The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 32, July 1928 - April, 1929 Page: 193
361 p. : maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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English Abolitionism and the Annexation of Texas 193
ENGLISH ABOLITIONISM AND THE ANNEXATION OF
TEXAS
HARRIET SMITHER
Ashbel Smith, Texan charg6 to England and France from 1842
to 1845, realized almost immediately upon reaching England the
strong hostility of the anti-slavery party towards Texas,1 and that,
as he said, "something had been brewing for some time past
. . . having for its end the establishment of a non-slave-holding
state in our territory."2 This hostility had shown itself in opposi-
tion to the recognition of Texas, and Palmerston had imposed
upon the new nation a slave-trade treaty as a concession to aboli-
tion sentiment.3 Even so, Daniel O'Connell, one of the leaders of
the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, who in 1839 had
advocated the erection within Texas of an "asylum or free state
of persons of color,"4 was restrained from making a determined
attack on the final ratification of the treaties which involved recog-
nition, only through the interposition of Joseph Hume, so Hume
told Smith.5 The contest between Texas and Mexico had in 1842
assumed a graver character, and the British holders of Mexican
bonds, most of them Quakers and radical abolitionists, were the
securities of the Mexican consul at London for the building of the
Guadalupe and Montezuma, two Mexican warships to be used in
subjugating Texas.6 A re-conquered Texas would settle the ques-
1Smith to Jones, May 17, 1842. Garrison, Diplomatic Correspondence
of Texas, III, 955-8 in American Historical Association Report for
1908, II.
'Smith to Van Zandt, January 26, 1843, "private and confidential";
letter press document. Ashbel Smith Papers, University of Texas. All
materials not otherwise distinguished are found in these papers. A por-
tion of this letter is in Garrison, Diplomatic Correspondence of Texas,
III, 1107-8 in American Historical Association Report for 1908, II
under date of January 25, 1843; see note.
'Adams, E. D., British Interests and Activities in Texas, 1838-1816,
55-60.
'Smith to Jones, July 2, 1843. Garrison, Diplomatic Correspondence
of Texas, III, 1099-1103 in American Historical Association Report for
1908, II.
'Smith's Journal, July 3, 1842.
'Smith to Van Zandt, January 25, 1843, "private." Garrison, Diplo-
matic Correspondence of Texas, III, 1103-7 in American Historical Asso-
ciation Report for 1908, I].
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 32, July 1928 - April, 1929, periodical, 1929; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101089/m1/198/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.