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MESSAGE
ts TIE RESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
DECEMBERS, 1843.
FeUam-cilfsens of the Senate
and of the House of Representatives :■
la resuming your labors in ihe service of
•lie people, it is a subject of congratub tion
that there has been uu period in our past his
tury, when all the elements of national pros
perity have been so luliv devcloDed. Since
your last session no afi2 cling dispensation
fias visited our country ; general goed health l
has prevailed; abundance has crowned the
toil of the husbandman; and labor in ail its
branches is receiving an ample reward.
whJe education, science, and the arts are
rap dly enlarging the means of snci -1 happi
ness. Ihe progress of our country in iter
career of greatness, not only in the vast ex-,
tention of our territorial limits and t tie rapid
increase of our population, but hi resources
and wealth, mi<l in me happy condition of
*ur people, is without example iu the histo
ry of natious.
As the wisdom, strength, and beneficence
<tf our free institutions are unfolded, every
day adds fresh motives to contentment, and
IKsh incentives to patriotism.
Our devout and sincere acknowledgments
are due to the graciou- Giver o! all good, lor
the numberless blessings winch our beloved
country enjoys,
It is a sou-ce of high satisfaction to know
that the relat on* of the United .Slates with
£ll otner natious, with a single exception,
are of the uulst amicable character. Sin
cerely attached to the policy of peace, early
adopted and steadily pursued by this govern
t'ieuf, I hare anxiously de-Jrcd to cultivate
hod cherish friendship and commerce with
every foreign Power. The spirit and iiabiis
<4* the American people are favorable to the
maintenance of such international harmony.
1 1 adhering to tins wise policy, a preliminary
and piramouiit dutvobviously consists in the
protection ot our national mleceets fiom en
croachment oi sacrih'-e, and our national hon
or from reproach. These must be maintain
ed at any liazird. They admit of bo com
promise or neglect. and must tfcgcttlpdlnusly
and constantly guarded. In their vigilant
vindication, collision and ctinfl ct witii for
eign Powers may sometimes become una
voidable. Such has beea our scrupulous ad
herence to the dictates of justice, in all our
foreign intercourse, that, though steadily
and rapidly advancing in prosperity and
power, we have given no just cause of com
plaint lo any nation, and have enjoyed the
blessings of peace tor morethauihirty years.
From a policy so sacred to humanity, and so
Halu'ary in its effects upon our pulincal sys
tem, we sh >ulJ never be induced voluntarily
to depart.
The existing war with Mexico was neith
er desired nor provoked by the United Stales.
On the contrary, all honorable means were
resorted to to aver: it. After years of endu
rance of aggravated ad unredresaed wrongs
on our part. Mexico, in violation of solemn,
treaty stipulations, and of every principle ol
justice iecognised by civilized nations, com
menced hostilil.es ; and thus, by her own
act, forced the war upon us. Longbeforei
the advance of our army to the left bank ot
tfce Rio Grande, we had ample cause of war
against Mexico; and had the Un.ted States
resorted to this extremity, we might have
appealed €o‘ttie whole civilized world tor the
ju-’ice of our cause.
1 deem tt to ce my duly to present to you,
cm the present occasion, a condensed review
of the injuries we had sustained, of the cau
aes which led to the war, and of its progress
rinee its commencement. This is rendered
more necessary because of the misapprehen
sions which have to some exteut prevailed as
to i> origin and i rue character. The war has i
hreorepresented as unjust and unnecessary,
mad as one of aggressi'tfi on our part upou a
weak aud injured enemy. Such erroneous
views, though entertained by but few, have
been widely and extensively circula ed not
<Mlf at home, hut have been spread through
out Mexico and the whole world. A more
effectual means could not have been devised
lo encourage the enemy and protract the war
thao to advocate and adhere to their cause,
and thus give them “aid and comfort.”
It is a source of naiiooal pride and exulta
tioa, that the great body of our |>eople have
thrown do such obstacles iu the way of the
government in prosecuting the war success-
but have shown the.nselves jo heeini*
neatly patriotic, and ready to vindicate the.r
country’s honor aud interests al any sacrifice.
The alacrity and promptness with which our
volunteer forces rushed to the field on their
country's call, prove not only their patriotism,
Out tbeir deep couvicuon that our cause is
just.
The wronga which we have suffered from
Mexico almost ever since she became an in
dependent Power, and the patient endurance
with which we have borne them, are without
m parallel in the history of modem civilized
na*tous. There is reason to believe that it
these wrongs bad been resisted
in the first instance, the present war might
have been avoided’ One outrage, however,
permitted to pass with impunity, almost ne
cessarily encouraged the perpeiraiion of an
other, until at last Mexico seemed ;o attri
bute to weakness aud indecision on our part
m forbearance which was the offspring ot
Magnanimity, and a sincere desire to preserve
friendly relations with a sister republic.
Scarcely had Mexico achieved her inde
pendence, which the United States weie
the first among the uaiious lo acknowledge,
wkrn ite commence*! the system ut imuit
and spoliation, which she has ever since pur
sued- Our ci izeui-engagpff iu lawful tutu
the Columbus {Times.
