The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 7, July 1903 - April, 1904 Page: 195
xvi, 340 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Adjustment of the fTexas Boundary in 1850. 195
bill. The former made a firm and successful stand against the
ruling of the speaker, for a reconsideration of the vote refusing
to engross the Texas bill for a third reading, which saved the
bill in the house.
The bill passed the house September 6, with an amendment of
seventeen sections for erecting a territorial government for New
Mexico and providing for its admission into the Union, with or
without slavery as its constitution at the time might prescribe,
which the senate accepted. The vote in the house was 108 ayes
and 97 noes, the North by a majority of 11 voting against the bill,
and the South by a majority of 22 sustaining it.'
The votes in both chambers on this bill, as well as on the omni-
bus bill, disclosed an extraordinary juncture of extremes. The
ultra pro-slavery members, Barnwell, Butler, Soule, Davis of Mis-
sissippi, and others of their political creed, who contended for the
protection of slavery in the territories, and against the alienation
of any of the domain claimed by Texas to become free soil, voted
against the bill with such extremists of the North as Seward, Hale,
Giddings, and Thaddeus Stevens, who wished to fasten the Wilmot
proviso upon every acre of the national domain, and opposed pur-
chasing territory which they claimed undoubtedly belonged to the
United States. Thus it was that these uncompromising faction-
ists, acting on principles so antagonistic, conjoined without a pre-
arranged concert to defeat both bills. The conservative repre-
sentatives of both sections succeeded in passing the Pearce bill
as a pacific measure, but the rancor engendered in that long and
excited session grew more furious as the years passed, and found
its most fearful expression in the Civil War.
Texas, the last of the slave states admitted into the Union, with
privileges and conditions variant from any other, which her pre-
vious independent autonomy required, had her boundary at last
adjusted and precisely defined by consenting to the terms offered
in the bill, but New Mexico, after a territorial pupilage of more
than half a century, is still seeking admission into the sisterhood
of States.1Von Holst, Constitutional History of the United States, II 556.
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 Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 7, July 1903 - April, 1904, periodical, 1904; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101030/m1/199/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.