Thoughts on the proposed annexation of Texas to the United States Page: 26 of 55
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^ 26 ~* ~ ~TON THE PROOSEDP
dominion. With her foot on either hemisphere, she endeavors
to grasp at the dominion of the seas. At home, her government,
mainly in the hands of a landed aristocracy, listens with reluctance
to the miseries of her own people. Ireland and the East
show the severity of her colonial rule; and we ourselves sprung
from her loins, are the only people that in equal contest have
ever foiled her. The idea therefore, that England looks to the
acquisition of Texas as a colony, that she contemplates hem:
ming us in on both sides, on the St. Lawrence and on the Gulf
of Mexico, is calculated to arouse our national suspicions to the
highest point. If such a design were avowed, I, for one, should
make no opposition to the acquisition of Texas. The aspect of
such opposition would wholly change, most important national
interests would be placed in peril, and in the choice of desperate
evils, extended slavery, a violated constitution, and broken faith
on one side, and independence jeoparded, and self-preservation,
~; on the other, it is not difficult to predict what the general voice
of the nation would decide.
This feeling the advocates of annexation well understand, and
they make an artful appeal'to the prejudices and fears of the
whole people. But what ground is there for the apprehension 1
What reason to suppose that England will undertake such a
scheme, or that we cannot prevent it ? More than twenty years
ago, when the Spanish republics were just struggling into existence,
President Monroe made his celebrated declaration, that
: any interference on the part of the great powers of Europe, for
the purpose of oppressing or controlling the destiny of the
Spanish American States which had declared their independence,
would be dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States,
and would be considered as the manifestation of an unfriendly
disposition towards them."
,That declaration, it is well known, produced a serious impression,
and had an immediate effect upon the policy of the Holy
Alliance.*
, Are we weaker now than we were then or less competent to
prevent unjustifiable interferences with foreign powers 1
Great Britain desires no war with this country. Her acquisitions
in the East are but a trifling exertion of her force; she has
i iabundant reasons for avoiding hostilities with any first-rate power.
Her policy, both as regards Europe and this country, for the
last fifteen years has been marked by a steadfast desire for peaee.
What reason is there to suppose that she will endeavor to possess
Texas at the hazard of war with this country ? A declaration
in the tone this Republic once knew how to use, would effectually.put
a stop to any sdch intention, even if it existed.
But it manifestly does not exist. During the six and a half
years since Texas declared her independence, Great Britain has
done nothing, even for the purpose of establishing a strict alliii
^ . ' - * Stapleton's Lif of Canning, voL ii. p. 38.
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Sedgwick, Theodore. Thoughts on the proposed annexation of Texas to the United States, book, January 1, 1844; New-York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth2387/m1/26/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.