The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 41, July 1937 - April, 1938 Page: 144
383 p. : maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
Not only was there no truth in Jackson's statement regarding
Erving's "Rio Grande treaty," but Erving's affidavit-a copy of
which is still preserved in the Jackson Papers-had not one word
to say about this treaty, which, according to Jackson, was described
therein. In this paper Erving says that Spain was at one time
considering the Colorado as a boundary, but was unwilling to
cede Florida; he wrote Adams on July 22, 1818, that if the
United States "should think it proper to consent to the Sabine
as a limit, that then the equivalent of the Floridas may be in
our cession." Erving confesses that Spain was unwilling to yield
both Florida and a Colorado boundary, and had at no time defi-
nitely agreed to yield even the land east of the Colorado by itself-
yet Erving querulously complained about the Florida treaty with-
out being able to bring any real charges against Adams. The
mysterious "Rio Grande treaty" was thus rather obviously a fab-
rication on Jackson's part, arising from a mentality that was
deeply calculated and exuberant in sharp productions. This Jack-
sonian claim, the history of which has not yet been told, appears
to have occupied in Jackson's expansionist scheming in 1829-1832 a
place worthy of note. It is purposed here, as far as scant records
will permit, to give a history of this claim. When it was made
publicly by Jackson so belatedly in 1844 his friends could plausibly
attribute it to his "bad memory," but its early history would
seem to place Jackson in less favorable light.
In the summer of 1829 Jackson began a campaign of publicity
in the press, through the literary agency of Benton, Swartwout, and
other close friends, to stir up public enthusiasm in behalf of the
"re-annexation" of Texas, which he was eager to effect. Jackson
was preeminently a man of vigorous action and accomplishment,
unscrupulous in the means exercised to attain his ends. In his
private notes on Texas in August, 1829-preliminary to new in-
structions to his minister at Mexico City-Jackson observed that
if the United States did not acquire Texas soon "our national
safety must pay for it hereafter an immense price, peaceably or
forcibly . . . this is the most favorable time to obtain it on
reasonable terms."3
In early private letters to Anthony Butler, who succeeded
3J. S. Bassett (ed.), The Correspondence of Andrewo Jackson, IV, 60-61.144
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 41, July 1937 - April, 1938, periodical, 1938; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101103/m1/160/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.