A School History of the United States Part 37

%356. Texas secures Independence.%--The fact that Tyler now belonged to no party enabled him to commit an act which, had he belonged to either, he would not have ventured to commit at that time,--to make a treaty of annexation with Texas.

[Ill.u.s.tration: %TERRITORY CLAIMED BY TEXAS% WHEN ADMITTED INTO THE UNION %1845%]

In 1821 Mexico, which for years past had been fighting for independence, was set free by Spain, and soon established herself as a republic under the name of the United States of Mexico. The old Spanish provinces were the states, and one of these provinces was Texas. As a country Texas had been very attractive to Americans, and the eastern part would have been settled early in the century if it had been definitely known who owned it. Now that Mexico owned it, a citizen of the United States, Moses Austin, asked for a large grant of land and for leave to bring in settlers. A grant was made on condition that he should bring in 300 families within a given time. Moses Austin died; but his son Stephen went on with the scheme and succeeded so well that others followed his example till seventeen such grants had been perfected.

For some years the settlers managed their own affairs in their own way.

But about 1830 Mexico began to rule them harshly, and when they were unable to stand it any longer they rebelled against her in 1833, and in 1836 set up the republic of Texas. At first the Texans were defeated, and on two memorable occasions bands of them were ma.s.sacred by the Mexican soldiers after they had surrendered. Money and troops and aid of every sort, however, were sent from the United States, and at length Santa Anna, the President of Mexico, who commanded the Mexicans, was defeated and captured and his army destroyed by the Texans under Samuel Houston at the battle of San Jacinto (1836). The victory was hailed with delight all over our country, and the independence of Texas was acknowledged by the United States (1837), England, France, and Belgium.

%357. Texas applies for Admission to the Union.%--As soon as independence was acknowledged, the people of Texas became very anxious to have their republic become a state in our Union; but slavery existed in Texas, and the men of the free states opposed her admission.

At last in 1844 Tyler secretly negotiated a treaty of annexation with the Texan authorities, and surprised the Senate by submitting it in April.[1]

[Footnote 1: The Senate rejected the treaty]

The politicians were very indignant, for the national nominating conventions were to meet in May, and the President by his act had made the annexation of Texas a political issue. The Democrats, however, took it up and in their platform declared for "the reannexation of Texas,"

and nominated James K. Polk of Tennessee for President and George Mifflin Dallas of Pennsylvania for Vice President.

%358. The Joint Occupation of Oregon is continued.%--But there was another plank in the Democratic platform of 1844 which promised the acquisition of a great piece of free soil. We left the question of the ownership of Oregon at the time when the United States and Great Britain (in 1818) agreed to hold the country in joint occupation for ten years; and when Russia, the United States, and Great Britain had (in 1824 and 1825) made 54 40' the boundary line between the Oregon country and Alaska. Before the ten-year period of joint occupation expired, Great Britain and the United States, in 1827, agreed to continue it indefinitely. Either party could end the agreement after a year's notice to the other.

%359. Attempts to end Joint Occupation.%--Before this time the men who came to the Oregon country were explorers, trappers, hunters, servants of the great fur companies, who built forts and trading stations, but did little for the settlement of the region. After this time missionaries were sent to the Indians, and serious efforts were made to persuade men to emigrate to Oregon. Some parties did go, and as a result of their work, and of the labors of the missionaries, Oregon, in the course of ten years, became better known to the people of the United States.

Efforts were then begun to persuade Congress to extend the jurisdiction of the United States over Oregon, order the occupation of the country, and end the old agreement with Great Britain. Pet.i.tions were sent (1838-1840), reports were made, bills were introduced; but Congress stood firmly by the agreement, and would not take any steps toward the occupation of Oregon. In 1842, Elijah White, a former missionary, came to Washington and so impressed the authorities with the importance of settling Oregon that he was appointed Indian Agent for that country, and told to take back with him as many settlers as he could. Returning to Missouri, he soon gathered a band of 112 persons and with these, the largest number of settlers that had yet started for Oregon, he set off across the plains in the spring of 1842. At the next session of Congress (1842-1843) another effort was made to provide for the occupation of Oregon at least as far north as 49, and a bill for that purpose pa.s.sed the Senate.

