After the election of 1844, the U.S. Congress agreed to annex Texas on the condition that the new state assume the debt of the Republic of Texas and pledge its vast public lands against this debt. By 1850, however, the state of Texas had redeemed only a tiny fraction of the debt, and subsequent political developments left clear imprints in the financial markets.

Gary M. Pecquet is an assistant professor of economics at Central Michigan University.
Clifford F. Thies is the Eldon R. Lindsay Professor of Economics and Finance at Shenandoah University.
American HistoryLaw and Liberty
Other Independent Review articles by Gary M. Pecquet
Summer 2016 Reputation Overrides Record: How Warren G. Harding Mistakenly Became the “Worst” President of the United States
Spring 2013 The Calculus of Conquests: The Decline and Fall of the Returns to Roman Expansion
Fall 2010 The Shaping of a Future President’s Economic Thought: Richard T. Ely and Woodrow Wilson at “The Hopkins”
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Other Independent Review articles by Clifford F. Thies
Spring 2023 Unintended Consequences: A Critical Review of Child Support Enforcement
Spring 2023 The Myth of American Inequality
Summer 2016 Reputation Overrides Record: How Warren G. Harding Mistakenly Became the “Worst” President of the United States
[View All (6)]