The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 35, July 1931 - April, 1932 Page: 3
348 p. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Texas and the Southern Pacific Railroad, 1848-1860
with little opposition, but during the political campaign of 1837
violent opposition developed. Dr. Anson Jones was elected to
the Senate on the strength of his opposition to the project; and
President Sam Houston as late as 1854 felt that he should ex-
plain his approval of the charter to the United States Senate, of
which he was then a member.' In the face of such political op-
position and the financial panic of 1837 the stock of this concern
was never sold.
A considerable portion of the Texan sentiment in favor of
annexation to the United States grew out of the encouragement
by visitors from that country of the belief that annexation would
be followed by a comprehensive development of internal improve-
ments within Texas.5 But the state government was still poor
as a result of the burden of the debt of the Republic, and when
the expected aid from the national government did not material-
ize prospects for relief were not encouraging.
The conclusion of the Mexican War drew the attention of the
country toward Texas as a part of a route to the Pacific, the
necessity of such a link having been heightened by the acquisi-
tion of California.
The Republic of Texas had "'lived and died without ever hear-
ing the whistle of a locomotive," but a few year later the pros-
pects seemed promising. The Joint Resolution of the two Houses
of Congress annexing Texas to the Union had left her in posses-
sion of her public lands and of the right to dispose of them as
she saw fit. With the peaceful settlement of the Santa Fe ques-
tion in the Compromise of 1850 Texas was given $10,000,000 for
her claim to the Santa Fe country, adhered to since independ-
ence; but it was provided that one-half of this amount should
be retained by the Federal government until the claims against
Texas by holders of Texas bonds were satisfied. By this act the
present boundary between Texas and New Mexico, of the 103d
meridian of longitude on the west and the 32d parallel of latitude
on the south, was accepted." The first half of this $10,000,000
was paid in 1852. In 1855 the other $5,000,000, together with
$2,750,000 paid Texas by the Federal government for the expense
'Cong. Globe, 1 Bess., 83 Cong., Appendix, 12-14.
"Ramsdell, C. W., "Internal Improvement Projects in Texas in the
Fifties," in The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, IX, 100.
6United States Statutes-at-Large, IX, 446.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 35, July 1931 - April, 1932, periodical, 1932; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101092/m1/7/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.