Meanwhile a rage for emigration to Oregon broke out in the West, and in the early summer of 1843, nearly a thousand persons, with a long train of wagons, moved out of Westport, Missouri, and started northwestward over the plains. Like the emigrants of 1842, they succeeded in reaching Oregon, though they encountered many hardships.

%360. "Fifty-Four Forty or Fight."%--So much attention was thus attracted to Oregon, in 1843, that the people by 1844 began to demand a settlement of the boundary and an end of joint occupation. The Democrats therefore gladly took up the Oregon matter. Their plan to reannex Texas, which was slave soil, could, they thought, be offset by a declaration in favor of acquiring all Oregon, which was free soil. The Democratic platform for 1844, therefore, declared that "our t.i.tle to the whole of Oregon is clear; that no portion of the same ought to be ceded to England or any other power; and that the reoccupation of Oregon and the reannexation of Texas" were great American measures, which the people were urged to support. The people thought they were great American measures, and with the popular cries of "The reannexation of Texas,"

"Texas or disunion," "The whole of Oregon or none," "Fifty-four forty or fight," the Democrats entered the campaign and won it, electing James K.

Polk and George M. Dallas.

The Whigs were afraid to declare for or against the annexation, so they said nothing about it in their platform, and nominated Henry Clay of Kentucky and Theodore Frelinghuysen of New Jersey. The real question of the campaign was of course the annexation of Texas, and though the platform was silent on that subject their leader spoke out. In a public letter which appeared in a newspaper and was copied all over the Union, Clay said that he believed slavery was doomed to end at no far away day; that the admission of Texas could neither hasten nor put off the arrival of that day, and that he "should be glad to see" Texas annexed if it could be done "without dishonor, without war, and with the common consent of the Union and upon just and fair terms."

[Ill.u.s.tration: James K. Polk]

Language of this sort did not please the antislavery Whigs; and in New York numbers of them voted for James G. Birney and Thomas Morris, candidates of the Liberty party. The result was that the vote for Birney in New York in 1844 was more than twice as great as he received in the whole Union in 1840. Had half of these New Yorkers voted for Clay instead, he would have received the electoral vote of New York and would have been President.

[Ill.u.s.tration: %THE OREGON COUNTRY%]

%361. Texas annexed to the United States.%--Tyler, who saw in the result of the election a command from the people to acquire Texas, urged Congress in December, 1844, to annex it at once. But in what manner should it be acquired? Some said by a treaty. This would require the consent of two thirds of the Senate. But the Democrats did not have the votes of two thirds of the Senate and so could not have secured the ratification of such a treaty. It was decided, therefore, to annex by joint resolution, which required but a majority for its pa.s.sage. The House of Representatives accordingly pa.s.sed such a resolution for the admission of Texas, and with her consent for the formation of four additional states out of the territory, those north of 36 30' to be free. The Senate amended this resolution and gave the President power to negotiate another treaty of annexation, or submit the joint resolution to Texas. The House accepted the amendment. Tyler chose to offer the terms in the joint resolution. Texas accepted them, and in December, 1845, her senators and representatives took their seats in Congress.

%362. Oregon.%--By the admission of Texas, the Democrats made good one of the pledges in their platform of 1844. They were now called on to make good the other, which promised the whole of Oregon up to 54 40'.

To suppose that England would yield to this claim, and so cut herself off entirely from the Pacific coast, was absurd. Nevertheless, because of the force of popular opinion, the one year's notice necessary to terminate joint occupation was served on Great Britain in 1846. The English minister thereupon presented a treaty extending the 49th parallel across Oregon from the Rocky Mountains to the coast, and drawing a line down the strait of Juan de Fuca to the Pacific. Polk and the Senate accepted this boundary, and the treaty was proclaimed on August 5, 1846. Two years later, August 14, 1848, Oregon was made a territory.

