Draft of Joint Resolution
National Archives and Records Administration

In the election of 1844, James K. Polk won such a convincing victory that outgoing President Tyler considered it a mandate by the people to acquire Texas. With a treaty still doubtful to win Senate approval, Tyler suggested doing it by Joint Resolution, which required a smaller majority than a treaty ratification. The Joint Resolution passed the Congress on February 28, 1845. Among its provisions, Texas would join the United States directly as a state, and she was accorded the right to form four other states of her territory, if she so chose. The offer of annexation was to hold good to the end of the year.