Why did it take congress 9 years to annex Texas?

Answer 1

There are two main reasons:

First, Mexico was a sovereign nation and to help Texas, especially before it had won the rebellion, would be to encroach upon Mexico's sovereignty.

Second, Texas would most likely enter the Union as a slave state. By the 1840s, it was obvious to many policymakers that slavery was becoming a decisive issue. In fact, for most of the nineteenth century there was a gag rule in Congress against the issue. Consequently, Congress was delayed in officially annexing and admitted Texas.

Answer 2

Because the United States wasn't interested in Texas. It was run by slave owners, which meant that in the event of annexation, the US would increase "slave territory" counterbalancing the precarious peace between the North and the South.

When US presidents John Tyler (term 1841-1845) and James K. Polk (term 1845-1849) rose to power, they also wanted to fulfill the Manifest Destiny (a trans continental America). The best way to do it was annexing Texas and this of course, meant war with Mexico (1846 - 1848) and ultimately, the US Civil War (1861 - 1865).

Answer 3

Mexico said it would be war if the u.s annexed Texas. and they had an even number of non-slavery states and slavery states, and Texas was a slave state

Answer 4

If another state was added, it would upset the balance of free and slave states.