The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 18, July 1914 - April, 1915 Page: 1

THE
SOUTHWESTERN HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
VOL. XVIII* JULY, 1914 No. 1
The publication committee and the editors disclaim responsibility for views expressed by
contributors to THE QUARTERLY.
THE EARLY SENTIMENT FOR THE ANNEXATION OF
CALIFORNIA: AN ACCOUNT OF THE GROWTH
OF AMERICAN INTEREST IN CALI-
FORNIA, 1835-1846
I
ROBERT GLASS CLELAND
FOREWORD
For a decade prior to the Mexican War, a well-defined move-
ment for the annexation of California was developing in the
United States. Various writers have given some attention to
isolated incidents properly belonging to this movement, but hith-
erto no one has traced its growth in any systematic or connected
way. To do this is the aim of the following discussion. In it,
after roughly outlining the various ways in which California
was first brought to the attention of the American people, I
have devoted considerable space to the efforts made by Jackson,
Tyler, and Polk to purchase the province from Mexico; to popu-
lar interest throughout the United States in its acquisition;
and to the growth of emigration from the western states. I
have considered it worth while, also, to show the effect of cur-
rent rumors that one or more European nations were seeking to
secure a foothold in the province; and to add a chapter on the
influence of slavery upon the American program. To local affairs
*Volumes I-XV published as THE QUARTERLY of the Texas State His-
torical Association.