VOLUME VI.
metre were imprisoned, their vessels seized,
and our flagr maul ted in her porls. If money
was wanted, the lawless seizure and confia
cation of our merchant vessels and their car
ies was a ready resojrce; and if to accom-
P 1 . t,,eir purposes it became necessary to*
imprison the owners, captains, and crews, ii
was done. Rule-s superseded rulers in Mex
ico in rapid succe-sion, but still there was no
change in this system of depredation. The
government of the United Slates made re
peated reclamations on behalf of its citizens
but these were answered by the perpetration
of new outrages. Promises of redress made
by Mexico m the most solemn forms were
postponed iv evaded. The files and record*
ul the Department of Slate contain conclu
sive proofs of numerous lawless acis perpe
trated upon the property and persons of out
citizens by Mexico, and of wanton insults to
our national flag. Ihe interposition of our
government to obtain redress was again and
again invyked, under circumstances which no
nation ought to disregard.
It was hoped that these outrages would
cease, and that Mexico would be restrained
by the laws which regulate the conduct of
civil.zed nations in their intercourse with
each other after (he treaty of amity, com
merce, and navigation of the sth of April,
1831, wa* concluded between the two repub ?
lies; but this hope soon proved to be vain.
The course of seizure and confiscation of the
properly of our citizens, the violation of their
per *uiiß aud the insults to our flag pursued
by Mexico previous to that time, were scarce
ly suspended toreven a brief period, all hough
the treaty so dearly defines the rights and
duties of the respective parlies that Tt is im
possible to misunderstand or mistake them.
In less than seven years after ihe conclusion
of that treaty our grievances had become so
intolerable that, in the opinion of President
Jackson, they should no longer be endured.
In hi* message to Congress in February, 1837,
lie presented them to ihe consideration of
that body, and declared that “ The length of
time since some of the injuries have bee”
committed, the repeated and unavailing ap
plica<iot>6 for redress, the wanton character
ol some of the outrages upon the property
and persons of our citizens, upon ihe officers
and flag of the Un ted Slates, independent o
recent msmlsto ibis government and people
oy the late extraordinary Mexican minister,
would justify in the eyes of all nations imme
diate war. 1 ’ In a spirit of kindness and lor- 1
bearanee, however, he recommended rei risals
as a milder mode of redress. He declared
that war should not be used as a remedy
4 ‘ by just and generous nations, confiding in
iheir strength lor injuries committed, if it can,
he honorably avoided,” and added, “it has
orcuired to me that, considering the present
embarrassed condition of that country, we
should act with both wisdom and moderation,
by giving Mexico one more opportunity to’
alone fur toe past, before we take redress into
our own hands, To avoid all misconception
on the part ol Mexico, as well as to protect
our own national characier from reproach,
th is opportunity shouild be given with (he.
avowed design and full prepara’ion to lake
iirmediat * satisfaction, if itsuould not be ob
tained on a repetition of the demand for it.
l o this end 1 recommend that an act be
passed authorizing reprisals, and the use
of the naval force of the U. Slates, by the.
Executive, against Mexico, to enforce them i
in the event of a refusal by the Mexican gov
ernment to come to an amicable adjustment
of the matters in controversy between us,
upon another demand thereof, made from on
hoard one of our vessels of war on the coasi
of Mexico.”
Committees of both houses of Congress, to
which this message of this President was re
ferred, Iu ly sustained bis views of the char
acter of the wro igs which we had suffered
from Alexico, and recommended that another
demand for redress should be made before
authorizing war or reprisals. The Commit
tee on Foreign Relations of ihe Senate, in
their report, say : “After such a demand,
should prompt justice be refused by the
Mexican government, we may appeal to ail
nations not only tor the equity and modera
lion with which we shall have acted towards
a sister republic, but for the necessity which
will then compel ns to seek redress for our
wrongs, eiliver by -actual war or by reprisals.
The subject will then be presented before
Congress, at the commencement of the next
session, in a clear and distinct form; and the
committee cannot doubt but that such mea
sures will be immediately adopted as may
bo necessary to vindicate the honor of the
country, and insure ample reparation to out
injured citizens.”
. The Committee on Foreign Affiirsof the
House ot Representatives madea similar re
commendation. In their rep >rt, they say that
they “lullv concur with the President that
ample cause exists for taking redress inti our
own hands, and believe that we should be
just,fit din the opinion of other nations for
taking such a step. But they are willing to
try the experiment of another demand, made
in the most solemn form, upon the justice ol
the Mexican governriient, before any further
proceedings are adopted.
No difference of opinion upon the subject is
believed to have existed in Congress at that
time ; thd Executive and Legislative depart,
merits concurred ; and yet such has been
our forbearance, aud desire to preserve peace
with Alexico, ihat ihe wrongs of which we
then complained,and which gave rise to these
solemn proceedings, not only remain unre
dreesed to this day, but additional causes of
complaint, of an aggiavated character, have
ever since been accumulating.
Shortly after these proceedings, a special
messenger was despatched to Mexico, to
make a final demand for redress, and on the
2hh of July, 1837, the demand was made.
The reply of the Mexican*government bears
date on the 29thof the same month, and con
tains assurances of the “anxious wish” of the
Alexican government “not to delay the mo
ment of that final and equitable adjustment
which is to terminate the existing difficulties
between the two government* that “noth
ing should be Jett undone which may contri
bute to the most 6peedy ant. equitable deter
ruination of the subjects which have so sert
uusly engaged the attention of the Ameri an
government; that the *,Mexican government
would adopt, as the only guides for its con
duct, tbe plainest principles of public right,
the sacred obligation* imposed by internation
al law, and the religious iailh of. treaties ,
and that “whatever reason and justice may
dictate respecting each case will be done.
