The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 28, July 1924 - April, 1925 Page: 2
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: Southwestern Historical Quarterly and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Texas State Historical Association.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Southwestern Historical Quarterly
against the slave power and drew authority from them, in turn,
to ballast his own productions; and historians for half a century
rested complacently on both, with no uncomfortable pricking of
the inquisitive, critical instinct which they applied to the analysis
of other sources and other subjects.
The very plausibility of the argument disarmed skepticism: (1)
When the echoes of the battle for the admission of Missouri had
subsided, southern statesmen found themselves possessed of eighty-
two votes in the House of Representatives against a hundred and
five from the free states, and with only the narrow point of the
sprawling V-shaped Louisiana Purchase from which to recruit
new slave states to maintain the indispensable balance in the Sen-
ate. But north and west of Missouri stretched the vast open mouth
of the V, inviting the indefinite multiplication of free states. The
next year saw the beginning of the Anglo-American movement to
Texas. For the most part, emigrants went directly from the slave
states. A fair proportion owned slaves, whom they took with them.
The purpose was obvious, was it not, to fasten the hold of slavery
on the province and trust to future machinations to bring it into
the United States? Individuals need not be, and perhaps were
not, conscious of this; but they were active instruments, none the
less, it was implied, of the malignant, farseeing slavocracy. (2)
The emigrants evaded every attempt of Mexico to exclude slavery
from Texas and, when strong enough to dare, it was said, once
convinced that the government would not sell the province to the
United States, they declared its independence. (3) The revolu-
tionary constitution of the new republic guaranteed slavery and
permitted importation of slaves from the United States-which
proved, did it not, that that had been the object of the revolution?
(4) The Texans drew their strength for the war with Mexico
from the United States--from slaveholders in the south and land
speculators in the north, it was alleged-and President Jackson,
a slave owner himself and the tool of slavocrats, it was charged,
winked at violations of neutrality and even permitted a military
occupation of Mexican territory in order to intimidate the Mexican
army and prevent the complete overthrow of the rebels. (5) At
their first general election, in which recent volunteers from the
United States enjoyed the franchise, the Texans voted almost
unanimously for annexation. (6) We recognized their independ-
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 28, July 1924 - April, 1925, periodical, 1925; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101087/m1/6/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.