The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 68, July 1964 - April, 1965 Page: 236
574 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
policy concerning Texas, partly because of American persuasion
and partly because of the established balance of power and its
dictates in Europe.
The Texas episode is a sharp illustration of Belgian ambition
which had to be tempered by the political realities and necessities
of the day. A lesser power like Belgium was guided in its cautious
policy of "watchful waiting" by its own unique international
status, the feelings of its neighbors and competitors, and the
simple long range expediency of such a judgment.
The role Texan-Belgian relations played in American history
is therefore clearly defined. Some historians still believe the
Texas adventure in Europe was simply a Texan plot to arouse
United States jealousy and thereby gain quick annexation into
the Union. If it was, in truth, a devious diplomatic scheme by
Texas, the idea partially triumphed because continued European
interest did help create a greater inclination in the United States
for annexation. The possibility of Belgian imperialism in Texas
in the forties was another "danger from abroad" to most Amer-
icans. As has been so aptly pointed out, "the idea of extending
the American area of freedom by expansion" was caused by "the
ambition or the intrigue of European nations which seemed
to threaten fundamental American interests.""
If American expanionism arose partly as a defensive reaction
to foreign attempts to establish political and economic influence
in the Western Hemisphere, then the Belgo-Texan affair had
great significance for both Texas and the United States. When
added to the British and French ventures into Texas, the Belgian
effort appears to be the proposed colonial penetration which
moved the Federal government more rapidly toward annexation
of Texas and initiated the "manifest destiny" of the nineteenth
century.
6OAlbert K. Weinberg, Manifest Destiny: A Study of Nationalist Expansionism in
American History (Gloucester, 1958), io8; Dexter Perkins, The Monroe Doctrine,
1826-1867 (Baltimore, 1983), 64.236
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 68, July 1964 - April, 1965, periodical, 1965; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101198/m1/276/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.