The assurance was further given,that the
decision of the Mexican government upon
each caupe of complaint, for which redress
had been demanded,‘should be communicated
to the governu ent of the U. Stales by the
Mexican mtnistcrat Washington.
These solemn assurances, in answer to
our demand for redress, were d.sregardeff
By making them, however Mex.eo obtained
further delay. President Van Boren, mb*
annual message to Congress of the sth of Utt
1837, states, that “although the larger num
ber” of our demands lor redress, aud ‘many
of them aggravated cases of personal wio"gs,
have been now years before the Mexican
government, and some of the causes ol na
tional complaint, and those of the most offen
sive character, admitted of immediate, sim
ple, and satisfactory replies, ills only within 1
a few days past that any specific communi
cation in answer to our last demand, made
five months ago, has been received from the
Mexican minister ;” and that “for not one
of our public complaints has satisfaction been
given or offered that but one of the cases of
personal wrong has been favorably consider
ed, and that but four cases of both descrip
tions, out of all those formally presented, and
earnestly pressed, have as yet been decided
upon by the Mexican government.” Presi-
Van Bureu, believing ihat it would be vain to
make any further attempt to obtain redress
by the ordinary means within the power of
the Executive, communicated this opinion to
Congress, in the message referred to, in which
be said : “On a careful and deliberate exam
ination of the conteilfs,” (of the correspon
dence with the Mexican government,) “and
considering the spirit manifested by the Mexi
can government, it has become my painful
duty to return the subject as it uow stands,
to Congress, to whom it belongs, to decide
up->n the time, the mode, and the measure of
redress;” Had the U. Slates at that time
adopted compulsory measures, and taken re
dress into their own hands, all our difficulties
*ith Mexico would probably have been long
since adjusted, and the existing war have,
been averted. Magnanimity and modera
tion on our part only had the effect to com
plicate these difficulties, and render an ami
cable settlement of them tire cnoreembarrass
ing. That such measures of redress, under
similar provocations, committed by any pow
erful nations of Europe, would have been
promptly resorted to by the U. States, cannot
be doubted. The national honor, and the
preservation of the national character
throughout the world, as well as our own
self-respect and the protection due to our own
citizens, would have rendered such a resort
indispensable The history of no civilized na
tion in modern times has presented within so
brief a period so many wanton attacksupon the
honor of its flag, and upon the property and
persons of its citizens, as had at that time
been borne by the U. Slates from the Mexi
cen authorities and people. But Mexico was
a B ; ster republic, on the North American
continent, occupying a territory contiguous to
our own, and was in a feeble and distracted
condition ; and these consideration*, it is pre
sumed, induced Congress to forbear still
longer.
Instead of taking redress into out own
hands, anew negotiation was entered upon ,
with fair piomises on the part of Mexico,
but wiih the real purpose, as the event has
proved, of indefinitely postponing the re
paration which we demanded, and which
was so justly due. Tnis negotiation, after
more than a year’s delay, resulted in the
convention of the eleven!li of April. 1839,
“for the adjustment of claims of citizens ol
the United States of America upon the gov
ernment of the Mexican republic.” The
joint board of commissioners created by lliisi
convention to examine and decide upon these
claims was not o ganized until the month of
August, 1840, and under the terms of the
convention they were to terminate their flu-i
lies within eighteen months from ihat time.
Four of the eighteen months were consum
ed in preliminary discussions on frivolous
and dilatory points raised by the Mexican
commissioners; and it was not until the
month of December, 1840, ihat they com
menced ihe examination of the claims of
our citizens upon Mexico. Fourteen months
only remained to examine and decide uponi
these numerous and complicated cases. In
the month of February, 1842, the term of,
ihe commission expired, leaving many
claims undisposed of for want of lime. The
claims of which were allowed by the board,
and by the umpire authorized by the con
vention to decide in case of disagreement l
between ih-e Mexican anJ American com
missioners, amounted to two million twen
ty six thousand one hundred and thirty-nine ;
dollars and sixty-eight cents. There were
pending before the umpire when the com
mission expired, additional claims which
had been examined and awarded by the
American commissioners, and had not been
allowed by the Mexican commissioners,
amounting to nine hundred and twenty
seven dollars and eighty eight cents, upon
which lie did not decide, alleging that his
authority^bad ceased with the termination
ot the joint commission. Besides these
claims, there were others of American citi
zens amounting to three million three bun
died and thirty six thousand eight hundred
and thirty seven dollars and fivecents,vvhich
had been submitted to the board, and u|>on
which they had not time to decide betoie
their final adjournment.
