" B » O ' .^^ >°-^, 'o • t ^^^0^ - o > C^^. • / v-^ *K O \- ,0^ HISTORY OF THE MEXICAN WAR, OR FACTS FOE THE PEOPLE, SHOWING THE RELATION OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT TO SLAVERY. COMPILED FROM OFFICIAL AND AUTHENTIC DOCUMENTS. BY LORING MOODY. SECOND EDITION, WITH ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS. / (Y BOSTON: BELA MARSH, 25 CORNHILL. 1848. Entered according to Act of Congress in the year Eighteen Hundred and Forty-Eight, by Loring Moody, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. ABNER FORBES, Printer. PREFACE. Many valuable works on the relation of the government of the United States to slavery, have already been given to the public. Among which are, "A view of the Action of the Federal Government," by Wui. Jay; '^ Rights of the Free States Subverted," by Joshua Giddings; and "The Slave Power," by John G. Palfrey. The editions of these, however, are quite exhausted; and for many reasons it is of great importance, that the facts contained in them should be condensed into a single volume. New develop- ments of the workings of Slavery through its grand agent, the government, are every day occurrences; and as the most remarkable of these are embod- ied in the commencement and progress of the war upon Mexico, I have collected from various sources some of the most prominent facts in the slave- holding relations of the government, including enough of the history of the annexation of Texas, and the Mexican War, to exhibit in a clear light, that the sole object of the nation, in the acquisition of the one, and the prosecu- tion of the other, is the extension and perpetuation of human bondage. In the preparation of this work, I haTe been materially aided by the above mentioned publications, for which I have taken great pleasure in giving credit. The facts contained in this book, and the positions which they are summoned to establish, are believed to be incontrovertible. They are based upon official documents which are conclusive on the points to which they refer. And we shall challenge the history of the world in ^vain for another spectacle of such hypocrisy and wickedness as that presented by this nation. It is true, that among the more savage tribes of Africa wars are still carried on for the purpose of adding to the victims of slavery. But these wars are mainly, though in part indirectly, chargeable upon the Americans; who, though they have denounced the foreign traffic, still give their countenance and encouragement to the trade, by keeping open markets for human flesh in the Capitol, and most of the principal towns and cities of more than half the Slates of the Union, and make the " protection, extension, and perpetu- ation of slavery, the vital and animating principle of the government." But the Americans profess to be somewhat better than savages. The^ profess to be republicans — democrats; and to believe in the natural equality of all men. That they are all created with an inalienabh right to freedom. They also baptize themselves in the rame of Christ. They call themselves a Christian nation; and their Chief Magistrate, it is said, is "a man of prayer.^* And they are girdling the earth with operations for the extension of their own ideas and practices. But, while the civilized world is awaking to a juster appreciation of human rights, and adopting measures for the ad- vancement of human welfare, by taking steps for the progressive abolition of old systems of oppression, the United States are carrying on a most bloody and atrocious war, for the purpose of crushing to the earth the best and fondest aspirations of the human soul, by enlarging the area, and piling up, and making strong and impregnable the frightful Bastile of Slavery. Few Americans are aware of the support the despotisms of the Old World derive from the system of slavery existing in this country. A few years ago the Chartists of England and Scotland weie shaking the United Kingdom with their agitations in behalf of an extension of the j)olitical franchise. They declared that the people were capable of self-government; and de- manded that they should have the same rights in the choice of their own leg- islators, as are enjoyed in the United States. And with the Constitution of these States, and their Declaration of Independence in their hands, as exponents of their views, they were doing much for the advancement of their great cause. But they were met by the friends of Monarchy, and the peo- ple were told to beware of them. That in the United States, whose institu- tions were so much lauded, three millions of the people were SLAVES. That their wives were torn from them and sold at public auction, and their children by the pound; and that bad as their condition was, the tallest Peer in the realm dare not rob them of either wife or child. That, though poor, they were not slaves. But the design of these agitators was to make them slaves, as their reference to the American Government clearly proved. An American gentleman,* while on a tour through Great Britain, in the summer of 1846, visited the tower of London, and by the payment of a fee was shown the Queen's Jewels, and among other things, her crown. While looking at the costly bauble, he was told by the lady who had it in charge, that the jewels with which it was studded cost three millions of pounds sterling. Feeling his Republican spirit stir within him, he said, he " thanked God he did not live in a country where one woman wore three millions of pounds on her head,f while others were starving for the want of potatoes." " Well," said an old sailor who was standing near, "you may thank God for what you please, but I thank him that I do not live in a land where ' All men are born free and equal,' and three millions are slaves." In one of James Brooks's " Letters fi-om Europe," he says, that during * James N. Buffum, of Lynn, Mass. 1 14,490,000 dollars. PREFACE. ix llie reign of pro-slavery mobocracy in this country in 1835-6, the Emperor of Austria left it optional with some criminals to be sentenced to the galleys, or banished to the United States. Were the people of this nation and their institutions really what thev pro- fess to be, they would challenge tiie respect and admiration of the world. Instead of which, their hypocrisy only excites its disgust. And the king- ridden and priest-ridden subjects of Europe are made to bear their burdens in comparative silence, through fear of increasing their miseries in any efforts to better tiieir condition, by attempting to throw off the despotisms under which they are groaning. They are not now bought and sold like dumb beasts in the market; but they are told that millions of the poor are so disposed of in this country; and that such must inevitably be their fate under a government copied from the United States of America. This little book is sent forth upon its errand, in the hope, that so far as it is read, it may aid in unmasking the hypocrisy of a nation which more than any other strengthens the hands of tyrants and oppressors throughout the world. As a literary production it claims no merit. But its facts are un- hesitatingly submitted to public scrutiny. L. M. Boston, May, 1S47. INDEX a Pa?e Adams, J. Q. ...... 37 Address of Texas Settlers, 24 Advertiser, N. Y., Commercial, . 15. 23 Mobile, 22 Albany Argus, 26 Almonte's Letter, 33 Annexation, Bill for, Benton's, 45 " Resolve for. 46 " Speeches on. 19 ** 'J'oasts on. 22,43 Arkansas Gazette, 22 Army and Navy Chronicle, .^0 Attempts to obtain fugitives from Mexico, 101 Anstin, Moses, 16 " Stephen F.'s letter. 23 Austin Democrat, 57 Baker's Speech, 64 Beiiton, Tliomas H. 19 Benton's Speech — Texas Boundary, 41 " letter to Texan Congress, 41 Bocanegra's letter. 33 Boundary of Texas, 15,41 British Commissioners, Report of. 26 Canada, Efforts to obtain Fugitives from. 98 Calhoun's letter to Green, 34 " letters to Packenham, 39 " Speech, 70 Claims for Mexican Spoliations, 47 Cliarleston Courier, 66 Colonization Laws of Texas, 21 Commerce, Journal of. 34 Complaint of Texas Plotters, . 25 Constitution of Coahuila and Texas, 26 Crimes and Outrages, 56 Debates on Panama Mission, 106 " on the Wilmot Proviso, 68 " on the Creole Case, 101 Decrees of Mexico abolishing Slavery, . 20,21 Edgefield Carolinian, 19 Efforts to prevent Emancipation in Cuba, 104 INDEX. England, Treaties with, . Florida, Invasion of, " Purcliase of, " Treaty, War, Freemont's Exploring Expedition, Gaines, General, Gazeteer, Brooks', . Haile's Letter, Hayti, Relations to, " Constitution of, ** Exports from, " Debates on. History, Ramsay's Houston's Letter, Horrors of the War, Henry Clay'3 Instruction to Anderson and Sargeant, " " " " J. R, Poinsett, Indian Relations, Insurrection, Southampton, Jefl'erson, Thomas, Kearney's Proclamation, Land Companies, Letter of Henry Clay, " « " " to Everett, . '« " James K. Polk, " " Martin Van Buren, " " Upsher to Murphy, . " " Gen. Taylor to War Department " " Marcy to Taylor, " " Marcy to Stephenson, Mexican Character, " Indemnities, Monterey, Battle of. New York Herald, Oceola, Oregon, Pensacola Gazette, Polk's Messages, Ringgold, Major, Scott's Mexican " Safeguard," '* Proclamation, Slidell, John, Letter of, . Spirit of the Times, Letter to, Taylor's Proclamation, Texas Constitution, " Necessities of, Tyler, John, Messages of. Tribune, N. Y., Letter to. Treaty with Mexico, Taylor's Blood-hound Letter, ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SECOND EDITION. Although the war upon Me:xico stands among the last of ihose acts of tlie American nation, which so strongly mark its slave-holding characler, its causes lie far back in the history of the country. But though last in the order of events, it stands first in importance. And, in giving to the public a second edition of *' Facts for the People," it has been thought best to re- arrange the work in such a manner as to place the history of the Mexican War at the commencement of the book; and this appeared the more impor- tant as this history occupies by far the larger part of the volume; and should therefore command the character and title of the work. This arrangement is therefore made in the confidence, that it will meet with the entire approbation of the reader. Boston, April, 1S48. A HISTORY OF THE MEXICAN WAR. Those who would ascertain the real cause of the war of the United States upon Mexico, which has resulted in the dismem- berment of that republic, must look far behind, in point of time, the advance of General Taylor to the left bank of the Rio del Norte. They will find that it is as old as the constitution itself. The system of slavery, inwrought into the framework of the government, soon became its controlling element. It could never serve. It would never submit to be circumscribed. It has ever sought to extend itself ;i^and hence it will appear, by reference to well established facts, that the colonization of Texas by citizens of the United States — the revolution in that province — the hurried acknowledgment of its independence by this government, its annexation to this Union, and the war with Mexico, are all connecting links in a chain of events, hav- ing for their sole object the indefinite extension and perpetuation of slavery, and the continued supremacy of the slave-power over this nationT/ There has been for many years a growing disquietude among the people of the South in regard to the prospects of their "pecu- liar institution," amounting to a gloomy apprehension. They have been fearful that with the disappearance of slavery at the North, and the admission of new free States, would return strong feelings of dislike and even hostility to their mcst cherished system ; and they set themselves zealously to the work of devis- ing plans for ils future safety. The American revolution gave a momentary impulse to the principles of universal freedom, and led the people of the North ern Slates to look with a favorable eye towards the emancipa- tion of their slaves. And, as early as the first of March, 1780, the General Assembly of Pennsylvania passed '' an act for the gradual abolition of slavery " in that Slate. The abolition of 1 a FACTS FOR THE PEOFLE. slavery in Massachusetts lakes its date one day later than that of Pennsylvania; with this difference, that in Massachusetts the abolition was innmediate, instead of gradual ; it being effected by the adoption of its constitution and " Bill of Rights," declar- ing that "all men were born free and equal."' The act of Pennsylvania vt-as followed by similar ones in Connecticut, in 1784 ; in Rhode Island of the same date ; in all the States north- west of the Ohio river, by the ordinance of 1787; in New Hampshire in 1792 ; in New York in 1799 ; and in New Jersey in 1804. So that the fears of the South, for the safely of the "patriarchal institution," may appear to have been well grounded. In none of the States just mentioned, was slavery ever regard- ed as a " great interest ; " and therefore they could afford to dispense with it. But in giving up that which was of little value to themselves, they by no means made war upon the system, as existing in the States of the South. It is true that some of the " fathers of the revolution," both spoke and wrote against slavery, as unjust and cruel ; and petitioned Congress to take measures for its abolition. But the spirit of liberty which animated their bosoms departed with them ;_ and its place was occupied in the bosoms of their sons by the spirit of trade. So that what the fathers regarded, according to the laws of God, as a crime to be repented of and forsaken, was regarded by their sons, according to the laws of trade, as a fit subject for their ledgers. And as the slave trade from WASHINGTON, and Baltimore, and Norfolk, to New Orleans and Mobile, soon became, in consequence of prohibiting the foreign slave-trade, a profitable business to North- ern ship-owners, they resolved to stand by the '• compromises of theconslitution ; " and give to slavery its utmost scope and limit ; so that the fears of the Southern slave-mongers, after all, were not so well grounded as they at first imagined. They had many sworn friends among their "Northern brethren" yet. In addition, however, to these fears, there has been, from the beginning, among the people of the South, a growing jealousy of the increasing population, wealth, and influence of the North ; and a determination to one day wield the power by right of majority in the National Councils, which they have hitherto wielded by bullying and threats. To accomplish this object, it would be necessary to acquire a large amount of territory from some neighboring power, to be carved up into slave-holding FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE," tS* States, and admitted to the Union on tiie most favorable terms, fn casting about for the discovery of some territory suitable for this purj)osej their longing eyes naturally fell on Texas, the most easterly province of Mexico. And accordingly, a claim was set up to this territory, as " forming a part of the ancient province of Louisiana, which was ceded to the United States by France in 1803." And although Thomas Jefferson was one of the prime movers in the scheme of acquiring Texas, he admit- tedjhat this claim was without any foundation ; for in a secret message, sent to the House of Representatives on the 16ih of December, 1805, he used the following language : " Onr line to the West, is one which would give us but as^mg of land on the Mississippi." By the " line " here spoken of, was meant the western bound- ary of Louisiana, which was not at that time definitely settled; but lay somewhere between the Mississippi and Sabine rivers* Yet this claim was still pressed by Southern slave-holders, and their Northern abettors ; who declared that Louisiana extended to the South-west as far as the Rio del Norte, and was bounded on the West by that river. But what was the ground of this claim'? " Why it was, that La Salle having discovered the mouth of the Mississippi, and France having made a settlement at New Orleans. France had a right to one-half the sea-coast from the reouth of the Mississippi to the next Spanish settlement, which v»'as Vera Cruz. The mouth of the Rio Bravo was about half way from the Balize to Vera Cruz ; and so as grantees from France, of Louisiana, we claimed the Rio del Norte, though the Spanish settlement of Santa Fe was at the head of that river. France, from whom we received Louisiana, utterly disclaimed ever having even raised such a pretension. " * Nor w^as any portion of this territory occupied by the Ignited States. A correspondent of the New York Commercial Adver- tiser, writing from Nacogdoches, Texas, September 14, 1836, says: "For a long time after the acqnisilion of Louisiana, the United States exercised jurisdiction only to the Rio Hondo, but six miles west of Natchitoches, tlie immediate territory between this point and the Sabine river, about twenty miles, being considered neutral territory." ♦Speech of J. Q. A lauig, II. R. May 25, 1S35. 16 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. Yet, SO Strong was the desire of the slave-holders, and so fixed their determination to obtain possession of that country, that "No less than eight military expeditions were set on foot in the United States, and prosecuted nriore or less to make a loiig- ment, and effect revolution and conquest in Texas. The first was Burr's, in which Andrew Jackson was a confederate.'' * "By the Florida treaty, which was made in 1819, Spain re- leased her claim to the disputed territory East of the Sabine, apparently without any consideration except that of obtaining a quiet and acknowledged boundary ; '' — and that river was form- ally agreed upon as the boundary between the Spanish posses- sions on the west, and the State of Louisiana on the east. Hardly was the treaty ratified, establishing the Sabine as the western boundary of Louisiana, when the South began to com- plain of the ''surrender" of territory; and plans were set on foot for the " relrocession " of Texas to the United States. In 1820, Moses Austin, of Missouri, obtained a large grant of land in Texas, under the following circumstances : " Austin proceeded to Mexico, and from thence addressed a humble petition to the Catholic King, setting forth the cruel per- secutions which Catholics were undergoing from the Protestant malignants of the United States. The philanthropic petitioner invoked the piety and charity of his Catholic majesty to grant a goodly tract of land in Texas as an asylum for persecuted saints. The king granted the prayer of the petitioner, on condition that none but Catholics should enjoy (he benefit of the donation. " The land was granted gratuitously, to be parcelled out in like manner, and in certain proportions, among the refugees. The empresario, (the one undertaking the enterprise^) was to be enii- tled, upon the settlement of three hundred fanuiies, fo a very large tract within the same grant, in his ov/n right. The colo- nists were required to take the oath of allegiance, a test oath of their Catholicism, and to produce evidence of good moral char- acter. Upon obtaining their allotments of land, and residing thereon six months, they vvere to be deemed naturalized sub- jects. They were exempted from taxes for ten years, and from duties on all imports for their own use during the same period." f " After obtaining his grant, or privilege, he relumed to Mis- souri, and proceeded to carry his colonial enterprise into effect. Before completing his arrangements, however, Moses Austin suddenly died ; and his son, Stephen F. Austin, took the business into his hands, as the legal heir and representative of his father. He soon repaired to Texas with a considerable number of set- * D. L. Child ill the A. S. Standard, Oct. 8, 1846. -f Ibid. FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 17 tiers, the most of whom emigrated from the States of Tennessee, Missouri, and Louisiana. Bu' prior to his obtaining legal pos- session, or effecting the settlement of the families who accom- panied him, the revolution occurred, which annulled the author- ity of the government, and resulted in the separation of the Mex- ican provinces from the Spanish Crown. " * "After the revolution and the establishment of Mexican inde- pendence, this grant was confirmed by the Congress of that country. v.