The Day That Texas Lowered Her Flag

On February 19, 1846, Texas President Anson Jones lowered the flag of Texas in Austin and raised the flag of the United States. He handed the flag of Texas to Sam Houston and it is said that the two men stood and wept and since slightly more than half of the population of Texas voted for statehood, one can imagine that many others wept as well.

Most of us know this part of our history, but perhaps not the many nuances surrounding the act. For example, Anson Jones had become very unpopular prior to this event, because he would not comment on the idea of statehood one way or another, even though he led the call for withdrawal of the petition for Texas annexation when he was in congress. The reason for his reticence was that he was waiting for the return of the emissary he had sent to Mexico to broker a treaty recognizing the Texas republic's independence, which, in theory, would cease hostilities with Mexico. His emissary did return in 1845, having successfully accomplished his mission. President Anson Jones wanted to be able to present the people with an alternative to accepting statehood, but the document fell upon deaf ears. Whether he waited too long to address the people or whether the seduction of funds from the United States Government was too strong is, perhaps, a subject for debate, as are some of the other aspects of President Jones's life.

A hapless individual with a few failed medical practices and a failed mercantile business in his resume as well as creditors on his back, he migrated from Massachusetts to Venezuela to Philadelphia to New Orleans and finally, to Texas, where he set up his first successful, American medical practice in Brazoria in 1833. Over the next decade, he entered congress and then the senate, was Secretary of State under Sam Houston in 1841 and eventually elected to the office of President in 1844. It has been said that in a fit of despondency over not being sent to the United States Senate by the new Texas legislature, he committed suicide in 1858 at the age of 59.

An interesting aspect of this story is that Sam Houston was reportedly in favor of annexation by the United States because Texas was in severe financial straits, due to the war with Mexico. Additionally, some texts proffer the idea that Sam Houston also wanted to hold office in the United States government. If either or both are the case, why did he bring in Anson Jones as his Secretary of State, knowing that Jones was against statehood and had pleaded to withdraw the Texas statehood petition in Congress? Either Sam Houston believed Anson Jones to be weak and ineffective (and therefore, the perfect candidate), or he truly supported the independence of Texas. Another possibility is that Sam Houston was awaiting the opinion of the people, as our current politicians do before making a commitment. Although we may never know the actual facts, it is interesting to ponder the questions. That is the fascinating (or perhaps frustrating) part of the study of history; the chronicler states his or her opinion, and not necessarily the facts.

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