The Junior Historian, Volume 25, Number 1, September 1964 Page: 1
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* THE JUNIOR HISTORIAN
*
VOL. XXV, No. 1 AUSTIN, TEXAS SEPTEMBER, 1964
THOMAS HART BENTON AND THE
ANNEXATION OF TEXAS
by CATHY COTNER
Stephen F. Austin High School, AustinHE QUESTION of the annexation
of Texas began as a relatively in-
significant problem in national pol-
itics of the United States but developed
into a major issue spanning several years
prior to the War Between the States. Fol-
lowing the Louisiana Purchase, it was ex-
pected that one day Texas would be a
part of the Union as either a state or ter-
ritory. Then, under the Adams-Onis
Treaty of 1819, Spain ceded Florida to
the United States in exchange for recog-
nition that Spain controlled Texas.
In 1821, Mexico, through revolution,
gained its independence from Spain, tak-
ing sole control of Texas. In 1836, Texas
freed itself from Mexico. The United
States Senate was then faced with the
problem of recognition or possible annex-
ation. Until Texas was annexed to the
United States, the republic was an actual
or potential bone of contention between
the United States, Mexico, Great Britain,
and possibly France.
Mexico refused to recognize the battle
of San Jacinto as final and constantly de-
clared its intention to reconquer Texas.
Annexation, therefore, possibly might
lead to war with Mexico. Financial inter-
ests in Mexico, the desire to abolish slav-
ery, and trade aims caused England's pol-
icy toward Mexico and Texas to be
against annexation of the republic by the
United States. Evidence shows that the
British government had no interest in
making Texas a part of its empire but
contemplated the idea of establishing a
protectorate over the new republic to
guarantee its independence and thus, to
prevent annexation by the United States.The French policy was not aggressive and
that country followed England in wanting
to stop American annexation.
While in St. Louis in 1829, Senator
Thomas Hart Benton again took up the
problem of the Texas region. He wrote
two long articles for a local paper, the
Beacon, in which he renewed an earlier
charge that Secretary of State John Q.
Adams had thrown away an area equal
to all of seven states, and Benton urged
that the "lost" expanses be regained by
"purchase" from Mexico. These articles,
along with others, aroused interest in the
Southwest, but the Texas question actual-
ly did not come before the American
public until 1836, when the Texas Revo-
lution erupted and found a leader in a
friend of Senator Benton and President
Andrew Jackson-General Sam Houston.
Several years before, Benton had said:
"It is time that Western men had some
share in the destinies of this Republic."
As a distinguished senator from Missouri,
Benton would risk political oblivion for
the practical aspects and ideals in which
he believed. He was a follower of Andrew
Jackson, even long before the election of
1828, and he would become President
Jackson's majority leader and voice of
the administration in the Senate.
Meanwhile the question of annexation
brought John C. Calhoun "into the Sen-
ate waving the banner of slavery despite
T. H. Benton's efforts to haul it down."
By 1836, several abolitionists were de-
claring that the annexation issue was a
plot "to extend slavery and increase
Southern power." That fear had no real
basis then, because by 1832, Mexican law
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Texas State Historical Association. The Junior Historian, Volume 25, Number 1, September 1964, periodical, September 1964; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth391335/m1/3/: accessed August 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.