\z., in 1823; the moral qualifications of the colonists, the oath of allegiance and test oath, with needful changes of form in the two last, remaining the same. The liberal terms granted to colonists, exempting them from taxation and import duties for ten years, opened to them a wide field for smuggling and spec- ulation with the Indian traders, as well as the native inhabitants, which they did not fail to improve. Slaves were likewise held, in violation of the constitution and laws of the State, and the de- crees of the general government." f In this state of things, overtures were made to the government of Mexico, by the government of the United States, for the pur- chase of Texas for the purpose of annexing it to this Union. Until the year 1824, slavery existed without any restrictions throughout the Mexican States. In that year, measures were taken for its gradual abolition ; and in 1829, by a decree of Pres- ident Guerrero, in accordance with an act of the Mexican Con- gress, slavery was abolished throughout Mexico. '^ In March, 1825, a few days after the accession of Mr. Adams to the presidency, Henry Clay, Secretary of State, in- structed /. R. Poinsett, of South Carolina, our Minister to Mexico, to sound that government on ' the fixation of a boundary further west than the Sabine,' directing him to suggest ' the riv«r Brazos, or the Colorado, or the Snow-Mountains, or the Rio del Norte, in lieu of the Sabine." These instructions were renewed by Clay, in March, 1827, with considerable urgency, and with the additional instruction to offer one million of dollars for the entire country as far as the Rio Grande and the Rio Puereo, generously proposing to leave Sai-la Fe within the limits of Mexico. Soon after Jackson's accession, in August, 1829, Van Buren, his Sec- retary of State, again instructed Poinsett, ' to open a negotiation forthwith,' for the purchase of the Mexican territory as far as the great desert, between the Nueces and the Rio Grande." '• The bid w^as now increased to four millions ; and ' so strong,' adds the Secretary, 'is the President's conviction of the great value of the acquisition, that he will not object to go as high as * War in Texas. t !''•'' r 1* 13 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. Jive millions* In this letter, for the first time since the conclu- sion of the Florida treaty, a pretence of a right to a boundary fur- ther westj was brought forward. Van Buren states that it has been represented that the river called the Sabine is not the Sabine, but that the Neckcs is the real Sabine ! The explanation of this new pretension is, that the Neckes is from twenly to one hundred miles further west than the Sabine." All the overtures were promptly rejected by the Mexican Government, as they had no inclination to alienate any of their territory. Yet, as we have already shown, they evinced the greatest liberality to foreigners in granting them liberty to colo- nize their vacant lands. And as Texas had so long been a kind of '' Naboth's vineyard " to the slave-holders, who had deter- mined, Ahab like, to take possession of it, either by hook or by crook, immense tracts of land were designated for colonization, and contracted for by different "empressarios ; " partly for frau- dulent gain, but mainly for the purpose of obtaining by settle- ment and revolution, what the government could not obtain by negotiation. Several "land companies" were also formed in different parts of the United States, to aid in playing this deep game with the more certainty of success. "These companies created 'stocks' upon the basis of these grants, and threw them into the market. They also issued ' scrip,' authorizing the holders of it to take possession of certain tracts of land, within the lines marked out on the map, as the bounda- ries of their respective grants. To a bona fide settler, (and none else could obtain the land it pretended to convey.) this scrip could be of no advantage whatever, as the facilities and expense of procuring his tract according to law, would be the same, whether he held it or not. Every cent paid for it, therefore, was so much loss to the settler, and gain to the company." " Although these companies could only hold their grants through the medium of the empressarios, for the limited period of six years, and on the express condition of settling a specific number of families, they dealt largely in their ' stock,' and sold immense quantities of their ' scrip,' so that large sums of money have no doubt been realized by them, — while very few settlers have been introduced. Thousands, in various parts of the United States, purchased the scrip issued by them, and are interested of course in the adoption of measures to legalize the claims." f But this could not be done while Texas remained as a part of *See instructions ofVan Buren, Secretarv of State, to J. R. Poinsett, Minister to Mexico, August 25, 1S29. t War in Texas. FACTS FOR THK PEOPLE. 19 Mexico, and the colonization laws under which these privileges were obtained, remained in peace. So that vast numbers of these land-jobbers, who had purchased those worthless titles to lands in Texas, had in common A'ith the slave-holders a deep interest at stake in the game of annexation. And the government found in them a strong corps of active allies, ever ready to second, or to devise any plan which seemed most likely to accomplish a measure of such vital interest to them. On this point we have the testimony of the Richmond Whig, (quoted by the Boston Atlas in June, 1847,) that "^t least two members of the Cabinet, Secretaries Upshur and Gilmer, were very large landholders in Texas, and that they strongly and incessantly urged the meas- ure." While these diplomatic and speculating chicaneries were in progress, Thomas H. Benton wrote a series of essays in the St. Louis Beacon, over the signature of " Americanus," on the im- portance to the South of the " retrocession " of Texas, On the subject of the essays, the Edgefield Caroliriian remarks : "This large fragment of the Mississippi valley, affording suf~ ficient territory for four or jive slave-holding States, was uncere- moniously sacrificed to Spain, with scarcely a pretext of demand. ' Americanus' exposes the evils to the United States of this surrender, under twelve different heads. Two of them of par- ticular interest to this section of the country, are, that it brings a non-slave-holding empire in juxtaposition with the slave-holding South-west; and diminishes the outlet for the Indians inhabiting the States of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee." A Charleston paper, also, then observed: — "It is not im- probable that he, [President Jackson,] is now examining the propriety and practicability of a retrocession of the vast territory of Texas, an enterprise which could not fail to exercise an im- portant and favorable influence upon the future destinies of the South, by increasing the votes of the slave-holding States in the United States Senate." * Leading Southern statesmen and influential journals spoke out boldly, and avowed the objects for which they wished to obtain Texas. In 1829, Abel P. Upsher said in the Virginia Convention : "Nothing is more fluctuating than the value of slaves. A late law of Louisiana reduced their value twenty-five per cent. *War in Texas. 20 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. in two hours after its passage was known. If it should be our lot, as I trust it vvill, to acquire Texas, their price will rise" Philip Doddridge, anolher distinguished member, said : '^ That the acquisition of Texas would greatly enhance the value of the property in question," Mr. Gholson said in the Virginia Legislature, in 1832 : "That the price of slaves fell twenty-Jive per cent, within two hours after the news was received ol the non-importation act, which was passed by the Legislature of Louisiana. Yet he be- lieved the acquisition of Texas would raise their price ^/a/ per cent, at least." Mr. Merrick said in the Senate : — "It was his firm belief, that the annexation of Texas, as a market for slaves, would en- able the South to preserve her balance in the Union, that the Union would be more perfect, justice be better established, domes- tic tranquillity better insured, the common defence better provided for, the general welfare better "promoted, and the blessings of lib- erty to ourselves and our posterity belter secured." It has already been slated, that the government of Mexico had abolished slavery throughout that republic. In order to set the matter in a clearer light, the decree of July 13, 1824, prohibiting the trafHc in slaves, and the final decree of President GUER- RERO, utterly abolishing the system of slavery, are here inserted, together with extracts from the colonization laws of Coahula and Texas. Decree of July 13, 1824. Prohibition of the Commerce and Traffic in Slaves. The Sovereign General Constituent Congress of the United Mexican Slates has held it right lo decree the following: 1. The Commerce and Traffic in Slaves, proceeding from whatever power, and under whatever flag, is forever prohibited, within the territories of the United Mexican States. 2. The Slaves, who may be introduced contrary to the tenor of the preceding article, shall remain free in consequence of treading the Mexican soil. 3. Every vessel, whether National or Foreign, in which Slaves may be transported and introduced into the Mexican Territories, shall be confiscated with the rest of its cargo; and the owner, purchaser, captain, master, and pilot, shall suffer the punishment of ten years confinement. Little more than five years afterwards, the following decree was promulgated by the President of Mexico. facts for the people. 21 Decree of President Guerrero. AboUtiGn of Slavery. The President of the United Mexican States, to the inhabit- ants of the Republic: Be it known : That in the year 1829, being' desirous of sii^nal- izini^ the anniversary of our independence by an act of national Justice and Beneficence, which nriay contribute to the strength and support of such inestimable welfare, as to secure more and more the public tranquillity, and reinstate an unfortunate portion of our inhabitants in the sacred rights granted them by nature, and may be protected by the nation under wise and just laws, according to the provision in Article 30, of the constitutive Act; availing myself of the extraordinary faculties granted me, I have thought proper to decree : 1. That Slavery be exterminated in the Republic. 2. Consequently those are free, who, up to this day, have been looked upon as Slaves. 3. Whenever the circumstances of the Public Treasury will allow it, the owners of Slaves shall be indemnified, in the man- ner which the Laws shall provide. Jose Maria de Bocanegra. Mexico, Sept. 15th, 1829, A. D. Here follows three sections from the colonization laws of CoAHULA and Texas ; the first exempting the colonists from burdens, and the last forbidding them to impose burdens on others. " Art. 17. — Every new settlement shall be free from ail con- tributions whatever, for the space of ten years from the time of its establishment, except such as shall be laid generally, to pre- vent or repel foreign invasion." "Art. 35. — The new settlers, in regard to the introduction of Slaves, shall be subject to laws which now exist, and which shall hereafter be made on the subject." " Art. 36. — The servants and laborers which, in future for- eign colonists shall introduce, shall not, by force of any contract whatever, remain bound to their service a longer space of time than ten years." The South foresaw, that if these decrees were enforced, the slaves of Louisiana, Arkansas and the neighboring Slates, would soon emancipate themselves by running across the Sabine, and taking refuge under the government of Mexico. She, therefore, stimulated the settlers to resistance, and they were totally disre- garded by the colonists from the United States, who introduced large numbers of slaves into Texas, and held them in bondage 2'^ tACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. in spile of every attempt of the Mexican authorities to execute the laws. The Arkansas Gazette, a paper thoroughly indentified with the slave-tiohiiiii; interest, hehl forth this Language, in the year 1830, respecting the purchase of the Texas country : " No hopes need be enteitained of our acquiring Texas, until some other party more friendly to the United States than the present, shall predominate in Mexico, and perhaps not until the people of Texas shall throw off the yoke of allegiance to that government, which they will do no doub!, so soon as they shall have a reasonable pretext for doing so. At present, they are probably subjected to as few exactions and impositions as any peoj'ile tinder the sim.''^ The hint to the Texans to " throw off the yoke of allegiance," was even at that early day the expression of "a consummation devoutly to be wished." But as they had no just causes of com- plaint against the government of Mexico, " a decent regard to the opinions of mankind," made it necessary for them to manufacture some for the occasion, before publishing their " declaration of independence; " and this they were not long in doing. Before proceeding to that part of the subject, we will give a few more items of proof to the point under consideration. About this time, the "Mobile Advertiser" spoke out on this wise : "The South wish to have Texas admitted into the Union for two reasons: First, to equalize the South with the North; and secondly, as a convenient and safe place, calculated from its pe- culiarly good soil and salubrious climate, for a slave population. The question is therefore put by the South to Congress and the country, ' Shall we have justice done us by the admission of Texas into the Union 1 ' '" The following toast was given at a public meeting of eminent politicians at Columbia, South Carolina: " Texas — If united to our government as a state, it will prove an invaluable acquisition to the Southern States, and their do- mestic institutions.^^ ^' Feeling that all their efforts to get possession of that depart- ment peaceably would prove unavailing, the Texas plotters now began to prepare for *' the last resort of nations ; " the first step to which was, the publication of a string of complaints against * War in Texas, FACTS FOR THE PEOPLfi. 23 ihe government of Mexico, which they called their "declar- ation of independence." To show that the government had given thenn no just cause of complaint, the reader is referred to the article from the Arkan- sas Gazette, just quoted, and to the several documents which follow : Extract of a letter from Col. S. F. Austin, dated Monterey, Jan. 17, 1834. To the Ayuntamknto of San Felipe dc Austin : The general government are disposed to do every thing for Texas that can be done to promote its prosperity and welfare, that is consistent with the consliiution and laws, and I have no doubt the state government will do the same if they are applied to in a proper manner, I have long since informed the Ayuntamiento of Texas, of the repeal of the law of April, and of the favorable and friendly disposition of the government. Under these circumstances, the prospects of Texas are better than they ever have been. The national revolution is ended, a constitutional government exists, the people are obedient to the government and laws every where. Be the same in Texas, and have no more excitements, tolerate no more violent measures, and you will prosper, and obtain from the government all that reasonable men ought to ask for. Respectfully your most obedient servant, Stephen F. Austin. A correspondent of the Neiv York Commercial Advertiser, for whose trustworthiness the editor vouched, wrote as follow's, Sept. 14, 1836 : •• I came to Texas seven years since, possessed, as I thought, of good titles to a league of land, purchased in Nevv York, of an individual, who, to my certain knowledge, had sold many other leagues. On my arrival, I immediately applied to the proper officer to be put in possession of my land, when, much to my surprise, I was told that my titles were good for nothing; but was informed at the same time that I was welcome to land, and that I might select any vacant land. 1 accordingly possessed myself of a league of fine land, took the oath of allegiance to Mexico, and have lived in prosperity and happiness till the Texan revolution, since which time I must confess I have tasted more bitterness, grief, and trouble, than T had done in all my past life before. The like declaration will be made by every American w^ho settled in Texas, whenever they can do so with- out the fears that make them mute. I now allude to those 24 JTACtS FOK THE PEOPLi!, Americans who had been settlers for any lime, and who had fulfilled the conditions entitling them to their lands, and mot for those who came for the express purpose of sowing a rebellion, organ- ized and matured by th«)se who had forged, or had purchased forged tides to lands, and were in advance, determined to cre- ate a rebellion that they might perfect those thles." The following is an extract from an address of a General Con- vention of Texas settlers, opposed to the proceedings of the con- spirators, held in November, 1834. " When a country is in a prosperous and flourishing condition ; when the mass of the people are contented and happy ; when all are industriously employed in their respective pursuits; it surely is a most unwise policy in any man or set of men to arouse dis- sensions among them, and scatter the seeds of discord and con- fusion. And we ask the people, we call upon the ' old settlers,' the pioneers, who have borne the brunt and hardships of popu- lating* the wilderness, if they have ever known a time when the prospects of the country were more flattering than at pres- ent! " " We ask you in the spirit of candor, and with the privi- leges of first pioneers, has the government ever exacted any- thing unreasonable of Texas'? If it has, we jnust, before God and our country, say we know it not. Again, for your experi- mental knowledge shall bear us out; has it ever burdened you with taxes, or the performance of arduous, expensive, or perilous duties'? Nay, has Texas ever borne any part in the expenses of sustaining the government that protects her citizens, their lives, their liberty, and their property? " "Another address put forth in 1835, the year the war com- menced, by an assembly of delegates from every precinct of Texas, states that some merchants, importers of goods, had re- fused to pay duties, that a lawless coast from Nueces to the Sabine had been the result; that a mob had made prisoners of and disarmed a detachment of soldiers stationed to support the revenue officers at Anahuac ; and that some Mexicans had been shot as spies. The address goes on : 'That such outrages on the government under which w^e live, should have been committed by some individuals is much, very much to be lamented. But it is still more to be lamented, that Texas, whose interests lie in peace, and the majority of whose citizens are peaceful, should be dragged into a collision with their own government, by the precipitate and unjustifiable acts of 3. few. It is not that government, which has committed on us aggression. It is a certain part of the Texas inhabitants, who have proved to be the unprovoked and unnecessary aggressors.'' " "The document above quoted, maybe found in Edward's History of Texas. The war party is thus described by the his- torian, who was residing in Texas, as the preceptor of a semi- nary : rACTS KOR THE PEOPLE. ^ * I think I hear the reader exclaim, as every honest, sober, peaceful citizen of Texas did at the tinrie, (1834, 1835,) Good God, what a set of deceitful, ambitious, and ungrateful men have i?ot into our country.' ' They were joined by their best friends, the slave-holders, who said their negroes, G — d d — n 'era, were on the tiptoe of expectation, and rejoicing that the Mexicans were coming to make them free.' ' The alaiming party were few in comparison, but they were talented, syste- matized, closely connected, and indefatigable in their endeavors to infuse suspicions against the General Government, and com- mit the country without the possibility of a recall.' ' This party has increased a hundred fold since 1832, by bad slave-holders, who have had two cargoes distributed among them by African kidnappers.' ' At this lime, the public press in Brazoria, (the only one in Texas.) had been taken possession of by the united company of Whigs^ as they termed themselves, but according to the opposition majority, land-jobbers, lawless merchants, slave- holders, office-seekers, and vain grog-drinking boasters. Reso- lutions and addresses were distributed in every (quarter by a committee of men appointed expressly for that purpose.' ' They threatened the peaceful inhabitants, whom they called Tories, with their vengeance, if they dared to interrupt them in their high-handed proceedings.' ' Still the addresses from the people or farmers to the Mexican authorities, were of the most friendly and peaceable character; but those from the agitators, and would-be office or landdiolders, were of the most threatening and dangerous sort.' " And yet, while these " men of Belial "'were thus riding rough- shod over the Mexican authorities, and trampling on the rights of the peaceful citizens, they were complaining of the " tyranny and oppression " of the government. And, as a specimen of what they complained of, we here insert two articles from their " list of grievances." " It [the General Government] denies us the right of wor- shipping the Almighty according to the dictates of our con- sciences, — by the support of a national religion, calculated to promote the temporal interests of its human functionaries, rather than the glory of the true and living God." The next extract is as follows : "It has failed and refused to secure on a firm basis the right of trial by jury, that palladium of civil liberty, and only safe guarantee for the life, liberty and property of the citizens." As an answer to this charge, it may be stated : that notwith- standing the " trial by jury " was unknown to the jurisprudence of Spain, from which Mexico derived her institutions, measures 2 26 FACTS FOR riisr. people. were already adopted Tor its establishment in lliat country, as the followin.;;^ article from the constitution of Coahula and Texas will prove. "192. One of the principal subjects for the attention of Con- gress, [Slate Legislature,] shall be to establish in criminal cases, the trial by jury, extending it gradually, and even adopting it in civil cases, in proportion as the advantages of this precious institution may be practically developed.'