The sum of two million twenty-six thou
sand one huftdred and thirty-nine dollars
and six'v-eight ceirs, which had been awar
ded to the claimants, was a liquidated and
ascertained debt due by Mexico,about which
there could be no dispute, and which she
was bound *.o pay accordiug to the terms ot
the con vent i"rf. Soon after the final award
for this amount had been made, the Mexi
can government asked for a postponement
of the lime of making payment, alleging
that it would be inconvenient to make the
payment at the time stipulated. In the
spirit ol forbearing kindness towards a sis
ter republic, which Mexico had solongabu
sed, the United States promptly complied
wits her request. A second convention was
accordingly concluded between the two gOV
ernments on the 30ih of January. 1843,
which upon its face declares ihat “this new
arrangement is e itered into for the accom
modation of Mexico.” By the teims of
this convention, all the interest due on the
awards which had been made in f a '“ r
the claimants under live convention of ihe
llih of April, 183$, was to be paid to them
onthe3olh of April, 1843. and “the prin
cipal of the said awards, and the in l ®* 6 ®*
accruing thereon,” was stipulated to “ be
paid iu five years, in equal instalments
ty three months.” Notwithstanding •bis
new convention was entered into at th e r€ -
quest of Alexico, and for the purpose of re
lieving her Irom embarrassment, the claim
ants have only received ihe interest due on
the 30th of April, 1843. and three of the 20
instalments. Although tlie payment of the
sum thus liquidated, aud contessedly due by
Mexico to our citizens as indemnity for ac
ktiowledged acts of outrage and wroug.was
secured by treaty, the obligations of which
ate ever held sacred by all just natious, yet
Mexico has violated this solemn engage
ment by failing and refusing to make the
payment. The two instalments due in
April and July, 1844, tlr.der the peculiar
circumstances connected with them, have
been assumed by the United States and dis
charged to the claimants, but iliev are still
due bv Mexico. Bui this is not all of which
uc have just cause of Complaint. To pio-
THK UNION OF THE STATES, AND THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE STATES.
COLUMBUS, GA. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1846.
vide a remedy by the claimants whose cases
were not decided by ttin joint commission
under the convention of April the 11th, ’3B,
it was expressly stipulated by the sixth ar
ticle of the convention of the 30th of Janu
ary, 1843, lha “ anew convention shall be
entered into for the settlement of all claims
of the government and citizens of the Uni
ted States against the republic of Mexico
which were not finally decided by the late
commission, which met in the city of Wash
ington, and of all claims of the government
and citizens of Mexico against the United
States.”
In conformity with this stipulation, a 3d
convention was concluded and sighed at the
city of Mexico on the 20th of November,
1843, by the plenipotentiaries of the two
governments, by which provision was made
for ascertaining aud paying these claims.
In January, 1844, this convention was rati
fied by the Senate of the United States w ith
two amendments, which were manifestly
reasonable in their character. Upon are
ference of the amendment proposed to the
government of Mexico, the same evasions,
difficulties, and delays, were interposed
which have so long walked the policy of
that government towards the United States.
It has not even yet decided whether it would
or would not accede to them, although the
subject has been repeatedly pressed upon
its consideration.
Mexico has thus violated a second time
the faith of treaties, by failing or refusing
to carry into effect the sixth article of the
convention of January, 1843.
Such is the history of the wrongs which
■we bavesuffered and patiently endured from
Mexico through a long series of years. So
far from affording reasonable satisfaction for
the injuries and insults we had borne, a
great aggravation of them consists in the
Fact, that, while the United States, anxious
to preserve a good understanding wi h Mex
ico, have been constantly, but vainly, em
ployed in seeking redress for past wrongs,
new outrages were constantly occurring,
which have continued to increase our causes
of complaint and to swell the amount of
our demands. While the citizens of the
United States were conducting a lawful
commerce with Mexico under the guaranty
of a treaty of “amity, commerce, and nav
igation,” many of them have suffered all
the injuiies which would have resulted from
open war. This treaty, instetid of affording
protection to our citizens, has been the
means of inviting them into the ports of
Mexico, that they might be, as they have
been in numerous instances, plundered of
their property and deprived of their person
al liberty if they dared insist on their rights.
Hid the unlawful seizures of American
property, and the violation of personal lib
erty of uur citizens, to say nothing of the
insults to our flag which have occurred in
the ports of Mexico, taken place on the high
seas, they would themselves long since have,
constituted a stale of actual war between
the two countries. In so long suffering Alex
ico to v.olale her most solemn treaty obli
gations. plunder our citizens of their prop
erly, and imprison their persons without
affording them any redress, we have failed
to perform one of the first and highest du
ties w'kich every government owes to its
citizens; and the consequence has been,
that many of them have been reduced
from a state of affluence to bankruptcy.
The proud name of American citizen,which
ought to protect all who bear if from insult
and injury throughout the world, has affotd
ed no such protection to our citizens in Mex
ico. We had ample cause of war against
Alexico long before the breaking out of hos
tilities. But even then we forbore to take
redress into our own hands, until Mexico
herself became the aggressor by invading
our soil in hostile array and shedding the
blood of our citizens.
Such are the grave causes of complaint
on the part of the United Slates against
Alexico—causes which existed long before
the annexation of T exas to the American
Union; and yet, animated by the love of
peace, and a magnanimous moderation, we
did not adopt those measures of redress
which, under such circumstances, are the
justified resort of injured nations.
The annexation of Texas to the United
Ststes constituted no just cause of offence to
Mexico. ‘The pretext lhal it did so is whol
ly inconsistent, and irreconcilable with well
authenticated facts connected wiih the rev
olution by which Texas became indepen
dent of Alexico. That this may be ihe
more maniiest. it may be proper to advert
to the causes and to the history of the prin
cipal events < f that revolution.
