,-217 in I860.4

Though diversification of industry was yet to come and though most people depended on the ox wagon, population was increasing rapidly, agriculture was flourishing, and the state as a whole was prospering.

The finances of this period will be treated under the topics, Expenditures, School Funds, Receipts, and Public Debt.

1 Seventh Census of the United States. 1850. Pp. 515 and 1020. Eighth Census of the United States. 1860. Vol. Agriculture, p. 148. ,

2 Bulletin of the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, No. 131, p. 82. The average price for the period 1846-1860 was 11 cents per pound.

3 Twelfth Census of the United States. 1900. Vol. 8, p. 862.

4 Seventh Census of the United States. 1850. Pp. 515 and 1020. Eighth Census of the United States. 1860. Vol. Agriculture, p. 151.