* The certainty of success which promised to crown the efforts of the slave-breeders, to wrest Texas from Mexico, had already given a fresh impulse to the Havana slave-trade, by opening a new field of operations to these PMterprisiir} g chizena of the United States, who now engaged in their old business of man-stealing on a large scale. The following extract from a report of the British commission- ers for the suppression of the slave-trade, appointed to reside in Cuba under the treaty of 1817, will throw some light on this subject. The report is dated Jan. 1, 1836 ; the extract as fol- lows : "Never since the establishment of this mixed commission has the slave-trade of the Havana reached such a disgraceful pitch, as during the year 1835. By the list, we have the honor to enclose, it will be seen that fifty slave vessels have safely arrived in this port during the year just expired. In 1833, there were twenty-seven arrivals, and in 1834, thirty-three : but in 1835 presents a number, by means of which there must have been landed upwards of fifteen thousand negroes. "In the spring of last year, an American agent from Texas purchased in the Havana two hundred and fifty newly imported Africans, at two hundred and seventy-five dollars per head, and carried them away with him to that district of Mexico. This, perhaps, would have been scarcely worth mentioning to your lordship, had we not learned, that within the last six weeks con- siderable sums of money have been deposited by the American citizens in certain mercantile houses here, for the purpose of making additional purchases of bozal negroes for Texas. X. great impulse is thus given to this illicit traffic of the Havana. We thought the first experiment to be of little consequence; but now that we perceive fresh commissions arriving in the Ha- vana, for the purchase of Africans, we cannot refrain from calling your lordship's attention to the fact, as beins: another cause of the increase of the slave-trade of the Havana." The foregoing throws light on the following recent artif-nin the Albany Argus : FACT8 FOR THE FKOPI.E. 27 "The fate of Henry Barlow, lale of the Commercial Bank of Ibis ciiy, has at lenuth been definitely ascertained. The agent sent out by the bank has returned, and stales tliat Bartow died | at Marianna, near Columbia in Texas, on the 30ih of June last, |- of the fever of the country, after an illness of about four week?. I He had purchased a farm on the Brazos, and, in company with ' a native of the country, had commenced an extensive plantation, ami sent S 10,000 to Cuba for the purchase ofshivesy ^ But as the "democracy" had been chiefly instrumental in " opening up" this new n\arket for the bodies and souls of men, Cuba was not long suffered to enjoy the rich profits of this lucra- tive traffic ; for as soon as the Texians got time to make a " con- stitution," acting on the reciprocal principle, that " one good turn deserves another," they set this matter right, by inserting in that instrument a provision, punishing as pirates any who should thereafter be so wicked as to defraud the Americans of their dues, by bringing slaves into that "Republic," from any other country than the United States, f The preparations which had been so long in progress were at length completed, and soon the forcible resistance to the laws assumed a systematic form — a stale of war existed; and al- though Texas did not declare in form, as the " mother " of this young " harlot " has since done, she did in fact declare, that the " war existed by the act of Mexico." $ The battle was now fairly begun. Large meetings of "sym- pathizers " were held in most of the principal cities and towns in the West, and on the sea-board ; flaming advertisements were inserted in Southern and Western newspapers, calling on the lovers of liberty to go and assist the " Texas patriots." The Stale arsenal at Cincinnati was emptied of its arms, and volun- teers rushed in crowds " to the rescue," until the battle of San Jacinto decided the controversy, and doomed jAIexico to dis- memberment, if not to ruin. The " independence " of Texas was achieved, and propositions were made to be admitted as a new State to the American Union. The bloody meteor emblazoned on its banner had scarcely bu!St from the murky clouds of slavery, when it was proposed to incorporate it with the bloodier "stars and stripes" of the * Legion of Lil)erty, 1844. t See Constitution of Texas. t Declaration of War against Mexico, l)y (^Jougress, Aujust 11, 1846. 28 TACTS FOR THE PEOPLE, " Northern Republic." When the baleful light of that "lone star " first gleamed across our couatry, its lurid glare sent terror and dismay to the hearls of millions of our race. It was a sign in the political heavens, which foreboded the long continuance of the terrible night of slavery. But, Texas, as we have hinted, did not gain her independence alone and unaided. Left to herself, as we have clearly shown, she would never have sought il. Henry A. Wise boasted, that "It was the people of the great valley who conquered Santa Anna at San Jacinto ; and three-fourths of them, after vs/i' ning that glorious field, had returned peaceably to their homes." * To show that Wise spoke the truth, we here insert some of the "Notices" above alluded to. The following is from a North Carolina paper : "Who will go to Texas'? — Major J. H. Harry, of Lincoln- ton, has been authorized by me, with the consent of Major Gen- eral Hunt, an agent in the western counties of North Carolina, to receive and enrol volunteer emigrants to Texas, and will con- duct such as may wish to emigrate to that Republic, about the first of October next, at the expense of the Republic of Texas. J. P. Henderson, Brig. Gen'l of Texian Army. August, 1836." The following will give some idea of the extent to which these operations were carried on : Three Hundred Men for Texas. — General Dunlap of Ten- nessee, is about to proceed to Texas with the above number of men. The whole corps are now at Memphis. They will not, it is said, pass this way. Every man is completely armed, the corps having been originally raised for the Florida war. This force, we have no doubt, will be able to carry everything before it. — Vicksburg Register. In the summer of 1836, Capt. Lawrence opened a recruiting office in Front street, Cincinnati, for the purpose of enlisting ^^ emigrants'^ for Texas. A public meeting was called to raise funds and fill up the ranks, at which N. C. R(;ad, United Slates district attorney for Ohio, attended, and made a speech in favor of the objects ; and a committee was chosen to help carry them out. An interesting notice of these proceedings was taken by * Speech in Congre.ss, April, 1842. FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 29, Charles Hammond, Esq., and published ia the Cincinnati Daily Gazette. That the *• volunteer emigrants " were not alone in this pirati- cal crusade, will be seen by the following : " General Gaines was authorized to cross the boundary line with his army ; to march seventy miles into the Mexican territory ; and to occupy the military post of Nacogdoches, in case he should judge it expedient, in order to guard against Indian depredations ! — And further: he was likewise authorized to call upon the Gov- ernors of several of the South-western States for an additional number of troops, should he consider it necessary.^^ '' In order to furnish an excuse for the exercise of the authority thus delegated to him, many false rumors of Indian depredations and hostile movements were reported to the Commander of the United Slates forces, and he did not neglect the occasion for pushing to the very extent of his conditional instructions. He even went so far that the Executive became alarmed, lest the '■ neutrality '' of our government should he violated!! Yet he was still permitted to keep an imposing force stationed in the Mexi- can territory; and it was understood that he was in regular cor- respondence with the chiefs of the insurgent armies; also that his men were ' deserting ' and joining them in great numbers." * On the subject of these " desertions,-' hear the following from the Pensacola Gazette : "About the middle of last month. General Gaines sent an officer of the United States army into Texas to reclaim some de- serters. He found them already enlisted in the Texian service to the number of two hundred. They still wore the uniform of our army, but refused of course to return. The commander of the Texian forces was applied to, *o enforce their return ; but his only re])ly was, that the soldiers might go, but he had no au- thority to send them back." Thus it appears, that while these lawless desperadoes were in the act of plundering Mexico of one of her fairest provinces, for the purpose of annexing it to the United States, as a new market, in which republican slave-breeders and slave-traders might ply their traffic, the army of this same nation was hover- ing near, ready to aid the plunderers, if aid should be needed. As a proof of this, read the following extract of a letter from an officer in the United States army, published at the lime, in the Army and Navy Chronicle. Speaking of the advance of Gen. Gaines' troops to Nacogdoches, he says : * War in Texas, p. 29. 2* 30 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. *• It is to create the impression in Texas and Mexico, that the Government of the United Stales takes a part in the controversy. It is in fact lending to the cause of Texas all the aid which it can derive from the countenance and apparent support of the United Stales, besides placing* our troops in a situation to take an actual part in aid of the Texians, in case a reverse of their affairs should render aid necessary. The pretext of the anticipated invasion from the Indians in that quarter, is unsupported by the least probable testimony, althou<>h Gen. Houston has issued a procla- mation, dated at Nacogdoches, ordering out a body of two hun- dred Texian militia 'to sustain the United States force at this place, until reinforcements can arrive from Gen. Gaines.' " In the letter of Mr. Clay, to the National Intelligencer, dated Raleigh, April 17, 1844, he says : ''The signal success of that revolution was greatly aided, if not wholly achieved, by citizens of the United States who had migrated to Texas." Mr. VanBuren, in his letter to Mr. Hammett, April 20, 1844, testifies to the same thing ; he says : " Nothing is either more true or more extensivelyknown, than that Texas was wrested from Mexico, and her independence established through the instrumentality of citizens of the United States." Such are the purposes for which Mexico was at first invaded, and despoiled of more than one hundred and sixty thousand square miles of territory ; and such the means by which these purposes have been accomplished. How she has been more recently robbed of the territory, — as James K. Polk tells us in his late message, "larger than the thirteen original States of this Union," — will be seen hereafter. As soon as the Texians had gained the battle of San Jacinto, they demanded to be "annexed to the United States." Not in the tone of suppliants, quite the contrary ; with the butt of their slave-whips, while their knuckles were dripping with blood, they were found on the steps, thundering at the door for admis- sion to the Union. The South was ready for the measure, as she ever had been. But the North hesitated, and wavered. The proposition was at first a startling one to the '' free States," as they are called, as if in derision. And many of their legisla- tures passed "resolves" against the measure, declaring that " Congress had no power to annex a foreign nation to the United FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 31 Slates;" and declaring '-that no act done, or compact made, for such a purpose, by the Governnrient of the United Slates, will be binding on the States or the people." * But the South knew her men. They had of their own accord, harnessed themselves to her bloody car.f And patiently had they drawn it for more than fifty years. True, they had occasionally threatened to kick, when they felt its burdens so intolerably heavy, as to gall them to blood. But then a few cracks of her whip had always brought them to submission again — never to their senses — and she well knew it would be so now. So she laughed at their bluster, and man- aged the whole affair in her own way, as she had ever done. But even the patient ox has been known to get brcachy ; and the staid "sons of the pilgrims " 7H/g/i^ also become restive, if their yoke was suddenly made too heavy. The South knew that time and familiarity would work marvellous changes in men's feelings. Nor was she a stranger to the fact, that the thrifty Northerners loved money ; and set a high value on cotton; and cotton had already begun to grow in Texas; and sheetings from Lowell were sold there. So she took counsel of these things, and waited fur a " more convenient season." The year 1844 brought with it a Presidential election, and at this period the South resolved to make the grand issue. The North was loyal to the Union ; and she was given to compromis- ing. She had compromised in the beginning; and again in 1820, when jMissouri came in. And the South knew that she would compromise again, if a little time was given. So {o famil- iarize {hem with the subject, she "kept it before the people," in her journals, and public speeches at Annexation meetings, and toasts at political gatherings. The two prominent candi- dates for the Presidency were Henry Clay of Kentucky, and Martin Van Buren of New York. The former was a slave-hold- er ; and, although the latter had long been known as a " North- ern man with Southern principles," the South distrusted him. She was afraid that he was not "sound to the core" on the subject of her favorite measure. To put the matter at rest, therefore, and to get the issue fairly before the people at the coming elec- tion, the two rival, and several other candidates who " offered," * See Resolves of Massachusetts Legislature, 1838, of Vermont, 1837, also of Rhode Island, Oiiio, aud Michigan, t Bv adopting the Constitutio.i. 32 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. were requested to give a public expression of their views of the annexation of Texas. The reply of Clay, the Whig- candidate^ was evasive. To the question as put to him from different parts of the country, he returned various answers. In his letter to the National Intelligencer, dated Raleigh, April 17, 1844, he holds the following among other contradictory sentiments : " Under these circumstances, if the government of the United States were to acquire Texas, it would require along with it all the incumbrances which Texas is under, and among them the actual or suspended war between Mexico and Texas. Of that consequence, there cannot be a doubt. Annexation and war ivilh Mexico are identical. Now, for one, I certainly am not willing to involve this country in a foreign war for the object of acquiring Texas." *********# " If any European nation entertain any ambitious designs upon Texas, such as that of colonizing her, or in any way subjugating her, I should regard it as the imperative duty of the Government of the United States to oppose to such designs the most firm and determined resistance, to the extent, if necessary, of appealing to arms to prevent the accomplishment of any such designs." Mr. Van Buren, the Democratic candidate, expressed himself as decidedly opposed to the measure under existing circum- stances. His answer produced the greatest excitement among the circle of political Democrats at the Capitol. The Washington corres- pondent of the Liberator, under the date of April 28, 1844, says: " There is the greatest possible commotion here among the political elements. The Southern portion of the Democracy are furious at Van Buren's letter ; for their watch-word is, ' Now, or never.' There is considerable chance that he will be dropped, and Tyler, Cass, or Calhoun, taken up." He was mistaken, however, in regard to the slave-holders' can- didate, as almost every body else was. Several others, who were anxious to secure the nomination, expressed themselves as decidedly favorable to annexation. But the answer of J. K. Polk left no doubt among the slave- holders, as to their man. The following is from the first para- graph, dated " Columbia, Tenn., April 23, 1844 : " " Gentleme.