The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1844-04-04


f port, with instructions "to report in full
as to the merits of the question; and this
was proposed to be amended so as to in
struct the committee to report joint
resolution for annexation; whereupon
Mr.. ADAMS moved an amendment, to
the effect of instructing the committee to
report the following resolutions, viz:
Resolved, That the power of an
nexing the People of any Independent
foreign Stale to this Union is power
not delegated by the Constitution ofthe
United States to their Congress or to
any department of their Government,
but reserved by the people"
Resolved, That any attempt by act
Of Congress, or by treaty. to annex the
Republic of Texas to this Union would
be usurpation of power, unlawful and
void: and which 1t would De the right
and the duty Of The FREE People Of the
Union 10 resist and annui."
Upon these resolutions Mr.. ADAMS
made speech, which will be long re-
membered by those who heard 1t; in
which he exposed and denounced with
scathng severity, the whole Texian
movement, and the duplicity of the ad-
ministration in regard to it.
The sudden and extraordinary recog-
milton of 1exian Independence, follow
ed by the responsive application Of
Texas to the Union, had aroused the
people to sense of the danger. This
wakefulness Of the public mind sugges-
ted to the managers the expediency Of
a non-committal policy, for season;
and the Report Of the Committee of For
eign Relations was the result. Mr.
ADAMS resolutions took the bull by the
horns; and his speech which was contin
ued during fragments of the morning
hour" from the 10th of June to the 18th
of July, being the close Of the session,
gave, for the time being, an eliectual
quietus to the project for annexation. The
session closed, pending Mr.. ADAMS
speech and no action was ever had upon
his resolutions; nor do the Journals of
Congress present any trace OF the an
nexa,ion movement for three years after!
But the project was not abandoned.
The PanGora's Box, as MIR. ADAMS call
ed it, was again opened by the presen-
tation to Congress at the session of
l84l 2, of resolutions Of Alabama, Mis-
sissippi and Tennessee in favor of an
nexation. No action Of Congress fol-
lowed these movements; but they were
accompanied by a sympathetic move
ment on the part Of numerous Southern
presses, and followed by an extraordin-
airy speech in Congress by Mr.. Wise in
favor Of annexation; and an equally ex-
traordinary letter from Gov. GiImer,
member OF Congress from Virginia to the
same edect-both which shall, hereaf-
ter more particularly notice.
| come now 20 the purpose of the an
nexation movement. From its COM
mencement to this hour, 1t has obeyed a
single impulse-that ola determination TO
sustain the s!aUe power. OF this l will,
as briefly as possible, present the evidence.
By the Constitution Of Mexico, adopted
in 1924, it was declared that no person
should thereafter "be born, or introduced,
as slave into the Mexican nation" -
The abolition OF slavery thus made pros
peciye only, was rendered absolute and
complete OIL the 18th of September 1929
the anniversary Of Mexican lndepend-
ence.
| The abolition of slavery in Mexico
brought in contact with the South, anoth-
er frontier of freedom. How shonld tina,
frontier with al! its aHti-slavery influence
be removed and how should the barrier
10 emigration with slaves, be thrown
down? were questions which came 10
agitate extensively the Southern mind.-
A MIGRATION furnished the answer. And
it furnished an answer TO another question
where shall be found territory for The
manufacture Of !Sl0ue States for this Ua-
ioa?
Thomas FL. Benton, United States Sen
ator from Missouri, pated in the
discussions OF the subject; and in series
of essays, under the signature of "Ameri-
canus," published at St. Louis, urged the
importance of the acquisition of Texas,
expressly on the ground OF the space and
advantages which the country "would al
ford for the future existence Of slace
es."-nine Of which, he said, might
be formed from it, "as large as Ken
tuckv." The juxtaposiion with the
slave holding States Of ID non-holding EN-
pre, was also urged by him as a motive
Tor the acquisition. These essays, TO use
the language of a South Carolina paper
OF that date, operated upon the public
mind in the West with electrical force and
rapidly" The whole South was moved
by the same impulse. Here is one
among the many evidences of it. A
Charleston paper observed: "Lt is not i'm
probable that he president Jackson) is
now examining the pronrjetV and Draclica-