Texas constituted a poriion of the ancient
province of Louisiana, ceded to the Uniied
States by France in ihe year 1803. In the
year 1819, the United Stales, Ly ihe Flori
da treaty, ceded lo Spain all mat pail of
Louisiana within the present limits of Tex
as: and Mexico, by the revolution which
separated her from Spain, and rendered htt
an independent nation, succeeded lo the
tights of the mother country over this ter
ritory. In the year 1824, Alexico establ.sh
ed a federal constitution, under which the
Mexican republic was composed of a num
ber of sovereign States, confederated to
gether in a federal Union similartoour own.
Each of these Slates haditsmvn Executive,
legislature, and judiciary, and, forallexc* pi
federal purposes, was as independent of the
general government, and that of the other
S’ates, as is Pennsylvania or Virginia under
onr constitution. Texas and Coahuila uni
ted and formed one of these Alexican Stales.
The State constitution which they adopted,
and which was approved by the Alexican
confederacy, asserted that they were “iree
and independent of the other Mexican Uni
ted Stales, and of every other power and
dominion whatsoever;” and proclaimed the
great principle of human liberty, that “the
sovereignty of the State resides originally
and essentially in the general mass of the
individuals who compose it.” To the gov
eminent under this constitution, as well as
to that under the federal constitution, the
people ol Texasowed allegiance.
Emigrants from foreign countries, inclu
ding the Uniied States, were invued by the
colonization laws of the State and of the
federal government to settle in Texas. Ad
vantageous terms were offered lo induce
them lo leave their own country and become
Mexican citizens. This invitation was ac
cepted by many af our citizens, in the full
faitn that in their new’ home they would be
governed by law’s enacted by representa
tives elected by themselves, and that their
lives, liberty, and properly would be protec
ted by codstitutiolial gnaraniees -similar to
those which existed in the republic they had
left. Under a government thus organized
they continued until the year 1835, when a
military revolution broke out in the citv of
Al exico, which entirely subvened the feder
al and State constitutions, and placed a mil
itary dictator at the head of the govern
menu
By a sweeping decree of a Congress sub
ervient to the will of the dictator, the sev
eral State constitutions were abolished,,and
the Slates themselves converted into mere
departments of the Central Government.
The people of Tetxas were unwilling to
submit to this usurpation. Resistance to
such tyranny became a high duty. Texas
was fully absolved fiom all allegiance to
the Centtal Government of Alexico from
ihe moment that government had abolished
her State constitution, and in its place sub
stituted an arbitrary and despotic Central
Government.
Such were the principal causes of the
Texan revolution. The people of Texas
at once determine! |>on resistance, and
flew to arms. In the midst of these impor
tant and exciting events, however, they did
not omit to place their libet ties upon a secure
and permanent foundation. They elected
members to a convention, who, in die month
of March, 1836, issued a formal declaration
that their “ political connexion with the
Alexican nation has forever ended, and that
the people of Texas do now constitute a
FREE, SOVEREIGN, and INDEPENDENT RE
PUBLIC, and are fully invested with all the
tights and attributes which properly belong
to independent nations.” Tney also adopted
for their government a liberal republican
constitution. About the same time, Santa
Anna, then the dicator of Alexico, invaded
Texas with a numerous army for the pur
pose of subduing her people, and enforcing
obedience to his arbitrary and despotic gov
ernment. On the 21st of April, 1836, he
was met by the Texan citizen soldiers, and
on that day was achieved by them the me
morable victory of Sari Jacinto, by which
they conquered their independence. Con
sidering the numbers engaged on the re
spective sides, history does not record a
more brilliant achievement. Santa Anna
himself was among the captives.
In the month of May, 1836, Santa Anna
acknowledged, by a treaty with the Texan
authorities, in the most solemn form, “the
lull, entire, and perfect independence of the
republic of Texas.” It is true he was then
a prisoner of war, but it is equally true that
he has failed to reconquer Texas, and had
met with signal defeat; that his authority
had nht been revoked, and that by virtue of
this treaty he obtained his personal release.
By it hostilities were suspended, and the
army which had invaded Texas under his
command returned in pursuance of this ar
rangement, unmolested, to Mexico.