\ : — I have no hesitation in declaring that I am in favor of the immediate re-annexation of Texas to the territory and government of the United State?." FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 33 ^^ Immediate re-anntxalion P^ There was something so deliberate and straight-forward in this, as to be entirely satisfactory, even to the unscrupulous villains who rule this nation. The Baltimore Convention assembled on the 27th of May. Mr. Van Buren was the idol of the Democratic party ; and large num- bers of the delegates from the North had gone there, pledged to his support. But slavery had been holding a conclave. And James K. Polk, of Tennessee, was selected as her most fitting tool. And Mr. Van Buren was unceremoniously dashed into the sea of political oblivion; and his worshippers were compelled to forego the pleasure of his nomination, and to vote for a man whom nine-tenths of them never before heard of. This was a terrible stroke to the Northern " democracy ;" but their necks were under the yoke, and although at first they exhibited strong symptoms of rebellion, a few smart pricks of the goad, and cracks of the whip, brought them to quiet submission again, and they have since trudged along with their burdens, as docile as ever. Pending these proceedings, John Tyler had negotiated a treaty, April 12, with Mr. Van Zandt, the Texian Minister, for the an- nexation of Texas as "a territory of the United States ;" by which the United States "assumed and agreed to pay the public debts and liabilities of Texas, however created^ which were estimated not to exceed ten millions of dollars." * Mexico had frequently declared her intention of subjugating Texas to her authority; and that any attempt to annex that prov- ince to the United States would be regarded by her as an act of war. In the letter of Mr. Bocanegra to Mr. Thompson, dated August 23, 1843, he said : "That the Mexican Government will consider equivalent to a declaration of war against the Mexican Republic, the passage of an act for the incorporation of Texas into the territory of ihe United States — the certaintij of ihe fact being siifficient for the im- mediate proclamation of a icar." General Almonte, the Mexican Minister, also gave not'ce to Mr- Calhoun, Secretary of State, that his government would look upon the annexation of Texas to the United States, as an espousal of the war of the latter against Mexico. This was done not as a threat, but merely to give notice of the "inevitable consequence" of such a step, for he says : ""See article V. of du; treaty of atiiiexation. 34 FACTS FOR THli: PROPLE. " And though the undersigned has declared, by express order of his government, that wai' will he the inevitnhk consequence of the annexation of Texas to the United States, he certainly has not done so with the object of intimidating the government of the Honorable Secretary of State, but with the view of showing how far Mexico would carry iier resistance to an annexation of that nature." But these repeated declarations were totally disregarded by this government ; and on the 19th of April, 1844, Mr Calhoun wrote a letter to Benjamin Green, American Charge at Mexico, in which he says : " It (the executive) has taken this step, (of annexation,) in full view of all possible consequences." While these proceedings were going on in the dark councils of the Cabinet at Washington, a large naval force under Commo- dore Conner was concentrated in the Gulf, and kept hovering along the coast of Mexico ; while a considerable military force was known to approach the frontiers of Texas and settle down on the banks of the Sabine. When the bargain had been struck, it was submitted to the Senate for ratification. That body sat with closed doors during their deliberations. But the overseers outside were unremitting in their efforts to coerce it into a compliance with this measure. Washington letter writers for the Northern press, also busied themselves with strenuous efforts to get the excitement up to the right pitch in that quarter, by representing, that if Texas was not secured now, it would be lost forever. The Washington correspondent of the Journal of Commerce, under date of March 30, 1844, says : "General Henderson arrived on Thursday ; Mr. Calhoun, yes- terday. The treaty of annexation of Texas to the United Slates will now be negotiated, and in a short time be laid before the Senate for ratification. 1'he national enthusiasm of the people of Texas, in view of the prospect of annexation, is overwhelming and irrepressible. If the Government of the United States postpone or refuse to ratify a treaty of annexation, the revulsion of the pub- lic mind in Texas will prove fatal to any farther negotiation on this subject: — and Gen. Henderson, as he is lelieved io be in- structed, will proceed to England, and negotiate with that govern- ment a commercial treaty on the basis of free trade, which will forever put at rest any farther desire on the part of tiie people of Texas to be annexed to the United States. FACTS FOR THE PKOPLE. S5 Texas will become a great commercial depot for the trade of England and other European powers. The commerce of Texas, Mexico, and Central America, will be lost to this country. The agricultural interests of Texas will become antagonistical to the agricultural interests of our Soutiiern States, and in a few years Texas will raise every bale of cotton necessary for the consump- tion of the English manufactories. English (migration, English cap- ital, English commerce, English enterprise, and English influence, ivill overwhelm and swallow up everything that is American, and estrange the people of Texas from their loyalty to the United States. WHAT WILL THE SENATE DO ? '' The correspondent of the New York Herald, writing from the same place, says : " Gen. Henderson, the new minister from Texas, has a carte blanche to form a treaty of annexation with Texas, — to comply with exactly such terms as our government may dictate. He was appointed by President Houston, in obedience to the secret in- structions of the Texan Congress; Houston himself being opposed to the annexation with the United States, but preferring that with England." " In case the American government should refuse to accept the proposition of annexation, then General Henderson is authorized to proceed immediately to England, and to propose an alliance of some kind with that power, either as a colony or some other independent shaped " The question of annexation must also be determined before the termination of the present session of Congress. This is the third time which Texas has knocked at the door of the Union for admission since 1837; and if the treaty of annexation he refused now, the decis- ion is final and fatal, both to Texas and to the United States. IT IS THE LAST CHANCE." Again, the same writer unburdens himself as follows ; Washington, March 31, 1844. " First and foremost, in point of irresistible necessity, are the affairs of Texas. Her crisis is come. Her necessities are upon her, not in the future, but in the present; she cannot wait. The case is issued, the sheriff's hand is already upon the victim's shoulder, and the only alternatives are bail or jail." " The time now is come when Texas must and will either unite with us, or depart from us ; be for us, or against us ; come under the protection of the mg'is of the American Eagle, or crouch beneath the paw of the British Lion; when her untold and incalculable agricultural and commercial resources shall go to enrich either these United States, or the kingdom of Great Britain. General Henderson is now here with plenary powers ; and before he leaves us, and before this Congress adjourns, the fate of Tews must he defi- nitely sefifed." a© FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. That, all this was a mere trick, a fly to catch Cabinet gudgeoriv^ withal, we have the testimony of Sam Houston, at that time Presi- dent of Texas. In a letter, dated Huntsville, Texas, July 18, 1847, he quotes a paragraph from a letter of Ex-President Tyler, published in the Weekly Union of the ]2th ult, confirmatory of these rumors, and then says: "It seems from this position assumed by Mr. Tyler, that he either imagined the authorities of Texas were favorable to those intrigues, and were willing to compromise her rights and interests as a nation, or that they could not perceive the force and effect of the web which was iceavino; around htr destiny ! Now, either in- ference would do injustice to her character. The authorities of Texas had relied for years upon a plain and frank proposition for annexation, and had hoped to be met by a cordial and manly ac- ceptance. They were disappointed. Texas was treated with coldness, reserve, or palpable discouragement- In this condition of our affairs, comn)on sense, without uncommon sagacity, sug- gested the only feasible plan to attain the desired object, and that was, to excite jealousy and alarm on the part of the politicians and people of the United States, in relation to the future commer- cial and political connection of Texas with European nations. This was easily accomplished, by treating with silence all the charges which were made by editors of various newspapers in the United States. The Chief Magistrate of Texas was charged with 'treason;' selling Texas to England; subsidizing her to France; and in a short time 'astounding disclosures' of all these transactions would take place I All these charges remained uncontradicted by the journals of Texas, and the effect was all that could be desired ! Jealousy toward England and France was awakened. This be- gat excitement, which originated phantasies and conjured up r-.;- tions of intrigues, which had existed only in imagination." Besides, there was no danger that Texas would be " annexed " to Great Britain, as there existed no slave-holding affinities between the two nations. The injunction of secresy was at length removed, and the treaty with the accompanying documents, were published to the world. Their revelations were truly astounding. The treaty, — some notice of which has already been taken, — defined no boundaries to Texas whatever ; but left it to include as much of the Mexican territory as the " contracting parties " could lay their hands on. Accompanying the treaty, was a long correspondence, carried on since 1842, between different American Ministers to Texas and Secretaries of State of the United States, in which both had FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE, 37 expressed strong desires to g^et speedy possession of Texas, as tlie only means of propagating the race of slave-holders, and saving the infernal system from extinction. Some extracts from these extraordinary documents are here given, upon which the reader can furnish liis own comments. About this time England was supposed to be exerting her influence to obtain the abolition of slavery in Texas. On this subject, Mr. Upsher, Secretary of State of the United States, wrote numerous letters to Mr. Murphy, Minister to Texas, from which we make extracts. August 8, 1843, he Avrote as follows : "A movement of this kind cannot be contemplated by us in silence. Such an attempt, upon any neighboring country would necessarily be viewed with very deep concern ; but when it is made upon a nation whose territories join iht slavt-holding States of our Union, it awakens a still more solemn interest. It cannot be permitted to succeed, without the most strenuous eiforts on our part, to arrest a calamity so serious to every part of our country." " The establishment in the very midst of our slave-holding States, of an independent government, forbidding the existence of slavery, and by a people born, for the most part, among us, reared up in our habits, and speaking our language, could not fail to produce the most unhappy effects upon both parties. If Texas were in that condition, her territory would afi'ord a refuge for the fugitive slaves of Louisiana and Arkansas, and would hold out to them an en- couragement to run away, which no municipal regulation of ours could possibly counteract." "The States immediately interested would be most likely to take the subject into their own hands. They would perceive that there could not be any security for that species of property, if the mere crossing of a geographical line could give freedom to the slave. Few calamities could befall this country more to be de- plored, than the establishment of a predominant British influence, and the abolition of domestic slavery in Texas." Murphy to Upsher, September 23, 1843. " Pardon me if I am too solicitous on this subject. I feel the deep interest at stake. Our whole Southern interests are involved in the negotiation, and with it the interests of this Union itself. The great blow to our civil institutions is to be struck here, and it will be a fatal blow, if not timely arrested." "England is anxious to get rid of the Constitution of Texas, because it secures, in the most nervous and clear language, the rights of the master to the slave; and it also prohibits the intro- -3 OO FACTS roH THE PKOPLE. duction of slaves into Texas from any other nation or quarter than the United States." "Now all the United States has to do is, to aid the y)eople of Texas in sustaining their Constitution, which, while it effectually secures the rights of the master, secures to the people the bles- sings of civil, political, and religious liberty. On the following day he wrote as follows : "The Constitution of Texas secures to the master the perpet- ual RIGHT TO HIS SLAVE, and prohibits the introduction of slaves into Texas from any other quarter than the United States." "If the United States preserves and secures to Texas the pos- session of her Constitution and present form of government, then have we gained all we can desire, and also all that Texas asks or wishes." Mr. Upsher to Mr. Murphy, September 23, 1843. " So far as this government is concerned, it has every desire to come to the aid of Texas, in the most prompt and effectual manner. How far we shall be supported by the people, I regret to say is somewhat doubtful. There is no reason to fear that there will be any difference of opinion among the slave-holding States ; and there is a large number in the non-slave-holding, with views sufficiently liberal to embrace a policy absolutely necessary to the salvation of the South, although, in some respects, objectionable to themselves^ Mr. Upsher to Mr. Murphy, JVovember 21, 1843. " It is impossible to be too watchful or too diligent in a matter which involves such momentous consequences, not only to our country, but to the whole civilized world. The view which the government takes of it, excludes every idea of mere sectional in- terest. We regard it as involving the security of the South ; and the strength and prosperity of every part of the Union." Upsher to Murphy, January 16, 1 844. " But this is not all. If Texas should refuse to come into our Union, measures will instantly be taken to fill her territory with emigrants from Europe. Extensive arrangements for this have already been made, and they will be carried into eftect as soon as the decision of Texas shall be known." " But the first measure of the new emigrants, as soon as they shall have sufficient strength, will be, to destroy that grand domes- tic institution, upon which so much of the prosperity of our fron- tier country depends. To tliis, England will stimulate them, and she will also furnish the means of accomplishing it. 1 have com- mented upon this topic in a despatch to Mr. Everett. I will add, that if Texas should not be attached to the United States, she cannot maintain that institution ten years, and probably not half that time^ FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 39 About this time, Great Britain was cautioned against thrusting in any of her anti-slavery interference in this matter, on this wise : Mr. Calhoun to Mr. Packenham, British Minister, April 18, 1844. " It is with still deeper concern that the President regards the avowal of Lord Aberdeen, of the desire of Great Britain to see slavery abolished in Texas; and, as he infers, is endeavoring, through her diplomacy, to accomplish it by making the abolition of slavery one of the conditions on which Mexico should acknowl- edge her independence. Under this conviction, it is felt to be the imperious duty of the Federal Government, the common repre- sentative and protector of these States of the Union, to adopt, in self-defence, the most effectual measures to defeat it.'" Calhoun to Packenham, April 27, 1844. " The United States, in concluding the treaty of annexation with Texas, are not disposed to shun any responsibility which may fairly attach to them on account of the transaction. The meas- ure was adopted by the mutual consent, and for the mutual and permanent Avelfare of the two countries interested. It was made necessary, in order to preserve domestic institutions, placed under the guaranty of their respective constitutions, and deemed essen- tial to their safety and prosperity." These official papers show, beyond a cavil, what the design of the government was in annexing Texas, and that it had deter- mined to push this design to its accomplishment, regardless of con- sequences. The Senate also called on the Executive for the orders, if any, which had been given to the military and naval commanders here- tofore alluded to. In communicating to the Senate, the orders which he had given to General Taylor and Commodore Conner, the President says : " I have to inform the Senate that, in consequence of the dec- laration of Mexico communicated to this government, and by me laid before Congress at the opening of its present session, an- nouncing the determination of Mexico to regard as a declaration of war against her by the United States the definitive ratification of any treaty with Texas annexing the territory of that republic to the United States, and the hope and belief entertained by the Ex- ecutive that the treaty with Texas for that purpose would be speedily approved and ratified by the Senate, it was regarded by the Executive to have become emphatically its duty to concen- trate, in the Gulf of Mexico and its vicinity, as a precautionary meas- ure, as large a portion of the home squadron, under the command of Captain Conner, as could well be drawn together; and, at the 40 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. same time, to assemble at Fort Jesiip, on the borders of Texas, as large a military force as the demands of the service at other encampments would authorize to be detached." * In the very midst of these warlike demonstrations the President was making loud professions of friendship, and an earnest desire to preserve the friendly relations existing between the two repub- lics. In the message accompanying the treaty, he says : "To Mexico, the Executive is disposed to pursue a course con- ciliatory in its character, and at the same time to render her the most ample justice, by conventions and stipulationvS not inconsis- tent with the rights and dignity of the government." The course which he had pursued so far, was about as "concili- atory in its character" as that of the highwayman, who, with a pistol at the throat of his victim, commands him to " deliver or die." And, after plundering her of her possessions, lie had pre- pared " to render her the most ample justice " at the mouth of the cannon. That Tyler knew that a state of war at that time existed be- tween Mexico and Texas, and that he was endeavoring to involve this nation in that war, by espousing the quarrel of the latter, we have his own confession; a little farther on in the same message, he says : "It, (the Executive,) has made known to Mexico, at several pe- riods, its extreme anxiety to witness the termination of hostilities between that country and Texas." "The war which has been waged for eight years, has resulted only in the conviction, with all other than herself, that Texas can- not be re-conquered. I cannot but repeat the opinion expressed in my message at the opening of Congress, that it is time it had ceased." A plain spoken man might also say, that he knew he was lying when he said, "that Texas cannot be re-conquered ;" for he im- mediately goes on : " I repeat, the Executive saw Texas in a state o^ almost hopeless exhaustion, and the question was narrowed down to the simple proposition, whether the United States should accept the boon of annexation upon fair and even liberal terms, or, by refusing to do so, force Texas to seek refuge in the arms of some other power." Although Thomas H. Benton of Missouri, was deeply anxious to get possession of Texas, as we have already shown, he had not * Message to the iSeuate, May 15, 1844, FACTS FOR THK PEOPLE. 