%363. General Taylor enters Texas; War with Mexico begins.%--When Texas came into the Union, she claimed as her western boundary the Rio Grande from its mouth to its source and then a line due north to 42.

Now this line was disputed by Mexico, which claimed that the Nueces River was the western boundary of Texas. The disputed strip of territory was thus between the Nueces and the Rio Grande (p. 321).

President Polk, however, took the side of Texas, claimed the country as far as the Rio Grande, and in January, 1846, ordered General Zachary Taylor to march our army across the Nueces, go to the Rio Grande, and occupy the disputed strip. This he did, and on April 25, 1846, the Mexicans crossed the river and attacked the Americans. Taylor instantly sent the news to Washington, and, May 12, Polk asked for a declaration of war. "Mexico," said he, "has pa.s.sed the boundary of the United States; has invaded our territory and shed American blood on American soil." Congress declared that war existed, and Polk called for 50,000 volunteers (May 13, 1846).

When the Mexicans crossed the Rio Grande and attacked the Americans at Fort Brown, Taylor was at Point Isabel. Hurrying southward to the relief of the fort, he met the enemy at Palo Alto, beat them, pushed on to Resaca de la Palma, beat them again, and soon crossed the river and took possession of the town of Matamoras. There he remained till August, 1846, waiting for supplies, reinforcements, and means of transportation, when he began a march toward the city of Monterey. The Mexicans, profiting by Taylor's long stay at Matamoras, had gathered in great force at Monterey, and had strongly fortified every position. But Taylor attacked with vigor, and after three days of continuous fighting, part of the time from street to street and house to house, the Mexican General Ampudia surrendered the city (September 24, 1846). An armistice of six weeks' duration was then agreed on, after which Taylor moved on leisurely to Saltillo (sahl-teel'-yo).

%364. Scott in Mexico.%--Meantime, General Winfield Scott was sent to Mexico to a.s.sume chief command. He reached the mouth of the Bio Grande in January, 1847, and called on Taylor to send him 10,000 men. Santa Anna (sahn'-tah ahn'-nah), who commanded the Mexicans, hearing of this order, marched at once against Taylor, who took up a strong position at Buena Vista (bwa'-nah vees'-tah), where a desperate battle was fought February 23, 1847. The Americans won, and Santa Anna hurried off to attack Scott, who was expected at Vera Cruz. Scott landed there in March, and, after a siege of a few days, took the castle and city, and ten days later began his march westward along the national highway towards the ancient capital of the Aztecs. It was just 328 years since Cortez with his little band started from the same point on a precisely similar errand. At every step of the way the ranks of Scott grew thinner and thinner. Hundreds perished in battle. Hundreds died by the wayside of disease more terrible than battle. But Scott would not turn back, and victory succeeded victory with marvelous rapidity. April 8 he left Vera Cruz. April 18 he stormed the heights of Cerro Gordo. April 19 he was at Jalapa (hah-lah'-pah). On the 22d Perote (pa-ro'-ta) fell. May 15 the city of Puebla (pweb'-lah) was his. There Scott staid till August 7, when he again pushed westward, and on the 10th saw the city of Mexico.

Then followed in rapid succession the victories of Contreras (con-tra'-rahs), Churubusco (choo-roo-boos'-ko), Molino del Rey (mo-lee'-no del ra), the storming of Chapultepec (chah-pool-ta-pek'), and the triumphal entry into Mexico, September 14, 1847. Never before in the history of the world had there been made such a march.

[Ill.u.s.tration: %CAMPAIGN OF GEN. SCOTT%]

%365. The "Wilmot Proviso."%--In 1846 the Mexican War was very hateful to many Northern people, and as a new House of Representatives was to be elected in the autumn of that year, Polk thought it wise to end the war if possible, and in August asked for $2,000,000 "for the settlement of the boundary question with Mexico." This, of course, meant the purchase of territory from her. But Mexico had abolished slavery in 1827, and lest any territory bought from her should be made slave soil, David Wilmot of Pennsylvania moved that the money should be granted, _provided_ all territory bought with it should be free soil. The proviso pa.s.sed the House, but not the Senate. Next year (1847) a bill to give Polk $3,000,000 with which to settle the boundary dispute was introduced, and again the proviso was attached. But the Senate rejected it, and the House then gave way, and pa.s.sed the bill without the proviso.