From the day that the battle of San Ja
cinto was fought until the present, hour,
Mexico has never possessed the. power to
reconquer Texas, in the language of the
Secretary of State, of the United States, in a
despatch to our minister in Mexico, under
date of the eighth of July, 1842, “Alexico
may have chosen to consider Texas as hav
ing been at all times since 1535, and as still
continuing, a rebellious province; but the
world has been obliged to take a very dif
ferent view of the matter. From the time
of the battle of San Jacinto, in April, 1836,
to the pieseut moment, Texas has exhibited
the same external signs of national indepen
deuce aslVlexico herself, and with quite as
much stability of government. Practically
free and independent, acknowledged as a po
litical sovereignty by the principal Powers
of the world, no hostile foot finding rest with
•n her territory lor 6 or 7 years, and Alexi
co herseJf refraining for all that period from
any further attempt to re establish her own
authority over that territory, tt cannot but ‘
he surmising to find Mr. de Bocanegra”
(the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico)
•‘complainingihat for that whole period citi
zens of the United States, or its government,
nave been favoring the rebels of Texas,
and supplying them with vessels, annnuni
tion, and money, as if the war for thereduc
ion of the province of Texas had been con
-tantly prosecuted by Alexico, aud her suc
cess prevented by these influences frorna
broad ” In the same despatch the Secreta- ;
ry ol State affirms that “since ISB7 the Uni
ed Stales has regarded Texas as an ince
pendent sovereignty, as much as Mexico;
and that trade and commerce wi'h citizens
of a government at war with Mexico can
not, on that account, be regarded as an in
tercourse by which assistance and succoi
are given to Mexican rebels. The whole
current of Mr. de Bocanegra’s remarks runs
in the same direction, as if the independence
of Texas had not been acknowledged. Ii
been acknowledged—it was acknowl
edged in 1837, against the remonstrance and
protest of Aiextco; and must of the acts ol
any importance, of which Mr. de Bocanegra
complains, fl >w necessarily from that recog
nition. He speaks of Texas as s'i I being
•an integral part of the territory of the AJexi
can republic;’ hut he cannut hut understand
ihat the United Stales do not so regard it.—
The real complaint of Alexico, therefore, is,
in substance, neither more nor less than a
complaint against the recognition of Texan
independence. It maybe thought rathei
late to repeat that complaint, and not quite
just to confine it to the Untied States, to
the exemption of England, France, and Bel
gium, unless the United States, having been
ihe first to acknowledge the indepen
dence of Alexico herself, are ot be blamed
lor setting anexampie lor the recogni
tion of that of Texas.” And he add
ed. that “the constitution, public practise
and the laws obliged the President to re
gard Texas as an independent territory as no
part ol lie territory of Alexico.” Texas bad
been an ind- pended Biate, with an organ
ized government, defying the power of Alex
ico to reconquer her, for more than ten years
before commenced the present war against
the United States. Texas had given such
evidence to the world of her ab'lity tomain
tain her separate existence as an indepen
dent nation, that she had been formally re
cognised as suck, not only by the United
Slates, but by several of the principal Pow
ers of Europe. These powers had entered
into treat e of amity, commerce, and naviga
tion with her.. They had received and cred
ited her ministers and oilier diplomatic agent.-
at their respective courts, and they had com
missioned ministers and diplomatic -agents
on their part Id*the government of Texas.—
If Alexico, notwithstanding all rhie, and her
utter inability to subdue or reconquer Tex
as, still stubbornly refused so recognise her
as an independent nation, she was none the
less so on that account.’ Alexico herseJt
had been recognised as an independent ra
riun by the United Slates, .and by other
Poweis, many years’ belofe Spam, of which
before her revolution, bad bCen a colony,
would agree to recognise her as such, and
yet Alexico was at that time, iu the estima
tion of the civilized wor'd, and iu lact,
none the Jess an mdeneiu ent power because
Spain stiil claimed her as a colony. If Spa n
had continued until tl3 present period tu as
set t that Mexico was one of her Colonies,
in rebellion against her,’ this would not have
made Iter so. or changed tlie fact <f her
mdepeudent existence. Texas, at the pe
tuxi ol her annexation to the Uniied States,
NUMBER 51.
bore th? same relation o Mexico that Mex
ico had borne to Spain for many years be
fore Spain acknowledged her independence,
with this important difference-—that, before
the annexation of Texas to the United
States was consummated, Mexico herself,
by a formal act of her government, had ac
knowledged the independence of Texas as
a nation, ft is true, that in the vet of re
cognition site prescribed a condition, which
she had. t)o power or authority to impose,
that Texas should not annex herself to any
other Power;but this could not detract in
any degree Irom the recognition winch Mex
ico then made of her actual independence
Upon this plain statement of facts, it is ab
surd tor Mexico to allege as a pretext fit
commencing hostilities against the United
Siaes, that Texas is still a part of her terri
tory..
But thereafe those who, conceding all this
to be true, assume the ground twit the tru r
western boundary of Texas is the Nueces,
instead of the Rio Grande; and that, there
fore, in inarching our army on the east bank
of the 1 itter liver, we passed the Texan lute,
and invaded the territory ofMexiCo. „ A sim
pie statements o.'facts, known to exist, will
conclusively refute such an assumption.—
Texas, as ceded to the United States by
Fiance in 1803, has been always claimed as
extending west to the Rio Grande, or Rio
Bravo. Tilts fact is established by the au
thorily of our most eminent statesman at a
period when the question was as well if not
better unders'oort than it is at present.-
During Mr. Jefferson’s administration, Mes
rs. Monroe and Pickney, who had been
sent on a special mission to Madrid, charged
among other things, with the adjustment of
boundary between the two countries, in a
note addressed to t’ e Spanish Minister o(
Foreign affairs, under oa'e of the 28 h of
January, 1805, assertthat the boundaries id
Louisiana, as ceded to the United States by
Franee, “are the river Perdido on the east,
and the river Bravo on the wes’;” and they
add, that “the fic?B and principles which
justify the conclusion are so satisfactory
u>our government as to convince it that the
United States have not a better right to the
island of New Orleans, under the cession
referred to, than they have to the whole
district of territory which is above describ
ed.”
Down lo (lie conclusion of the Florida
treaty, m February, 1019, by which this
territory was ceded to Spain, the United
States asserted and maintained their terri
lorial rights to this extent. In the month of
June, 1819, during Mr. Monroe’s adrmnis
tration, information having been received
that a number of loreign adventurers had
landed, at Galveston, with the avowed pur
pose of forming a settlement in that viucini
ty, a- specjal messenger was ,despatched
by the government of the- United States,
with instruction from the Secretary of State
to warn them to desist, should, they be found
there “or any other place .north of the Rio
Bravo, and within the territory claimed by
the United Slates.” He was instructed,
should they be found in the country north oi
that river, to make known to them “the sur
prise with which the President has seen pos
session thus taken, without authority from
the United States, of a place within their
teriitorial limits, and upon which no Jaw-i
tul settlement can be made without their
sauciion.” He was instructed to call upon
them to “avow under what national author
ity they profess to act,” and to give them
doe warning ‘‘that the place is wiihin the.