41 the assurance to claim the Rio del Norte as its western boun- dary. He well knew that such a claim Avas a gross outrage on the rights of Mexico ; that it vyas an attempt to rob her of an immense tract of her territory, including large portions of four distinct States, in addition to Texas, and he had the honesty and manliness to avow it. In a letter to the Texan Congress, dated April 30, ]844, he says: "Of course, I, who consider what lam about, always speak of Texas as constituted at the time of the treaty of 1819, and not as constituted by the Republic of Texas, comprehending the capital and forty towns and villages of New Mexico! now and always as fully under the dominion of the Republic of Mexico, as Quebec and all the towns and villages of Canada are under the dommion of Great Britain!" In his masterly speech on the treaty, May 6th, 1844, he said : " Let us pause and look at our new and important proposed acquisitions in this quarter. First: there is the department, formerly the province of New Mexico, lying on both sides of the river, from its head spring to near the Passo del Norte ; that is to say, half way down the river. This department is studded with towns and villages ; is populated, well cultivated, and covered with flocks and herds. On its left bank, (for I only speak of the part which we propose to re-annex,) is, first, the frontier village, Taos, 3000 souls, and where the custom-house is kept, at which the Mis- souri caravans enter their goods. Then comes Santa Fe, the cap- ital, 4000 souls ; then Albuqurque, 6000 souls; then comes scores of other towns and villages, all more or less populated, and sur- rounded by flocks and fields. Then comes the departments of Chihuahua, Coahuila and Tamaulipas, v^ithout settlements on the left bank of the river, but occupying the right bank, and command- ing the left. All this — being parts of four Mexican departments, now under Mexican Governors and Governments — is permanently re-annexed to this Union if this treaty is ratified, and is actually re-annexed from the moment of the signature of the treaty, accord- ing to the President's last message, to remain so until the acquisition is rejected by rejecting the treaty ! The one-half of the depart- ment of New Mexico, with its capital, becomes a Territory of the United States; an angle of Chihuahua, at the Passo del Norte, fa- mous for its wine, also becomes ours; a part of the department of Coahuila, not populated on the left bank, which we take, but com- manded from the right bank by Mexican authorities; the same of Tamaulipas, the ancient Nuevo San Tander, (New St. Andrew,) and which covers both sides of the wver from its mouth for some hundred miles up, and all the left bank of which is in the power and possession of Mexico. These, in addition to the old Texas, these parts of four States, these towns and villages, these people 3* 4^ FACTS FOR T«K PEOPLE. and territory, these flocks and herds, this slice of the Republic of Mexico, two thousand miles long and some hundred broad, — all this our President has cut off from its mother empire, and presents to us, and declares it is ours till the Senate rejects it! He calls it Texas! and the cutting- off iie calls re-annexation! Humboldt calls it New Mexico, Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Nuevo San Tan- der, (now Tamaulipas ;) and the civilized world may qualify tiiis re-annexation by the application of some odious and terrible epi- thet. Demosthenes advised the people of Athens not to take, but to re-take a certain city; and in that re-laid the virtue which saved the act from the character of spoliation and robbery. Will it be equally potent with us? and will the 're,' prefixed to the annexa- tion, legitimate the seizure of two thousand miles of a neig-hbor's dominion, v/ith whom we liave treaties of i)eace, and friendship, and commerce ? Will it legitimate this seizure, made by virtue of a treaty with Texas, when no Texan force — witness the disas- trous expeditions to Mier and to Santa Fe — have been seen near it without being killed or taken, to the last man ? " " I wash my hands of all attempts to dismember the Mexican Re- public, by seizing her dominions in JVew Mexico, Chihuahua, Coahuila and Tamaulipas. The treaty, in all that relates TO THE BOUNDARY OF THE RiO GrANDE, IS AN ACT OF UNPAR- ALLELED OUTRAGE ON MeXICO. It IS THE SEIZURE OF TWO THOUSAND MILES OF HER TERRITORY, without a v/ord of explana- tion with her, and by virtue of a treaty with Texas, to which she is no party. Our Secretary of State, in his letter to the United States Charge in Mexico, and seven days after the treaty was signed, and after the Mexican minister had withdrawn from our seat of government, shows full well that he wis conscious of the ENORMITY OF THIS OUTRAGE; knew it was war; and proffered volunteer apologies to avert the consequences which he knew he liad provoked." '^ # ^i= * # " By this declaration, the thirty thousand Mexicans in the left half of the valley of the Rio del Norte are our citizens, and stand- ing, in the language of the President's Message, in a hostile atti- tude towards us, and subject to be repelled as invaders. Taos, the seat of the custom-house, where our caravans enter their goods, is ours ; Santa Fe, the capital of Nev/ Mexico, is ours ; Governor Armijo is our Governor, and subject to be tried for treason if he does not submit to us ; twenty Mexican towns and villages are ours; and their peaceful inhabitants, cultivating their fields and tending their flocks, are suddenly converted, by a stroke of the President's pen, into American citizens, "or American rebels." * # * ^ # ^ * # " 1 therefore propose, as an additional resolution, applicable to the Rio del Norte boundary 5nly, the one which 1 will read and send to the Secretary's table, and on wdiich at the proper time, I shall ask the vote of the Senate. This is the resolution : Resolved, Thai the incorporaiiov of the left hmrh of thi Rie dd FACTS rOh THE PklOPl.K. 4^ .Yorle into the American Union, by virtue of a treaty with Texas, comprehending, as the said incorporation icould do, a part of the Mexican departments of JWw Mexico, Chihuahua, Coahuila and Tamanlipas, ivould be an act of direct aggression on Mexico ; for all the consequences of vvhich the United States would stand responsible." After a long and animated discussion, notwithslanding" the strenuous efforts of the slave-breeders to prevent such a catastrophe, the treaty was rejected by a decisive majority ; and there the mat- ter rested with the Government until the next session of Congress, which was only five or six months in the future. Every moment of this time was occupied with the most incessant and systematic drilling by the conspirators. TJeetings were held in various sec- tions of the South, in favor of immediate annexation, at which it was bravely determined to dissolve the Union, if that measure was not speedily accomplished. The following are specimens of " democratic " sentiments, given at public political dinners in South Carolina. •' At Three Mile Creek, Barnwell District, by C. C. Hay : The re^ annexation of Texas to the United Statrs: We will obtain it 'peaceably if we can, forcibly if we must.' By Jos. G. W. VV. Ddncan : A just reduction of the tariff; the noise of abolition silenced; Texas or disunion; and such legis- lation as will in future secure the homestead of every family — Polk and Dallas our Presidents. At Piedmont, Snmier District, by H. E. L.Peebles : The annex- ation of Texas — a measure beneficial to the whole Union, but essential to the safety of the South — at the next session of Con- gress, we demand Texas or disunion. At Jf'alterborovgh. ' Annexation : ' The great measure of deliv- erance and liberty to the South ; v/ith it we are Unionists ; ivith- ovt it we are disunionists, though the fate of traitors be our doom. (Nine times nine cheers.) At Orangeburg Court-House, by Gen. D. F. Jamison: The Union and Texas, or Texas and disunion —Let the opponents of this great American measure accept the alternative. By Mr. John Goalson: Texas and South Carolina forever. By Lieut. John C. Rowe. The annexation of Texas — peace- ably if we can, forcibly if we must." Although similar sentiments were as courageously uttered throughout the South, we will not. burden the reader by inserting more ; but add the testimony of Mr. Benton to this point. In a speech of Thomas H. Benton at Boonville, Ky., in 1 844, pub- 44 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. lished in the Boonville Union, as written out by himself, he pre- sented it as " the design of the Texas treaty, not to get Texas into the Union, but to get the Southern States out of it; and showed that the whole treaty, and all the correspondence relating to it, was studiously and artfully contrived for this purpose." "To present the acquisition of Texas as Southern, sectional, slave-liolding question, wholly directed to the extension, perpetu- ation, and predominance of slavery, was its express and avowed object." " Disunion, as a consequence of non-annexation, was proclaimed in hundreds of resolutions. Measures w^ere openly concocted for carrying the resolutions into effect. Members of Congress from the Southern States were invited to act together; communications with the Texan Ministers were recommended to be opened ; all the slave States were to be roused and excited ; and to crown the scheme, a Hartford Convention, under the pretext of a Southern Texas Convention, was proposed to be held at Nashville." In a speech, delivered in the Senate of the United States in 1844, Mr. Benton said : " I have often intimated before, but now proclaim it, disunion is at the bottom of this long-concealed Texas machination. In- trigue and speculation co-operate, but disunion is at the bottom ; and I denounce it to the American people." We have clearly shown, that the sole object of the slave-holders in the acquisition of Texas, (and we shall soon show that they never meant to be content with barely getting that,) was, to add new securities to their infernal system. As the treaty-making poAver had stood in the way of the immediate accomplishment of this scheme, the first step taken was, an open, undisguised and suc- cessful attempt to over-ride and trample it under foot. Almost simultaneously, "Joint Resolves" were introduced into both houses of Congress, for the annexation of Texas. Thus doing by bare majority, what, if done at all, could only be done constitu- tionally, by a vote of two-thirds of the Senate. But is it strange that they who make merchandize of their fellow-men, turning them into goods and chattels, should be unrestrained by the forms of law ? On the 10th of December, 1844, George McDuffie of South Carolina, introduced to the Senate joint resolutions for the annexa- tion of Texas. The day after the introduction of McDuffie's resolution in the Senate, on the 11th of December, Mr. Benton of Missouri, v/ho facts! for the peopll:. 45 knew that the adoption of that resolve would involve the country in a v/ar with Mexico, and wishing- to avert such a calamity, in- troduced his counter project, in the shape of a bill to provide for the annexation of Texas to the United States, three sections of v.hich are as follows: " I. The boundary of the annexed tr^rritory to be in the desert prairie west of the Nueces, and along the highlands and moun- tain heifl-hts which divide the n-aters of the Mississippi from the waters of the Rio del Norte, and to latitude forty-two degrees north. V. The existence of slavery to be forever prohibited in the northern and north-western part of said territory, west of the 100th degree of longitude west from Greenwich, so as to divide, as equally as may be, the whole of the annexed country between slave-holding and non-slave-holding States. VL The assent of [Mexico to be obtained by treaty to such an- nexation and boundary, or to be dispensed %vith when the Con- gress of the United States may deem such assent to be unnec- essary." But this plan of Benton's v/as altogether too peaceful ; it was not aggressive enough. It gave the slave-holders nothing but Texas, with the consent of Mexico; while they had long been determined to have not only Texas, New Mexico, and California, but as much more of that republic as they could get, without her consent. War may not have been their primary object; it proba- bly was not; but they did not care to avoid it, they rather courted it; for they had firmly resolved to take possession of TexRS, and as much more of i^Iexico as they wanted, peacefully if slie did not resist, but forcibly if she did. The l^lexican Minister had repeat- edly warned this government, that the annexation of Texas would be regarded by his government as a declaration of war; which vras a very v.elcome announcement to the slave-breeders, as fur- nishifig a grand pretext for plundering Mexico of her territory. Neither did these resolves or this bill go far enough ; nor did the treaty. They only provided for the annexation of Texas as a territory ; and a territory could not vote ; and slave votes were wanted in Congress, as well as more slave territory in the nation ; and neither John Tyler ncr McDulHe had made any provisions for the votes, nor had Calhoun. And after various modifications and amendments had been offered and rejected, Milton Brown of Tennessee presented a *' Joint Resolution" in th^ House, which 46 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. was adopted Jan. 25, 1845, "declaring the terms on which Con- gress will admit Texas, as one of the States of this Union ;" the first of which is as follows ; " Be it resolved, That Con<;fress doth consent that the territory properly included with, and rightfully belonging to the Republic of Texas, may be erected into a new Stale to be called the State of Texas, with a republican form of government to be adopted by the people of said Republic, by deputies in convention, assembled with the consent of the existing government, in order that the same may be admitted as one of the Slates of the Union. ^^nd be it further resolved, That the foregoing consent of Con- gress is given upon the following conditions, aiid with the follow- ing guaranties, to wit: J. Said State to be formed subject to the adjustment by this government o^ all questions ofhoundari) that may arise with other governments ; and that the constitution thereof, with the proper evidence of its- adoption by the Republic of Texas, shall be trans- mitted to the President of the United States, to be laid before Congress for its final action, on or before the first day of January, 1846." The Texians, nothing loth, made haste to accept this offer. Their ^ republican form of government,'' was already established, and the constitution thereof, witii the proper evidence of its adop- tion by the people, was all ready to be sent to Congress, to be rati- fied by that body as soon as it had come together. To satisfy the reader that this instrument was al! that even a slave-holding Con- gress could desire, we here give two sections of the Texas Co>sTiTUTio?f. ' Sec. 9. All persons of color, who vv^ere slaves for life previous to their emigration to Texas, and who aix now held in bondage, shall remain in the like state of servitude, provided the said slave shall be the bona fide property of the person so holding said slave as aforesaid; Congress shall pass no laws to prohibit emigrants from the United States of America from bringing their slaves into the Republic ivith them, and holdino;- them by the same tenure by which such slaves were held in the United States ; nor shall Congress have the power to emancipate his or her slave or slaves ; nor shall ami slave-holder be allowed to emancipate his or her slave or slaves, loithout the consent of Congress, unless he or she shall send his or her slave or slaves without the limits of the republic. No free person of African descent, either in whole or m part, shall he. per- mitted to reside permanently in the repid>lic, without the consent of Congress; and the importation or admission of African negroes into this republic, excepting from the United States of America, is forever prohibited, and declared to be piranj. FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 47 Sec. 10. All persons, [Africans and the descendanis of Africans^ and Indians excepted,) who were residing in Texas on the clay of the Declaration of Independence, [a g-reat portion of the native Mexican citizens are of course excluded,] shall be considered citi- zens of the republic, and entitled to all the privileges of such.' Soon after the assembling of Congress in December, 1845, the subject of admitting Texas as a State of the Union became the absorbing question in the deliberations of that body. Another "Joint Resolution for the admission of Texas into the American Union," was read on the 16th. Mr. McConnell of Alabama, moved the previous question, thus gagging the feeble opposition that might have been made, and the resolves were adopted by a vote of 141 to 56. They were then sent to the Senate, and adopted in that body on the 22d of December, by a vote of 31 to 13. They soon received the signature of the President, and this step in the proceedings was accomplished. The next waste commemce hos- tilities upon Mexico, for the purpose of robbing her of New Mexi- co, California, and the adjacent countries ; for as yet, although she had withdrawn her Minister from this country, she had made no other hostile demonstrations ; not even upon Texas. The government of this country, which was forever whining and carping about the "grasping ambition of England," had long had an " evil eye" towards these possessions of its neighbor, and Cap- tain Fremont had already been engaged for several years past on a military ^^ exploring expedition " in the upper provinces of Mexico, brilliant reports of which he had from time to time communicated to Congress.* So that the plan of operations in that quarter was doubtless already fully digested. To those who are so ignorant of the character of this govern- ment as to suppose that the refusal of Mexico to make indemnity for spolialions on American commerce was one of the causes of the war, it may be necessary to make a few explanations. That Mexico had acknowledged the justice of the claims, and wasdoin^ the best she could to liquidate them, as fast as they were adjudi- cated, until the Americans made war upon her, we have the con- fession of both Tyler and Polk. In President Tyler's Message of December, 1843, he says: " The instalments on the claims recently settled by the Conven^ * House Doc. 166, 29lh Congress. 4S FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE, tion with Mexico, have been punctually paid as they have fallen due, and our Minister is engag^ed in urging- the establishment of a new commission in pursuance of the Convention for the settle- ment of unadjusted claims.'