The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1856-02-21
d. c..
For the National Era.
nFcADE or THE SLAVE POWER.

.ruE PRESERVATION, PROPAGATION, AND PER
prgrtNrIoN OF SLAVERY, THE VITAL AND
ANINATING SPIRIT OF THE NATIONAL GOV
TRNMENT~-JoHN QUINcY ADAMS
No. 4.
The freebooters beat the Government troops
under Santa Anna at ST. Jacinto, in April,
1896. Claiming the Province of Texas, with
underlined boundaries, as the fruit of this ex-
ploit, and organizing aprovisional Government
over it as an independent nation, they proceed
ed without delay to the execution of the ute
rior scheme OF introducing it into the commu-
r;,v Of the United States With General Hous-
,on. of tennessee, and General Hamilton, of
South Carolina, at its head the two-penny Re-
nnbic made proposal of annexation in the
sun,oer Of 1887. But Mr.. Van Buren's eau
tious policy shrank from the undertaking, as
orsnature. The Northern Democrats had not
vet been sufficiently indoctrinated, and could
MT b. relied upon to favor it. The finances
and currency were in the confusion consequent
upou the withdrawal of the Treasury deposits
fr,n the United States Bank the local banks,
al over the country, had stopped payment !;
aud the ways and means for that war with
Mexico. which might be expected from the
t,r,nAl adoption of her stolen province, were
n,t easily forthcoming. So the Georgian, Mr.
FORSYTH. Mr. Van Buren's Secretary of State,
informed the Texan Envoy, in An edifying hom
il,. that the question of the annexation of
foreign independent State to the United States
had never before been presented to this Gov
eminent" and that, powerful and weighty as
,rere the inducements mentioned by General
Hunt. they were light when opposed in the
scale of reason to treaty obligations, and re-
spect for that integrity of character by which
the United States had sought to distinguish
themselves"
Six years passed, while the sleepless Slave
Power watched the favorable moment for an
other comp detat. The revenue and treasury
had got in working order under the new sys-
tenn; by the usual arts the popular mind had
been in some degree famiiiarized to the mon
slrous scheme in contemplation; snd the ma
chinery OF party had by master hands been ad-
iasted for carrying it out. In the summer Of
lS43, Mr. Tyler made Mr.. Upshur, of Virginia
his Secretary OF State Mr.. Upshnr had reach
81 the age Of fiity-one, unknown to the country
when, in 1871, he had been placed at the head
Of the Navy Department But Mr.. Tyler knew
his man. The confirmation of the Slave Power
by the help Of Texas was Mr.. Upshurs % one
idea" Twelve years before his appearance in
the Federal Cabinet, he had argued, in the Vir-
ginia Convention, "The value of slaves, as an
article of property, depends much on the state
OF the market abroad. If it should be our lot
50 acquire the country of Texas their price will
rise. 1T his death, AFTER seven months, it ap-
Ie4red TIA; he lad not been a fortnight in the
State Department before he had reopened the
question Of the adoption of Texas into the
Union. He pretended to have learned, through
letter from Mary Wander in London, that the
British Government had entered into an agree
ment with an emissary from Texas for the abo-
lition of Slavery (which had been re-establish-
Ell since the revolution) in that country. 1t is
Of little consequence, as to the main issue, to
say that the letter, when afterwards called for
by the Senate, was not TO be found nor is it of
much more, to add that Lord Aberdeen denied,
an the most express terms, that the British
government had been party to any transac-
ion cl the kind. 1t served Mr.. Upshur as
prctext for writing august 8th) to the Ameri-
can Chargc in Texas, that "the establishment,
IN the very midst of our slaveholding States, of
an independent Government forbidding the ex-
','ence of Slavery, and by people born, for
the most part, among US, reared in our habits.
and speaking our language, could not fail to
produce the most unhappy effects upon both
parties. If Texas were in that condition, her
territory would afford ready refuge for the
iertye slaves of Louisiana and Arkansas, and
would hold out to them an encouragement to
run away" at is not to be supposed that a
people conscious Of the power to protect them
selves would long submit to such state of
'mags. They would assume the right to re-
CAIN their slaves by force, and for that pur-
pose would invade the Territory of Texas"
The occasion FOR this menacing language was,
mat IN the six years since their reluctant re-
pulse by Mr. Van Buren's Government, many
Of the people of Texas had altered their minds
respecting the desirableness Of absorption into
Inc American Union. The inactivity of Mex
len had encouraged them to think that they
could take care of themselves German and
"her recent emf grants were indisposed to re-
't'ye the yoke of the Slave Power, which they
''Shtly Judged that annexation would fasten
upon them. while it made them the instruments
a.l,-fa nj
many o the active spirits, who had looked to
promotion, thought the prospect Of it most
promising in an independent State. Under
,heSe circumstances, the measure moved on
.'1 slowly for Mr.. Upshur's impatient wishes,
,i' he was iain to write January l6, l844) to
Ns' representative in Texas, for the instruction
he Government of that country" The
,'St measure OF the new emigrants, as soon as
,,'ey snail have sufficient strength, will be to
'geroy that great domestic institution upon
i"Su 50 much of the prosperity of our country
,'epene=.' "If Texas should not
We attached to the United States, she cannot
MAINTAIN that institution ten years, and proba-
"y not half that time. You will readily per-
IeNe that with such causes as those at work, a
.'nS continuance of peace between that coun-
~ aAd the United States is absolutely impos-
sbie War is inevitable"
Sucn Appliances, texas, In TINS stage
u 'ee business, more sinned against than sim
my eoncuded a treaty for her admission into
'ne American Union. The arrangement thus
natured ~ the Secretary and his wretched
master, first came to the public knowledge after
ur' pshurs sudden death, and Mr.. Calhoun
accession to his place. Mr.. Calhoun wrote to
'he British Minister, april 27th,) that " it was
-'Ale necessary, IN order to preserve domestic
Institutions placed under the guaranty of the
respective Constitutions of the two countries
Interested. and deemed essential To their safety