Texas Legation

A Texas Legation was maintained by the Republic of Texas in Washington, D.C.; London; and Paris (1 Place Vendôme) from 1836 through 1845. In a bid to protect itself from almost certain invasion by forces from neighboring Mexico, the Texas government sought to foster international ties and so opened the Texas Legations in London and Paris. When Texas sought to join the United States in 1845, the British Empire supported keeping it independent. The British even offered to guarantee Texas's borders with both the United States and Mexico. Texas was a tactical ally of Britain, which wanted a counterweight to the United States. Nonetheless, an independent Texas was probably inviable for financial reasons, and when the republic became a state in 1845, the legations were shut down.