United States, who will suffer no perma
nent setllemliet to be made there, under any
authority than their own. As late as the
eighth of 3 uly, 1842, the Sec’y of State of the
Uniied States, in a note addressed to our
minister in Mexico, maintains that, by the
Florida treaty of 1819, the territory as far,
west as the Rio Grande was continued to
Spain. In that note he states that, ‘bv the
treaty of the22J of February, 1919, between
the U. S. and Spain, the Sabine vvasadopied
as the line of boundary between the two
Powers. Up to that period, no considerable
colonization had been effected in treaty, ap
plications were made to that Power for grants
of land, and such grants, or perm ssi-ns ol
settlement, were in fact made by the Span
ish authorities in lavor of citizens of the U.
S. proposing to emigrate to Ti-xas in num
erous lamihes, before the declaration of ill
dependence by Mexico.
The Texas which was ceded to Spain by
the Florida treaty of ISI9 embraced all the
country now claimed by the State of Texas
between the Nueces and the Rio Grande. —
I he republic of Texas always claimed this
river as her western boundary, and in her
treaty made with Santa Anna, in May,
1836, he recogniset it as such. By the con
stitution which Texas adopied in March.
1836, senatorial and representative disiri.-ts
were organized extending west of Nuece9.
The Congress of Texas, on the l9ihoi Dec.,
1836, passed ‘‘An act to define the bounda
ries of the republic of Texas,” in which
they declared the Rio Grande from its mouth
to its sourceJto be their b undary, and bv
the said act they extended their “civil and
political jurisd.cti n.” over the country up to
that boundary. During a period of more
than nine years, which intervened between
the adoption of her constitution and her an
nexation as one of the States of our Union,
Texas asserted and exercised many acts oi
sovereignty and jurisdiction over ttm terri
tory and inhabitants west of the Nueces; —
She organized and defined the limits of
counties extending to the Rio Grande. She
esti.blished a custom house, and collected
duties, and also post offices and post roads,
in it. She established a land office, and
issued numerous grants for land, within lie
limits. A Senator and a Representative
residing in i; were elected to the Congress
of the republic, and served as such before
the act ol annexation took place. In both
the Congress ar.d Convention of Texas,
which gave their assent to the terms of an
nexetion to the U. S., proposed by our Con
gress. were representatives residing west
of iheNuecep, who took part mi the act of
annexation itself. This was the Texas
which, hy the act of Congress of the 19th
Dec., 1945, was admitted as one ol the States
our Union. That the Congress of the U. S.
understood the State of Texas which they
admitted into the Union to extend beyond
the Nueces is apparent from the fi*Cl; that
on the 3lst of i)ec., 1845, only two days af
ts-r the act of admission, they passed a law
“to establish a collection district in the State
of Texas,” by which they created a port of
delivery at Corpus Christi, situated west of
the Nueces and being the same point at
which the Texas cnstoin-house, under tin
laws of that repaulic, Had been heated, am
directed that a surveyor to collect the reven
ue should be appointed for that port by the
hy and with the advice and con.
sent of the Senate. A surveyor was -ac
cordingly nominated, and confirmed by the
Senat*-, and has been ever since in the per
formalise of his duties. All these acts o
the reputi.e ol Texas, and of our Congress
preceded the orders for it lie advance of our
army to the east bank f the Rio Grande.—
Subsequently, Congress passed an act **e
labhsbmg cyrtaiu post Ironies,”, extending
west of me Nueces. The country west of
that river now consumes a pirl of one of
the Congressional districts of Texas, and .is
represented in the Hpuse of Representa
tives., The Senators from that State were
chosen by a legislature in which the coun
try west of that tivei was represented., in
view ot all of thesg. facts, jt,is difficult to con
ceive upon vvhat ground it can be maintain
ed that in occupying the country west of ihe
Nueces with our army, with a view solely,
to its security aud defence, we invaded tbs
territory of Mexico; Jim it would have been
still rn..re difficult to justify the Executive,
whose duty nis tosee that’the laws be faith*
fully executed, if in the lace ol all these pro
ceedings,, both.of the of Congress and the U.
S. he had assumed the responsibility of
yielding up the territory west of the Nueces
to Mexico, or of refusing lo protect and de
lend this territory and its inhabitants, indu
ing Corpus Cnristi, as well as the remainder
ol Texas, against the threatened Mexican
invasion. ■
But Mexico herself has never placed the
war which she has waged upon the ground
lint our army occup ed the intermediate ler-j
ritory between, the Nueces and the Rio
Grande. Her reluted pretension that Tex T
as was not in fact an independent State, but
a rebellious province, was ob.-linalely per
severed in; and her avowed purpose in coidx
inoticing a war with the United Stajes was,
to reconquer Texa-: and to restore Mexican
authority over the whole territory—not to
the Nueces only, hut to the Sabine. In
view of the proclaimed menaces ol Mexicq
to this effect, 4 dqemed it my duty* as .
measure of precaution anil defence, to order
our army to, occupy a position on our Iron?
lier asa,military post, from which our troopy
could best resist and repel any attempted
invasion which Mexico might make,•
Our army had occupied a position yt
Corpus Christi. west of the Nueces, as ear
! ly as August, fS4S, without complaint from
any quarter, llad the Nueces been regar
ded as tne true western boundary of Tex
as, that boundary had been passed by our
army many months before it advanced to
the eastern bank of the Rio Grande. In
i.ny annual message of December last, I in
formed Congress that, upon the invitation
of hot It the Congress and Convention of
Texas, 1 had deemed it proper to order a
strong squadron lo the coasts of Mexico,
end ty concentrate an efficient military force
oft 1 e western Bonnet of Texas, to protefct
and defend the inhabitants against; the ine*.
naced invasion of Mexico. In that mes
sage I informed Congress that the moment
the terms of annexation offered hy the U.