^ In the annual message of Mr. Polk, of 1845, he says : "The interest due on the thirtieth day of April, 1843, and the first three of twenty instalments have been paid." " The claims which were left undecided by the joint commis- sion, amounting to more than $3,000,000, together with other claims for spoliations on the property of our citizens, were subse- quently presented to the Mexican Government for payment, and were so far recognized, that a treaty, providing for their examina- tion and settlement by a joint commission, was concluded and signed at Mexico, on the twentieth day of November, 1843." The reader is requested not to forget, that tliis James K. Polk^ who in one breath charges the Mexicans with want of faith in refusing to pay their debts, and in the next takes it all back by admitting that they do pay them as fast as they are able, — is the Y resident o? repudiating Slates ; and that he is the same James K. Polk, who, no longer ago than August 8, 1846, vetoed a bill for the payment of claims due from the government of the United States to many of her citizens, on account of French spoliations. The army under General Taylor, which at the commencement of the negotiations was located on the Sabine, had long since been moved to the extreme frontiers of Texas, and posted at Cor- pus Christi on the west bank of the River Nueces, in the state of Tamaulipas, where the Texians had established a custom-house. There it remained, watching the progress of events, waiting for further developements and further orders. During this period it was called " the army of occupation^ Although this army had actually invaded Mexico by entering Tamaulipas, the Mexicans had thus far forborne to make any resistance. The following extracts from letters of instruction to General Taylor, from the war department, will throw some light on his position between the Nueces and the Rio Grande : "War Department, July 8, 1845. Sir: This department is informed that Mexico has some mili- tary establishments on the east side of the Rio Grande, which are, and for some time have been, in the actual occupancy of her troops. In carrying out the instructions heretofore received, you will be carefd to avoid any ads of aggression unless an actual state of war FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 49 should exist. The Mexican forces at the posts in their possession, and which have been so, ivill not he disturbed so lons^ as the rela- tions of peace between the United States and Mexico continue. Wm. L. Marcy. Brig. Gen. Z. Taylor." On the 30th of same month, he writes as follows: " The Rio Grande is claimed to be the boundary between the two countries, and up to this boundary you are to extend your protection, only excepting any posts on the eastern side thereof, which are in the actual occupancy of Mexican forces, or Mexican settlements over which the Republic of Texas did not exercise jurisdiction at the period of annexation, or shortly before that event." We have already stated that the Rio Grande was claimed as the western boundary of Texas, and also the fallacy of that claim. Here, the Secretary of War plainly admits that the country to the east of that river is in the occupancy of the Mexicans. That ihey have " posts," "forces," and " settlements " there. And yet General Taylor is instructed by the JVar Department, "not to dis- turb them." What is this but an admission that this territory be- longed to Mexico? It is true that in 1838 the Texan Congress resolved that their western boundary was the Rio Grande. Sup- pose that the legislature of New York had at the same time re- solved that their eastern boundary was the Connecticut river, and should send a gang of marauders to Northampton, and another to Hartford, for the purpose of taking possession of the country, and they should be all captured, hand-cuffed, and marched off to jail ; why, according to the logic of certain American Statesmen, that would entitle New York to the whole of Vermont, a large portion of Massachusetts, and the biggest half of Connecticut. These men knew full well that the Rio Grande was not the boundary between Texas and Mexico, and they dared not all at once as- sume it as such ; else, why suffer those foreign " military estab- lishments," to remain unmolested ? " If the territory was ours, those would and should have been the first and only objects of attack. What! foreign fortresses and forces on American soil, and American soldiers ordered by an American President not to molest them ! What did this mean? It meant that the territory was not ours. ]t meant inva- sion, war, and a new conquest, accompanied by the aggravating circumstance of pretending that it was peace I " 4 50 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. While the American troops were located at Corpus Christr, various reports were circulated through the country, of Mexican preparations to invade Texas. The following extracts from vari- ous official despatches of General Taylor to the war department, will enable the reader to set a proper value upon these rumors. These letters are all dated at Corpus Christi. August 15, 1845, he writes as follows : " Nor do I fear that the reported concentration of troops at Mat- amoras is for any purpose of invasion." August 20j he writes : " Caravans of traders arrive occasionally from the Rio Grande, but bring no news of importance. They represent that there are no regular troops on that river, except at Matamoras, and do not seem to be aware of any preparations for a demonstration on this bank of the river." September 6, he writes : " I have the honor to report that a confidential agent despatched some days since to Matamoras, has returned, and reports that no extraordinary preparations are going forward there." October 4, 1845, General Taylor writes : " Mexico having as yet made no positive declaration of war, or committed any overt act of hostilities, I do not feel at liberty, un- der my instructions, particularly those of July 8th, to make a for- ward movement to the Rio Grande, without autlsority from the War Department." October 11, he says: " Recent arrivals from the Rio Grande bring no news of a different aspect from what I reported in my last." January 7, 1846, he writes : " A recent scout of volunteers from San Antonio, struck the river near Presidio, Rio Grande, and the commander reports every- thing quiet in that quarter." February 16, he writes : " Many reports will doubtless reach the department, giving exaggerated accounts of Mexican preparations to resist our ad- vance, if not indeed to attempt an invasion of Texas. Such reports have been circulated even at this place, and owe their origin to personal interests connected with the stay of the army here. / trust that they will receive no attention at the War Depart- ment.''^ FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 5i Here General Taylor himself declares that these reports were altogetiier goundless, and cautions the War Department not to give them any attention. It has already been stateJ, that as soon as Texas was annexed, the Mexican minister demanded his passports and returned home. The friendiy relations of the two governments having been thus interrupted, their diplomatic relations were suspended. Yet Mex- ico was still willing to receive a special commissioner to treat upon the causes of that suspension; not to settle a ^'boundary question " for she had none to settle. Besides, had such a ques- tion existed, the United States themselves were not then ready to settle it, as we shall presently show. The Rio Grande was not the "western boundary" of California, nor the southern; and among other regions of the globe, California was to be acquired yet. It had been "explored" already.* All this time our government was affecting to be very " peace- ably inclined," by offering to send a minister to Mexico to nego- tiate a settlement of all existing differences ; and although the government of that republic had steadily and firmly refused to receive any but a special commissioner, on the lOth of November, 1845, Mr. Polk commissioned John Slidell of Louisiana, as an '^' Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Mexico, clothed with fall powers to adjust and defnltdy settle all pending differences between the two countries, including those of houn- dary between Mexico and the State of Teras.^' f When Slidell had received his instructions from James K. Polk, he took his departure for Mexico. On arriving there, that government refused to treat with him, for reasons which have been explained. General Taylor, it will be remembered, was at Corpus Christi with his "dogs of war," ready to let them slip the moment the word of command was given at Washington. As Slidell did not succeed in drawing Mexico into a negotiation, either for the adjustment of the boundary question, the paymeiit of "claims," or the surrender of the Californias, he began to urge upon his government a resort to extreme measures. On the 27th of De- cember, 1845, he wrote to Mr. Buclianan, Secretary of State, a^ 5"()llo\vs: * St'e Repoit of Captain Fiemont, Doc. 166, 29th CongresLS. t Polk's Aimual Message, Dec, 1845. S2 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLET, " The desire of onr government to secure peace, will be mrif" taken for timidity ; the most extravagant pretensions vvill be made and insisted upon, until the Mexican people shall be convinced by hostile demonstrations, that our differences must be settled promptly^ either by negotiation or hy the sword." The government was not long in improving upon this hint, for m about two v/eeks after the date of this letter, which must iiaver been immediately after its receipt, the "hostile demonstrations'' were made. On the 13th of Jan., 1846^ General Taylor wa& ordered to move forward to the Rio Grande. He accordingly took possession of the Mexican custom-house at Brazos Santiago, in- vested the tov/n with a military force, fortified Point Isabel, and planted his batteries in front of the city of Matamoras. When; these preparations were nearly completed, he wrote to the Adju- tant General, April 6, 1846, as follows r " On our side, a battery for four IS-pounders will be completed;,, and the guns placed in battery to-day. These guns bear di7-f,ct!i/ upon the public square of Matamoras, and within good range for demolishing the town.^^ On the 15lh of April, General Taylor informed the department, that " no hostile movement had then been made by the Mexicans.''- Four days after, an officer in the army wrote to the editor of the Philadelphia Spirit of the Times, as follows : "Camp OPPOSITE Matamoras, April 19, 1846. Our situation here is an extraordinary one. Right in the ene- my's country, actually occupying their corn and cotton fields, the people of the soil leaving their homes, and we, with a small hand- ful of men, marching, with colors flying, and drums beating, right ander the very guns of one of their principal cities, displaying the star spangled banner, as if in defiance, under their very nose? and they, with an army twice our size at least, sit quietly down^ and make not the least resistance, — not the first effort to drive the invaders off. There is no parallel to it.'- The next letter of General Taylor^ is dated April 23, 1846, io; which he says r " With a view to check the depredations of small parties of Mexicans on this side of the river. Lieutenants Dobbin, 3d infan- try, and Porter, of the 4th infantry, were authorised by me a few days since to scour the country for some miles, with a select party of men, and capture or destroy a'ny such parties as ihey^ might m£et. It appears that they separated, and that Lieut. Porter, at the head of his own detachment, surprised a Mexican campt drove away the men, and took possession of their horscs.^^ FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 53 Now compare the facts with these statements of James K. Polk; in his last annual message, in v/hich he says : " The existing war with Mexico was neither desired ner pro- voked by the United States. On the contrary, all honorable means were resorted to, to avert it." Fraud and robbery have always been regarded as "honorable means," by slave-holders, whenever they wished to coerce submis- sion to their demands; and as to "averting" the war, neither Polk or the nation ever had any such desire, as all the facts above detailed clearly demonstrate. " On the 26th April, Gen. Taylor again writes : ' I regret to report that a party of dragoons, sent out by me on the 24th instant to watch the course of the river above on this bank, became en- gaged with a very large force of the enemy, and after a short affair, in which some sixteen were killed and wounded, appear to have been surrounded and compelled to surrender.' He further adds: ' HostUilies may noio he considered as commenced.'^ For thus attack- ing a superior force of Mexicans without orders, we are informed that Captain Thornton, who commanded the dragoons, was arrested and tried by a court-martial, and the record of that proceeding may now be found in the War Department." * As soon as the news of this affair reached Washington, the President sent a message to Congress, declaring that a state of war existed " hy the act of Mexico.'''' This stupendous lie was im- mediately adopted by that body, and entered on its records. On the 11th of May, 1846, a bill with a preamble containing this brazen falsehood, was adopted in the House, by a vote of 174 to 14. "James K. Polk, boasted in his first annual Message, that 'This accession to our territory has been a bloodless achieve- ment. JVo arm of force has been raised to produce the result. The SWORD has no part in the victory.'' " Now for a bloody commentary ! " A few days before the passage of this bill, two battles were fought, on the 8th and 9th of May, at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, in which the Mexicans were routed with .great slaughter ; the Americans murdering them three to one. Not long afterwards Matamoras was fired upon hy the batteries on the opposite side of the river, and was compelled to surrender to the plundering inva- ders. Other towns and cities soon shared a similar fate. Among * Speech of J. R. Giddings, H. R., Dec. 1846. 4* 54 TACTS TOR THE PEOPLE, which was Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico. On taking' possession of this place, General Kearney issued a proclamation to the inhabitants of this province, absolving them from all allegiance to the Government of Mexico, and transferring their allegiance to the nation which was sacking their towns and murdering their brethren : thus converting them at a dash into American citizens : a rare and novel motie of naturalization. As this document is so full of cool impudence, and barefaced villany ; and as it throws additional light on the desigas of the government, we give some extracts : " Proclamation. — To the inhahitanis of JStew Mexico, hy Briga- dier General S. JV. Kearney, commanding the troops of the Umttd States of America.^' " As by the act of the Republic of Mexico a state of war exists between that government and the United States, and as the un- dersigned, at the head of his troops, on the 18th instant, took^'pos- session of Santa Fe, the capital of the Department of New Mex- ico, he now announces his intention of holding the Department with its original boundaries, (on both sides of the Del Norte,) as a pari of the Ijniled States, and under the name of the Territory of New Mexi(;o." "The undersigned has instructions from his government to re- quire of those who have left their homes, and taken up arms against the United States, to return forthwith to them, or else they will be considered as enemies and traitors, subjecting their per- sons to punishment, and ^ their property to seizure and confiscation for the benefit of ihe public treasury. It is the ivish and intention oj the United Slates to provide for JVew Mexico a free governmeht, with the least possible delay, similar to those in the United States." " The undersigned hereby absolves all persons residing vnthin the boundary of JVew Mexico, from all further allegiance to the Repub- lic of Mexico, and hereby claims them as citizens of the United States. Those who remain quiet and peaceable will be considered as good citizens, and receive protection. Those Avho are found in arms, or instigating others against the United States, will be considered as TRAi°TORs, and treated accordingly." About the same time Monterey on the Pacific, the capital of California, fell a prey to the American squadron under Commodore Sloat, who issued a similar proclamation to the inhabitants of that region, declaring that if they did not lay down their arms, put their necks under the yoke, and consent to be naturalized, they would be regarded as traitors, and dealt with accordingly. General Taylor had already issued his proclamation, not to a FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 55 single State however, but to the whole of Mexico, calling on the people to forsake their rules, and come under the loving' protection of the United States. Some extracts are here given from "A Proclamation, — By the General Commanding the Army of the United States of America : To the people of Mexico.''^ * * " Being disarmed, yoii ivere left defenceless, an easif prey to the savage Camanches, who not only destroy your lives and property, but drive into a captivity more horrible than death itself, your wives and children. It is your military rulers who have re- duced yon to this deplorable condition." " It is these tyrants, and their corrupt and cruel satellites, gorged with the people's treasure, by whom you are thus oppressed and impoverished." " // is our iL'ish to see you liberated from despots, — to drive hack the savage Camanches, — to prevent the renewal of their assaults, and to compel them to restore to you from captivity your long lost wives and children. Your religion, your altars and churches, the property of your churches and citizens, the emblems of your faith and its ministers, shall be protected and remain inviolate." " We come among ihe people of Mexico as friends and republi- can brethren, and all who receive us as such shall be protected, whilst all who are seduced into the army of your dictator shall be treated as enemies." " It is the settled policy of your tyrants to deceive you in regard to the policy and character of.our government and people." "These tyrants fear the example of our. free institutions, and constantly endeavor to misrepresent our purposes, and inspire you with hatred for your republican brethren of the American Union." " Mexicans we must treat as enemies, and overthrow the tyrants who, while tliey have wronged and insulted us, have deprived you of your liberty ; but the Mexican people who remain neutral dur- ing the contest, shall be protected against their despots by the re- publican army of the Union. Z. Taylor, Major General U. S. A. Commanding." This " proclamation " is full of" honied words and fair speech- es." We shall soon see what they -were worth. On the 19th of September, the city of Monterey, the capital of New Leon, was besieged by a strong force under this same Z. Taylor; and after three days of hard fighting, it was taken by storm. The bloodiest annals of the Old World hardly furnish a par- allel to this battle, in comparison with the numbers engaged. The carnage was truly frightful. The population of the city was about twelve thousand ; large numbers of whom, particularly the fe- males, had doubtless remained " neutral during the contest." And now for General Taylor's " protection." 