Political parties had not existed in the Republic of Texas
By the 1850s, the Democratic Party had split into two rival factions
Former U.S. president Amdrew Jackson was a Democrat and had supported the annexation of Texas
The Republican Party believed that slaves should be banned from all states and territories in the United States
The American Party was more commonly known as the " Know-Nothing Party " because when the me,bears were asked questions about it by outsiders, they answered " I know nothing ".
Elected in 1849, governor Peter Hansborg Bell tried to add New Mexico to Texas