S. were accepted by Texas, the latter be
came so far a part of oorown country ps.td
make it our duty to afford such protection and
defence; and for that {purpose our squadron
had been ordered-to the Gulf, and our army
to “take a position between the Nueces and
the Del Norte.” or’RioGrande,and “tore
pel any invasion of the Tpxan Territory
which., might be attempted by the Mexi.
can forces.”, . : ;
It was deemed proper to issue this order,
because, soon after the Presiient of Texas,
in April, 1845, had issued iris proclamation
convening the Congress of that.republic, for
th® purpose of submitting to that body the
terms of annexation proposed by the United
States, the government of Mexico made se
rious threats of invading the Texan territo
ry. •’
These threats became more imposing as
it became more apparent, in thj.progress of
theqnesfiori, that the people of Texas would
decide in favor of accepting the terms of
annexation ; and, finally, they had assumed
such a formidable character, as induced
both the Congress and Convention of Texas
to request that a mi itary force should be
sent by ilie United States into Iter territory
for thepu.pose of protecting and defending
her against the threatened,, invasion. It
would have been a violation of good faith
towards the people, of Texas to have refus
ed to afford the aid which they desired against
a threatened invasion, to which they had
been exposed, by .ihqjrfr.ee determination to,
annex themselves to,our Union, ip ,compli
ance with the overture made to them by the
joint resolution of ,out Congress.
Accordingly, a portion of the.army Was.
ordered to advance into Texas. Cdrpus
Christi was tlteposition selected by General
Taylor. He encamped at that place in
August, 1845, apd the army remained in
•hat position until the 1 lilt of,March, 1846,
when it moved westward, and on 28tb of
that month reached the east bank of the
Kio Grande opposite to Matatnoras. This
movement was made in pursuance of or
ders from the War Department, .issued on
the 13th of January, 1846. Before these
orders were issued, the despatch of ouj
minister in Mexico, transmitting the decis
ion of the Council of Government of Mexi
co, advising that hesirould not be received,
and also the despatch of oHr cmisfjl, fold
ing in the city of Mexico—the former bear
ing date on the 17th, and the latter on the.
18lh of December, 1845, copies of bo li of
whic h accompanied my message to Con
gress ot the 1 lilt of May lasi—were receiv
ed at the Department of State-. These
communications rendered it higftly pmba.
hie. if not absolute <y, certain, that onfnvwT-,
ister would not he received hy the Ouyeth’- ‘
memos General Hetiera, It was also well
known that but. iiitle hope, mu Id be enter
tained ol a diCerent result fro,in General Pa
reiles, in case ibe revolutionary, movement
whiph lie whs prosecuting should jrrove
successful, as whs highly p obable. The
partisans of Paredes, as our minister, in the
despatch referred tr, slates, breathed the
fiercest ho.-tility against rhc United States,
denounced lire proposed, negotiation as trea
son, and openly called upon the troops and
the people to put down the government of
Herrera by force. The reconquest of Tex
as, and war .with the United States, were
openiy threatened. ‘These were the cir
c.imstances existing, when it was deemed
proper to order the army under the CQmmamf
of Herrera! Taylor to advance to lire WC9-
tern Iron i°t of Texas, and occupy a posi
tion on or near the Rio Grynde..
The apprehensions of a xontemplnterf
Mexican invasion have been'since fully jus
tified by the even*. The determination of
Mexico to rush into hostilities with the U.
Stales was afterwards manifested from the
whole tenor of the note of the Mexicau
Minister of Foreign Affairs to our minister,
bearing date on the 12tti of March, 1846.
Paredes had ihen revolutionized the govern
ment. and JiTs minister, after referring to the
resolution for the annexation of Texas, which
had been adopted by our Congress in March,
1845, proceeds to declare that “a fart such
as this, or, to speak with greater exactness,
so notable an act of usurpation, created an
imperious necessity that Mexico, for her
own honor, should repel it with pro|er firm
ness and'dignity. The Supreme Go.ern-,
ment had beforehand declared that it would
look upon such rib act as a rasHs belli; and,
as a'consequence of this declaration, nego
tiation” was, by its very nature, at an end,
and war was the only recourse of the Mexi
can Government.”
it appears, also, that nn.rbe 41 h of Aprif
following. General Paredes, through his
minister of war, issued orders to the Mexi
can general in command on the Texan’
frontier to ‘.'attack” oiir aimy ‘•hvevety
means which war permits’- ‘To iliis Gen
eral Paredes had been pledged ro the arm\>
and people ot Mexico during rhe military
revolution which had brought him into pow
er. On the 18t!i of April, 184 C, General