56 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. The Monterey correspondent of the Charleston Mercury says : " We are sorry to say, at the close of this ramhling letter, that the general of the victorious division, apparently for the sake of popularity, sullied his fair fame by neglecting', for some time after the capitulation, to restrain the passions of the volunteers. The guards were prohibited from sending out patrols to preserve order and quiet in the city, and as a matter of course, the foul spirit was not Ion? in developing itself. As at Matamoras, MURDER, ROBBERY AND RAPE were committed in the broad light of day, and as if desirous to signalize themselves at Monterey by some new act of atrocity, they burned many of the thatched huts of the poor peasants. It is thought that more than one hundred of the inhabitants were murdered in cold blood, and one Mexican soldier, with Gen. Worth's passport in his pocket, was shot dead at noon-day in the main street of the city, by a ruffian from Texas. But for the moral influence, and the finally exerted physical force of 'the hirelings of government,' the dark deeds of Badajoz would liave been repeated in Monterey. Guards of 'mercenaries' are now placed in every street, and over every building in the city, to prevent depredations being committed by those who come here from devotion to the land of tlie free and the home of the brave." " The Mexicans themselves, admit that before the arrival of the volunteers upon the Rio Grande, all Eastern Mexico was ripe for revolt and annexation to the United States. Now there is no por- tion of the country so bitterly hostile to us and our institutions. We have before us a Monterey paper of July, which reminds the disaffected of the atrocities committed at Matamoras, and adds that the volunteers, the most unprincipled and ungovernable class at home, have been let loose like blood-hounds upon Mexico. We fear that very soon there will be kindled a burning hatred towards us, which will make the timid Mexicans rally t>om every city, village and rancho around the banner of their country, and fight with a courage and constancy worthy the descendants of those re- nowned heroes who conquered the fairest portion of America." There's •' protection " with a vengeance I " As at Matamoras, MURDER, ROBBERY, and RAPE, were committed m the broad light of day ! " For those who might think this statement somewhat exaggerated, we give the following as a proof. The army correspondent of the New Orleans Picayune, Mr. Haile, writing from near Mier, (Mex- ico,) Jan. 4, 1847, says: " Below Mier, we met the 2d regiment of Indiana troops, com- manded, I believe, by Col. Drake. They encamped near our camp, and a portion of them were exceedingly irregular in their behavior, firing away their cartridges, and persecuting the Mexi- can families at a rancho near by." FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE* 57 "On arriving at Mier, we learned from indisputable authority, that this same regiment had comtnitted the day before outrages against the cilizeris of the most disgraceful character ; stealing, or rather i-obbing, insulting the women, breaking into houses, and other feats of a similar character! VVe have heard of them at almost every rancho, up to this place. "Gen. Taylor has issued proclamations assuring the inhabitants of the towns in the conquered territory that they should be protect- ed and well treated by our troops. Since this place has been gar- risoned by volunteers, the families have been subjected to all kinds of outrages. At Punta Aguda, it has been the same; most of those who could go, have left their houses. Some have fallen into the hands of the Camanches, whilst flying from the persecu- tions of our volunteer troops. Recently the troops here have re- ceived treatment from men stationed here, (I do not know who commands them,) that negroes in the state of insurrection would hardly be guilty of. The women have been rtpeatedlif violated, (almost an every-day affair,) houses are broken open, and insults of every kind have been offered to those whom we are bound by honor to protect. This is nothing more than a statement of facts. I have no time to make comments, but 1 desire to have this pub- lished, and I have written it under the approval of Capt Thornton, Maj. Dix, (who has in charge $-250,000 of the United States money,) Capt. De Hart, Col. ^Bohlen, Lt. Thorn, Mr. Blanchard, and my own sense of duty, and I am determined, hereafter, to notice every serious offence of the above mentioned nature." " The American arms shall not be disgraced without the stigma falling on the guilty parties, if I can be instrumental in exposing them. It would be criminal in me to overlook these outrages, and for the national honor, as well as for that of the United States Army, I shall not do so." The Austin (Texas) Democrat, as quoted by the Boston Post, a paper which has always strenuously advocated both annexation and ivar, says: " David Horsely, in Capt. Chandler's company of Texan volun- teers, had been found murdered in an orange grove, and dragged to the San .Fuan. ' The news spread like wild-fire among //«?/'* men. [Hay's regiment had been disbanded for disorderly con- duct.] They determined to take ample vengeance. Wo to the Mexican falling in their way ! Gen. VV^orth was made acquainted with what was going forward ; he sent his aid to expostulate and besc of" the Texans to cease. Infuriated by the cowardly meanness of the murderers of their fellow-soldier, THEY SPARED NOT A MAN! IT IS THOUGHT EIGHTY OR ONE HUNDRED MEXICANS FELL TO AVENGE THE DEATH OF HORSE- LY ! ! Terrible retribution ! Gen. Taylor was induced to order all disbanded troops, such was the excitement, to leave Monterey in forty-eight hours." 58 FACTS FOR THE PFOPLE. [Correspondence of the St. Louis Republican, Sept. 29.] Santa Fe, August 12, 1846. Since the insurrection consequent upon the murder of our la- mented friend, Governor Bent, and other American citizens, the atfiirs of the territory have fallen into the greatest confusion. That insurrection which arose in the northern district, and princi- pally in the valley of Taos, was speedily and effectually Fup- pressed. Thus far, all was as it should be ; but since, I regret to say, nearly the whole territory has been tlie scene of violence, outrage and oppression by the volunteer soldiery against all alike, without distinction, — the unoffending as well as the offending. The parties of volunteers detached to different points on the frontier, ivith but very few exceptions, conducted themselves in the most insubordinate and oppressive manner, neither respecting the rights of property nor persons. To redress these wrongs against unoffending citizens, in the presence of this licentious soldiery, the civil authorities find them- selves utterly powerless; and I add with regret, that the military authorities are either incapable of commanding or controlling this lawless soldiery, or are entirely indifferent as to the protection of the citizens. " Verily the Americans must be Christians ; for there is no other religion lohich has in itself a fund of redeeming mercy, sufficient for the perilous desperateness of their condition.''^ The most sunken in infamy, cannot deny that these are CRIMES. We will now take a glimpse at some of the HOR- RORS of this slave-holding war. The Baltimore correspondent of the True Sun gives the follow- ing particulars of the attack on Tobasco, by the American squad- ron: " A great many defenceless females and children were unfor- tunately killed by the shells from our guns. An instance or two is mentioned. A Mexican had his only daughter, a beautiful girl of eighteen years, completely cut in two by a twenty-four pound shot, and after laying the mutilated remains on the bed, he rushed dovvn to the beach, covered with blood, and implored our men to stop firing. In another instance, a whole family were sitting at the table, ^^ hen a shell fell among them, instantly exploding, kil- ling all the females, besides three servants." The following is an extract from a letter addressed to the Louis- ville Courier, dated Monterey, Oct. 17, 1847: " While I was stationed with our left wing in one of the forts, on the evening of the 21st, I saw a Mexican woman busily en- FACTS FOR THE PKOPLE. 59 gaged in carrying bread and water to the wounded men of both armies. I saw this ministering angel raise the head of a wounded man, give him water and food, and then bind up his ghastly- wound with a handkerchief she took from Iier own head. After having exhausted her supplies, she went back to her house to get more bread and water for others. As she was returning on her mission of mercy, to comfort other wounded persons, I heard the report of a gun, and saw the poor innocent creature fall dead! I think it was an accidental shot that struck her. I would not be ■willing to believe otherwise. It made me sick at heart, and turn- ing from the scene, I involuntarily raised my eyes toward heaven, and thought, great God ! is this imr ? Passing the spot the next day, I saw her body still lying there, with the bread by her side, and the broken gourd, with a few drops of water still in it — em- blems of her errand. We buried her, and while we were digging her grave, cannon balls flew around us like hail." Why the writer should think it was " an accidental shot," that struck this " ministering angel," Ave cannot conceive. For she was doing precisely what the American people have declared to be a crime ivorthy of death — she was giving ''aid and comfort to the enemy." A young soldier named Wynkoop, of Zanesville, Ohio, who was in the fight at Monterey, WTites home to his friends as follows: "During the figlit of the second day, a flag of cessation was sent to the Mexicans, requesting a few hours to bury the dead which were strewed in frightful piles over the field. This was refused, and the wounded and dead lay where they fell, beneath the rays of a scorching sun till the battle was ended. It was then almost impossible for our men to endure the stench, while they heaped dirt over the poor fellows where they lay. The bod- ies of the dead were as black as coals ; many of them were strip- ped of their clothing by the Mexicans during the night. Several of those who were wounded during the first day's fight, crawled into ditches and holes, to avoid the balls which were rolling like hail-stones over the field, whence, exhausted, by the loss of blood, they were unable to crawl, or give signs of distress. As a con- sequence, many perished, though some who were found in this condition were removed, and are recovering." — Zanesville ffliig. A volunteer in the Kentucky regiment, (Rowan Hardin,) writing to his father, after the battle of Monterey, gives an account of the three days' fighting. He says : On Monday night the Mexicans were in high spirits. They had lost but few men. All night they threw up sky-rockets. At night the firing ceased. The left wing of the Kentucky regiment, to which I am attached, were marched into the fort taken by us, 60 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. to hold it daring the night. As we moved in, we were in point blank shot of one battery, and raked on our right by another, 'i'hey both belched fire the whole time we were marching in, a distance of one mile. Such a night as I spent that night, I hope never to spend again. We had eaten nothing since daylight. We had no shelter, no food, no fire. We laid down in the mire and blood, among dead men and horses, and a cold rain fell on us all night. I had no coat on, having gone into the fight in my shirt-sleeves. I never heard balls whistle before. Two cannon balls passed within two feet of me, and many more within a short distance. The dead men were awful sights to look upon, some shot with cannon balls, and some with small shot, some with their heads shot off, some with their legs off, some with their bowels scattered ^on the ground. We had no time until yesterday to bury the dead. The heavens were filled with carrion birds, and the air with stench. I have not time to write at large, — am in fine health, un- hurt, without a scratch, for which I am truly thankful." A letter from Monterey, from James A. Jackson, a Washington volunteer, in the Baltimore Battalion, describing the late battle, says: "I was almost thirsted to death; and upon casting a disconsolate look around me,! saw a poor fellow lying dead close by. I stooped down to see if there Avas any water in his canteen, and it was full ; I took a drink, and swung the prize to my side. I soon passed another poor fellow with both legs carried away ; he had been thus wounded ever since morning, and was groaning and calling in a very feeble manner for water. I stopped to give him a draught, and he emptied my canteen. I had not gone one yard from him, before a grape shot came and cut him in tAvo, throwing little pieces of flesh and blood all over me." Extract of a private letter from an officer of Artillery in our army, dated Monterey, Mexico, October 5, 1846, in the New York Tribune: "I was exposed to a most severe fire on the whole of the 21st, and for two or three hours on the 2*2d, and only had one man killed at my guns, during which time I fired over fifty rounds from each. I am satisfied with glory, if it is to be obtained only by butchering my fellow men ; and I wish some of our valorous friends at the North could see a little more of the realities of war, and they would not be so anxious to rush into one on every trivial occasion. It makes me sick now, when I think of the scenes I witnessed. They were perfectly horrid. On the night of the 23d, as our shells exploded in the city, they were followed by the most terrific cries, perhaps from women and children, which did not cease till morning. Thank God I I only threw two shells that night, on TACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 6J account of being told the Texans were on the roofs of the houses immediately in my line of fire ; and as I was about to open in the mornini^ upon the principal plaza, which was filled with four thou- sand troops, 1 was stopped by the appearance of a flag of truce; and the result was the capitulation of the city, and a suspension of arms for two months; which I hope may terminate in a general peace, and that we may be permitted again to see our families." Palo Alto — {Cor. Spirit of the Times.) # # # « Major Ringgold received a shot, while seated on his horse, that carried away the flesh on his legs, from his knees up, and passed through the withers of his beautiful thorough-bred charger, 'David Branch,' (a frequent winner on the turf.) Capt. Page had his lower jaw shot off". The wounds of the men were very severe, — most of them requiring amputation of some limb. The surgeori's saw was going the live-long night, and the groans of the sufferers were heart-rending. Too much praise cannot be given to the devotion and prompt action of our medical officers. It was a sad duty for them. #####** I took advantage of the halt to go over the field of battle. It was a truly shocking sight. Our artillery had literally mowed them down! There were heaps of dead lying hither and yon, with the most ghastly wounds I ever saw, ivhich made one shudder. The number of killed could not be accurately ascertained; but of killed and wounded, there must liave been at least 800." From a letter published in the Herald. * * * " At an occasional lull of the war, the shrieks of the wounded and dying could be heard, while artillery and cavalry horses were rushing madly to and fro, some with broken legs, and some in the last agonies of death. * * # # * War, while raging in all its fierceness on the field of battle, is a soul-stirring and noble excitement; but after that has passed away, it is sickening and horrible to think of even, much less to be obliged to look upon, its ghastly barbarities. I will not freeze your blood by telling you the horrid sights I have seen, the shrieks I have heard, while at the same instant one might see a bacchana- lian orgie, and hear the shouts of the revellers. I have read many accounts of battles, but never a description of one." From a correspondent of the Prov. Transcript. " Our regiment (4th Infantry) was then ordered forward again to support the artillery in a new position which they had taken; as we rose the crest of a small ridge, the whole battery of the ene- my was fired at the head of our column. I thought for the mo- ment that my company, (the leading one,) was all cut down. Capt. Page, who, being in command of the division, was then on the 5 62 r^CTS FOR THE PEOPLE:. right of the line, was struck down with such force as to carry with him the three men next behind him ; his whole lower jaw was shot away, and the ghastly hideousness of his visage, as he reared up in convulsive agony from the grass as we passed him, will not soon vanish from my recollection ; another n)an about the centre of my company had his head knocked off; the sergeant on my right had his musket driven from his hand by a ball which passed between me and the man before me ; we were then ordered to re- tire out of range from the battery. Duncan's battery manoeuvred admirably, and soon began to re- turn the compliment with interest. I don't know Anything I have ever heard that sounded so sweet to me as the first discharge frotn his guns ; for the idea that we had to lie there and take it, without being able to strike a blow in our defence, was anything but pleasant. Our men soon got to laughing and joking, making fun of the balls, except when they hit. Some of the balls we could see com- ing bounding toward us, which were easily dodged ; but I saw several artillery horses killed by them ; others came vvhizzing through the air, which we avoided by lying fiat on the ground ; others came ripping through the grass, and these told. We had been about a quarter of an hour in this position, when the first and only shot hit my company. It struck in a little squad of men about three feet from me, woundinof five men so that one died that night, another had his leg taken off*, a third his hip badly injured, and the other two not much hurt, as it just grazed one's head and the other's hand, so as to leave its mark. We entered the chaparral bush, but before we had gone a dozen yards, we came to a little opening, where I saw some of the 'horrors of war' in the shape of eleven dead Mexicans, every one cut and mangled in the most horrible manner that it is possible to conceive of a cannon ball's killing a man. They must have been all killed instantly. Col. Belknap ordered a hole to be dug, and had the bodies tumbled in and filled up. We pursued the poor devils about a quarter of a mile, and then, to my great relief, the command v/as given for the 8th to halt. We then began to look about us, and see how many of us were left. The ground all around was covered with Mexicans, and a few of our men, and also with horses, some dead, others more or less wounded. It was dark by this time, and parties were sent to brinsf in the wounded, of either side. They did not have to go far for them, — ihey were lying all around us plenty as possible. An officer who came in yesterday, told me that they were bury- ing the dead. He says he counted eighty bodies that were put into one hole, another officer counted thirty-six put in another, and when my informant came away, they were digging holes and bringing in bodies as fast as possible. The bushes were full of them. It is said that out of one of their finest regiments, but twenty-six reached Mataraoras." FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE, 63 A firentleinan connected with the U. S. Army on the Rio Grande, in a letter to the Boston Courier, gives the following account of the night which followed the recent battle: "That night, was to me, a terrible one, which I shall never, never forget; the screams and groans of the wounded and dying on both sides, mangled and torn as they all were with the grape and six-pounder shots; the conflagration of the battle-ground, fit emblem of the awful work of deiitl. which has so long been going on ; the moans of the poor oxen and horses, so terribly mangled; and the dreadful uncertainty of the extent of our loss, and how- many of our friends, who were alive at dinner, were then asleep forever ; the night-work of our surgeons, with their horrible instru- ments, all besmeared with human blood, were sights and sounds and thoughts, I pray God, in his mercy, may never visit me with again." Extract from a letter from an officer of the army, communicated to the Albany Evening Journal, dated "Fort Brown, May 13, 1845. T assure you that this battle of the 9th, will never be forgotten by any participant, — a most closely fought and bloody battle. I saw a corporal who was by my side kill three men, who appeared in the same opening in the thicket, in quick succession ; they liter- ally fell dead one upon the other; he then wounded some others, rushed out and made prisoners of them ; handed them over, and went to work tiring again. This man expended twenty-seven cartridges, and I doubt whether he ever missed his aim. The balls flew around us like hail, but yet there were only three or four men that fell near me ; but after the battle was over, oh! the awful spectacle that ground presented ; the wounded and dead literally lying in piles, some groaning, others in the last agonies, others begging in Spanish for a drop of water, and it was exceed- ingly gratifying to see with what alacrity and kindness our sol- diers would give them the last drop in their canteens, and assist them to the place designated for the wounded. I spent some time after the battle in collecting such wounded men as I could find ; among them a major who was severely wounded, — he asked for water, which I gave him, and one of our officers coming up with a little brandy in his canteen, we gave iiim a drop; he took my hand, and giving me a grateful look, said, ' thinks, captain,' which I presume were the Inst words he spoke. I saw the poor fellow among the dead on the following day." Another writes : "There was little sense of a mere personal discomfort, however, on a field covered with slaughter, a scene which I trust in heaven never to witness again. There lay around me fellow-men, com- 64 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. rades and antR^jonists, suffering the most horrid anguish ; some with an arm off, others with one and some with both legs shattered or severed from the body. There was one poor fellow, a Mexican, with his belly tore open, and a part of his bowels protruded upon the ground; he was still alive, and pointed to his mouth for water; but, alas! in vain, for we had none to give, not even a drop to cool his tongue. He soon after perished, of course." An officer of the army writes from Malamoras, under date of May 23d : " I went over the field after the battle of Resaca de la Palma^ and the sight which met my eyes there was one which imagina- tion can scarcely depict. Bodies of Mexican soldiers were lying about in every direction ; some with their heads entirely or partly shot off; others without legs or arms ; others with their entrails torn out. One man, a fine looking fellow,' was lying on the ground with a cartridge in his fingers, having evidently been killed while in the act of priming his musket. I crept about on my hands and knees through the chaparral, and at every few paces, I would come across dead bodies; and at one spot I discovered the body of a beautiful Mexican girl staked through the heart.''