%366. Conquest of New Mexico and California.%--While Taylor was winning victories in northeastern Mexico, Colonel Stephen W. Kearny was ordered to march into New Mexico. Leaving Fort Leavenworth in June, 1846, he went by the Upper Arkansas River to Bents Fort, thence southwest through what is now Colorado, and by the old Santa Fe trail to the Rio Grande valley and Santa Fe (p. 330). After taking the city without opposition, he declared the whole of New Mexico to be the property of the United States, and then started to seize California. On arriving there, he found the conquest completed by the combined forces of Stockton and Fremont.

%367. The Great American Desert.%--But how came Fremont to be in California in 1846?

If you look at any school geography published between 1820 and 1850 you will find that a large part of what is now Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Texas is put down as "THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT."

Many believed it was not unlike the Desert of Sahara, and that n.o.body would ever want to cross it, while there was so much fertile land to the eastward. This view made people very indifferent as to our claims to Oregon, so that when Thomas H. Benton, one of the senators from Missouri, and one of the far-sighted statesmen of the day, wanted Congress to seize and hold Oregon by force of arms, he was told that it was not worth the cost. "Oregon," said one senator, "will never be a state in the Union." "Build a railroad to Oregon?" said another. "Why, all the wealth of the Indies would not be sufficient for such a work."

[Ill.u.s.tration: ROUTES OF THE %EARLY EXPLORERS% of the West]

%368. The Santa Fe and Oregon Trails.%--Some explorations you remember had been made. Lewis and Clark went across the Northwest to the mouth of the Columbia in 1804-1805, and Zebulon M. Pike had penetrated in 1806 to the wild mountainous region about the head waters of the Platte, Arkansas, and Rio Grande and had probably seen the great mountain that now bears his name. Major Long followed Pike in 1820, gave his name to Longs Peak, and brought back such a dismal account of the West that he was largely responsible for the belief in a desert. The great plains from the sources of the Sabine, Brazos, and Colorado rivers to the northern boundary Were, he said, "peculiarly adapted as a range for buffaloes, wild Goats, and other wild game," and "might serve as a barrier to prevent too great an expansion of our population westward;"

but n.o.body would think of cultivating the plains. For years after that the American Fur Trading Company of St. Louis had annually sent forth its caravans into Oregon and New Mexico. Because the way was beset by hostile Indians, these caravans were protected by large and strongly armed bands, and in time wore out well-beaten tracks across the prairies and over the mountain pa.s.ses, which came to be known on the frontier as the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails. In 1832 Captain Bonneville[1] took a wagon train over the Rocky Mountain divide into the Green River Valley, and Nathaniel J. Wyeth led a party from New England to the Oregon country, and in 1834 established Fort Hall in what is now Idaho. Still later in the thirties went Marcus Whitman and his party.

[Footnote 1: Bead his adventures as told by Washington Irving.]

%369. %Explorations of Fremont.%--By this time it was clear that the tide of westward emigration would soon set in strongly towards Oregon.

Then at last Benton succeeded in persuading Congress to order an exploration of the far West, and in 1842 Lieutenant Fremont was sent to see if the South Pa.s.s of the rocky Mountains, the usual crossing place, would best accommodate the coming emigration. He set out from Kansas City (then a frontier hamlet, now a prosperous city) with Kit Carson, a famous hunter, for guide, and following the wagon trails of those who had gone before him, made his way to the pa.s.s. He found its ascent so gradual that his party hardly knew when they reached the summit. Pa.s.sing through it to the valley beyond, he climbed the great peak which now bears his name and stands 13,570 feet above the sea.

