The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 21, July 1917 - April, 1918 Page: 72
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The Southwestern Historical Quarterly
California because we desire to obtain Maritime ascendancy in
the Pacific, with the advantages consequent on an easy and com-
paratively speedy communication with India and China.
An Extract (which I have the honor to enclose) from a De-
spatch addressed by Mr. Forsyth,5 Secretary of State of the
United States, to, Mir. Butler, American Charge d'Affaires in
Mexico, shows that, in the year 1835, Texas and California were
associated as desirable acquisitions, in the policy of President
Jackson's administration.'
An Extract (also enclosed herewith) from a Speech delivered
at St Louis, Missouri, on the 14th October 1844, by Colonel Thos.
H. Benton, a Member of the Senate of the United States, shows
that the idea of securing an ascendancy in the trade with India
and China, by means of Settlements on the North West Coast of
America, is not new to the minds of American Statesmen.
The United States have ceased to affect any disguise as to
their determination to possess themselves of Upper California,
and their ingenuity is actively employed in planning railway and
other lines of communication across the Continent, in order that
"a new route, almost exclusively American," may thereby be
"opened to Asiatic Commerce."
It may be inferred from the pertinacity displayed by Ameri-
can Statesmen in regard 'to the acquisition of Texas, that they
are not likely to abandon any project which may promise an in-
crease of the elements of National power. Such a project may
be masked-or it may be allowed to slumber for a time-but it
will not be lost sight of-much less abandoned.
Intoxicated by the acquisition of Texas (the Key-stone of the
North American System)-an acquisition made with an ease
that astonished even themselves, the United States have allowed
'John Forsyth, b. 1780, d. 1841, a leading politician of Georgia, hold-
ing various State offices, and serving in Congress in both House and Sen-
ate, 1813-1819. In 1819 he went to Spain as Minister and negotiated
the Florida treaty. He was again prominent in State and national poli-
ties, 1823-1834, but in the latter year resigned from the Senate to be-
come Jackson's secretary of state, and held the post under Van Buren
also until March, 1841. (Appleton, Cyclop. of Am. Biography.)
'Forsyth to Butler, August 6, 1835, in which Butler was instructed to
purchase, if possible, a portion of California to include San Francisco Bay,
but not to seek to acquire Monterey. (In U. S. Docs., Ser. No. 311, Doc.
42, p. 18.)
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 21, July 1917 - April, 1918, periodical, 1918; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101073/m1/78/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.