Though Fremont discovered no new route, he did much to dispel the popular idea created by Long that the plains were barren, and the American Desert began to shrink. In 1843 Fremont was sent out again.

Making his way westward through the South Pa.s.s, where his work ended in 1842, he turned southward to visit Great Salt Lake, and then pushed on to Walla Walla on the Columbia River (see map on p. 330). Thence he went on to the Dalles, and then by boat to Fort Vancouver, and then, after returning to the Dalles, southward to Sutter's Fort in the Sacramento valley, and so back to the States in 1844.

In 1845 Fremont, who had now won the name of "Pathfinder," was sent out a third time, and crossing what are now Nebraska and Utah, reached the vicinity of Monterey in California. The Mexican authorities ordered him out of the country. But he spent the winter in the mountains, and in the spring was on his way to Oregon, when a messenger from Washington overtook him, and he returned to Sutter's Fort.

%370. The Bear State Republic.%--This was in June, 1846. Rumors of war between Mexico and the United States were then flying thick and fast, and the American settlers in California, fearing they would be attacked, revolted, and raising a flag on which an image of a grizzly bear was colored in red paint, proclaimed California an independent republic. These Bear State republicans were protected and aided by Fremont and Commodore Stockton, who was on the California coast with a fleet, and together they held California till Kearny arrived.

[Ill.u.s.tration: %TERRITORY CEDED BY MEXICO 1818 and 1853%]

%371. Terms of Peace.%--Thus when the time came to make peace, our armies were in military possession of vast stretches of Mexican territory which Polk refused to give up. Mexico, of course, was forced to yield, and in February, 1848, at a little place near the city of Mexico, called Guadalupe Hidalgo, a treaty was signed by which Mexico gave up the land and received in return $15,000,000. The United States was also to pay claims our citizens had against Mexico to the amount of $3,500,000. This added 522,568 square miles to the public domain.[1]

[Footnote 1: This new territory included not only the present California and New Mexico, but also Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming.]

%372. The Gadsden Purchase.%--When the attempt was made to run the boundary line from the Rio Grande to the Gila River, so many difficulties occurred that in 1853 a new treaty was made with Mexico, and the present boundary established from the Rio Grande to the Gulf of California. The line then agreed on was far south of the Gila River, and for this new tract of land, 45,535 square miles, the United States paid Mexico $10,000,000. It is generally called the Gadsden Purchase, after James Gadsden, who negotiated it.

Much of this territory acquired in 1848, especially New Mexico and California, had long been settled by the Spaniards. But the acquisition of it by the United States at once put an end to the old Mexican government, and made it necessary for Congress to provide new governments. There must be American governors, American courts, American judges, customhouses, revenue laws; in a word, there must be a complete change from the Mexican way of governing to the American way. To do this ought not to have been a hard thing; but Mexico had abolished slavery in all this territory in 1827. It was free soil, and such the anti-extension-of-slavery people of the North insisted on keeping it.

The proslavery people of the South, on the other hand, insisted that it should be open to slavery, and that any slaveholder should be allowed to emigrate to the new territory with his slaves and not have them set free. The political question of the time thus became, Shall, or shall not, slavery exist in New Mexico and California?

%373. The Free-soil Party.%--As a President to succeed Polk was to be elected in 1848, the two great parties did their best to keep the troublesome question of slavery out of politics. When the Whig convention met, it positively refused to make a platform, and nominated General Zachary Taylor of Louisiana, and Millard Fillmore of New York, without a statement of party principles.

When the Democratic convention met, it made a long platform, but said nothing about slavery in the territories, and nominated Lewis Ca.s.s of Michigan and William O. Butler.

This refusal of the two parties to take a stand on the question of the hour so displeased many Whigs and Wilmot-Proviso Democrats that they held a convention at Buffalo, where the old Liberty party joined them, and together they formed the "Free-soil party." They nominated Martin Van Buren and Charles F. Adams, and in their platform made four important declarations:

1. That Congress has no more power to make a slave, than to make a king.