^ This war, so horrid in its details, has been one of terrible mor- tality to the invaders. Colonel Baker, of the Illinois regiment of volunteers, in a speech in Congress, as reported in the Boston Atlas of Jan. 2, 1847, says: " Less than six months ago, Congress had sent into the field as many as twenty-six regiments of volunteers, all burning with the most exalted hopes, and ready to peril their all, health, reputation, life itself, not in a defensive, hut in an invasive imr ; a war not undertaken to defend their own homes and f resides, but for the ghin/ of the American name and arms. Alas ! how many of these fine young men, who had never seen a battle, never had cast their stern glance on the countenance of an enemy, were now sleeping their last sleep on the banks of the Rio Grande! Once their hearts heaved high with a soldier's fondest hopes ; proud and light had been their measured footsteps, as they marched in all the buoyancy of youthful ambition. But now — ' Where rolls the rushing Rio Grande, How peacefully they sleep ; They did not fall in bloody strife, Upon a well-fought field. Not from the red wound poured their life, Where cowering foemen yield. Th' archangel's shade was slowly cast Upon each polished brow ; But, calm and fearless to the last, They sleep securely now.' TACTS FOR THE TEOPLE. 65 The bones of nearly two thousand young men, in whose veins flowed some of the best blood of this country, were now resting in the moiihl on the banks of the Rio Grande, who never had seen the face of an enemy, and who never had had the opportunity of striking- one manly blow in behalf of their country and their race." "Colonel Ballard states, that of the Illinois regiment he took to the tield, noi one-Zta//" will return. The rest are tfead Of 2,400 Ohioans, who left Cincinnati in June, 184G, 900 are no longer in their regimenls ; dead, or with ruined constitutions ! "The nuiuber of dead, dying or lost, will make about the pro- portion of 40 per cent, in one year ! Out of 18.000 volunteers of June and July, 1840,7,000 are dead, or gone 1 1 " — Cincinnati Chronicle. The blackness of the pit can hardly furnish a parallel to the wickedness of the people, who are thus wading through carnage and blood for the purpose of fastening the yoke of bondage on the recks of unbgrn millions of their race. In his last annual message, the President said : "This war has not been waged with a view to conquest." He wouhl doubtless have us believe it has been "waged" "to establish justice; and to secure the blessings of liberty to our- selves and our posterity." And all this indiscriminate slaughter of men, women and children, this storming and bouibarding cities, and giving them up a prey to the lusts of the brutal soldiery, who committed " rape, robbery, and murder, in the broad light of day,"** were the only means for accomplishing so desirable an end. Another paragraph from the same message, says : "In less than seven months, we have acquired military posses- sion of the Mexican Provinces of New Mexico, New Leon, Coa- huila, Tamaulipas, and the Californias, a territory larger in extent than that embraced in the original thirteen States of the Union." Now the President would have us believe that the conquest of these provinces was forced upon us ; for he tells us that "all hon- orable means were resorted to, to avert it." So he took " posses- sion" of them because he could not help it. The following letter from the War Department to Col. .T. D. Stephenson of New York, taken in connection with the above par- agra[)h from the message, the proclamations of Generals Taylor, Kearney, Commodore Sloat, and all the facts in the case, will illustrate the truth of the statements, that "the war has not been 5* 66 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. waged with a view to conquest ; and that all honorable means were resorted to, to avert it." The following is the letter : " War Department, June 26, 1846. Sir, — The President having determined to send a regiment of volunteers around Cape Horn to the Pacific, to be employed in prosecuting hostilities to some province of Mexico, probably in Upper California, has authorized me to say, that if you will organ- ize one on the conditions hereinafter specified, and tender its ser- vices, it would be accepted. It is proper that it should be done with the consent of the Governor of New York. The President expects, and indeed requires, that great care should be taken to have it composed of suitable persons — I mean of good habits — as far as practicable of various pursuits, and such as would he likely to remain at the end of the ivar, either in Oregon, or any other territory in that region of the Globe, which may then be a part of the United States. The act of the 13th of iSIay authorizes the accept- ance of volunteers for twelve months, or during the war with Mex- ico. The condition of the acceptance, in this case, must be a tender of service during the war, and it must be explicitly under- stood, that they may be discharged ivilhout a claim for returning home ivherever they may he serving at the termination of the war, providing it is in the then territory of the United States, or may be taken to the nearest and most convenient territory belonging to the United States, and there discharged. The men must be apprised that their term of service is for the war; that they are to be discharged as above specified, and that they are to be employed on distant service. It is, however, very desirable that it should not he publicly known or proclaimed, that they are to go to any particular place. On this point great caution is enjoined. The communication to the officers and men, must go so far as to remove all just grounds of complaint, that they have been de- ceived in the nature and the place of the service. It is expected that the regiment will be in readiness to embark as early as the first of August next ; if practicable, steps will be iaimediately taken to provide for transportation. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, W. L. Marcf, Secretary of War. Col. J. D. Stevenson, New York City." The following extracts fi'om the Charleston Courier, will throw additional light on the object of the Mexican conquest: " Besides, every battle fought in Mexico, and every dollar spent there, but insures the acquisition of territory wliich must widen the field of Southern enterprise and power in the future, and the final result will be to re-adjust the whole balance of power in the confederacy, so as to give us control over the operations of the FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 67 government in all time to come. If the South be true to them- selves, the day of our depression is gone, and gone forever^ " If they succeed in restricting' shivery one inch beloiv the Mis- souri compromise, then if we submit to it, we shall deserve our degraded destiny. When this issue is tendered us, let the conse- quences be what they may, we must meet it as becouies men and freemen. It will be no time to argue. Not that we should care to reserve acquired territory merely as a habitation for slaves, but if they succeed in fixing restrictions against that institution es- pecially, it will be a moral degradation and insult to us, which, if we bear in peace, will make us the tit subjects of despotism." "A combination may be made upon the principle of opposition to the Mexican war upon anti-slavery feelings." "The first development w^ill be a movement to prohibit the in- troduction of slavery into any territory to be acquired in Mexico, and then to restore, to a great extent, the high duties that have been recently abolished. These two points are well calculated to rally the most powerful interests against us, and to give to agita- tors and demagogues their brightest prospects of triumph." The war has been, and is now, prosecuted as a war of aggir.s- sion and conquest. And the Americans are still ploughing up the plains of Mexico with the chariot wheels of the war-god, for the purpose of planting on its virgin soil the infernal " Upas orchards of slavery." To make this still more evident — if the light is not already too dazzling — we give some extracts from the debates in Congress on the "Wilmot Proviso." The President asked Congress to allow him two millions of dollars — as he pretended — to make peace with. But really, for the purpose of buying slave territory ; as he thought it would come cheaper in the end, than fighting for it. So a bill was introduced into that body for this purpose. Upon this bill, Mr. Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, offered the following amendment, which was adopted in the House; all the members from the slave holding States, with Gen. McKay, who reported the bill, voting against it, ^^ Provided, That, as an express and fundamental condition to the acquisition of any territory from the Republic of Mexico by the United States by virtue of any treaty which may be negotiated between them, and to the use by the Executive of moneys herein appropriated, neither slavtrij or involuntary servitude shall exist in an\f part of said territory, except for crime, whereof the party shall first be duly convicted." The bill, so amended, went to the Senate, where a motion was made to strike out this hated proviso. Upon this motion it is said, 68 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. that " a Northern Senator talked it to death." When Congress came together last December, the President, quite as anxious to make peace as he had been to avert the ivar, again asked for more money for this purpose, but as his desires had somewhat enlarged during the recess, he now called for three millions, instead of two- A bill was accordingly introduced for this purpose, by Mr. Pres- ton King of New York, of which the following is one section : " Sec. 2. ^nd be it further enacted, That there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any territory which shall hereafter be acquired by, or be annexed to the United States, other- wise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the j^arty shall have been duly convicted: Provided always, That any person es- caping into the same from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the United States, sn(;h fugitives may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed out of the territory to the persons claiming his or her labor or service." Upon this a debate sprung up. Mr. Hillard of Alabama, said: " Would the gentleman say he meant to hold all the territory we miffht acquire, and to exclude slavery from every part of it .^ If he did, he would warn that gentleman, that on that question, this Union could only stand on tJwse compromises which he regard- ed in their sacred obligation as second only to the Constitution." "Gentlemen transceniled the rules which should govern them here; if they proceeded, they would rouse a feeling at the South that would rend the bonds of this Union as Samson burst the withes that bound him. Was this the doctrine that was to be acted on, that, acquire what territory we miaht, free labor might be suffered to go there, but the mpn of the South should not take their slaves with them there? If this thing was to be done, this government would be unequal, and its days would be numbered." Mr. Dargau of Alabama, spoke on the same subject ; he said : " What was he to infer from this ? That it was their purpose to hedge round and limit the South, so that all those who were the owners of slaves should be compelled to stand just where they were now, and never to move a foot in any direction. What then, would be their condition twenty or twenty-five years hence ? None could know ; but he was not willing to run the risk of the consequences of any such arrangement." " What would be thought by the volunteers from the South, when it was announced to them that slavery was to be excluded from the territory their arms had acquired.^ This question must be settled before we proceed to acquire more territory, for after- wards it will be too late." "Mr. D. was not esteemed by his friends a 'hot Southron;' on the contrary, he was spoken of by them as rather a cool, con- FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. bv siderate man. As a cool man, then, let him tell gentlemen his own candid opinion ; unless, in the territory which we might win from Mexico, and add to our own, the principles which had settled the line of thirty-six degrees, thirty minutes, as the compromise line between free and slave territory should be permitted to pre- vail, this Union must at once sink.''^ " Say to the South, that they are only fighting to make FREE TERRITORY, that it is only for this that the brave men of Caro- lina, Georgia and Alabama are perilling their lives, and they will demand the settlement of this question now, preliminary -to any further prosecution of the war!" '• But if gentlemen were determined to push on, regardless of the principles of compromise, and press them to the wall, let them take the admonition of one who, in all probability, would never address them again, and believe him when he said that if they did that Ihey might from that hour date the downfall of this Repub- lic:' This speech contains ^ frank admission that "the volunteers from the South" are fighting for more slave territory, and he asks "what they will think" when told, that after all they are not to have what they are fighting for. Soon after the reading of this bill another was introduced, pro- viding a territorial government for Oregon; whereupon the ques- tion of excluding slavery from that territory was raised ; and was followed by an animated discussion. Mr. Toombs of Georgia, said: "The South would remain in the Union on a ground of perfect equality with the rest of the Union, or they would not stay at all. No, the people of the South claimed the right to carry their in- stitutions with them wherever they went; into all parts of the Re- public ; that they had a right to make their own laws while organ ized as territories, and when they became States to choose for themselves whether they would have slavery or not. That they demanded as their right, and they intended to have it. It was only fair play, and there was no use in blinking the question. They would be degraded, and unworthy of the name of American freemen, could they consent to remain, for a day or an hour, in a Union where they must stand on the ground of inferiority, and be denied the rights and privileges which were extended to all others." Mr. Leake of Virginia, said : " That if the present attempt to impose limitations with respect to the extension of slavery should be persisted in, and should prevail, the South must stand in self-defence, for they could not and would not submit to it. He went into a review of the Wilmot proviso, 70 FACTS rOR THE PEOPLE. compla'Eed of the North for having thrown a firebrand into the House, appealed to their justice and patriotism, and warned them to abandon their crusade against the rights of the South, or they might see, before long, ' the beginning of the end,' but God only could see its termination." The bill excluding slavery from the conquered territory passed the House by a vote of 115, to 106, and was sent to the Senate. Its appearance in that body caused considerable excitement. In the debates which followed, Mr. Calhoun of South Carolina, said : " Sir, there is no mistaking the signs of the times ; and it is high time that the Southern States, the slave-holding States, should inquire what is now their relative strength in this Union, and what it will be if this determination should be carried into eJEfect here- after. Sir, already we are in a minority — I use the word ' we ' for brevity sake — already we are in a minority in the other House, in the electoral college, and, I may say, in every depart- ment of this government, except at present in the Senate of the United States ; there for the present we have an equality. Of the twenty-eight States, fourteen are non-slave-holding, and fourteen are slave-holding, counting Delaware, which is doubtful, as one of the non-slave-holding States. But this equality of strength exists only in ihe Senate. One of the clerks at my request has furnished me with a statement of what is the relative strength of the two descriptions of States, in the other House of Congress, and in the electoral college. There are 228 representatives, including Iowa, which is already represented there. Of these, 138 are from the non-slave-holding States, and 90 are from what are called the slave States, giving a majority in the aggregate to the former of 48. In the electoral college there are 168 votes belonging to the non-slave-holding States, and 118 to the slave-holding, giving a majority of 50 to the non-slave-holding." " Now, 1 ask, is there any remedy ? Does the constitution af- ford any remedy ? And if not, is there any hope ? These, Mr. President, are solemn questions, — not only to us, but, lei me say to the gentlemen of the non-slave-holding States, to them. Sir, the day that the balance between the two sections of the country, the slave- holding States and the non-slave-holding States, is destroyed, is a day that will not be far removed from political rev- olution, anarchy, civil war, and wide-spread disaster. The bal- ance of this system is in the slave-holding States. They are the conservative portion, always have been the conservative portion, always v/ill be the conservative portion; and with a due balance on their part, may, for generations to come, uphold this glorious Union of ours. But if this policy should be carried out, if we are to be reduced to a handful, if we are to become a mere ball to play the presidential game with, to count something in the Balti- more caucus, if this is to be the result, wo ! wo ! I say to this Union ! " FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 71 The clause, prohibitintr the establishment of slavery in the con- quered territory was struck out of the " three million bill," by the Senate, and then sent back to the House, for the purpose of giving the slave-holders another opportunity for exorcising the rising- spirit of liberty from that body. I'hey soon found " dough-faces" enough, whom they so far moulded to their purposes, as to get a majority in favor of the bill in its amended form, and it was almost immediately adopted. What the President has done with the money, remains to be seen. Another bloody battle was fought at Buena Vista, between the Americans, under Taylor, and the Mexicans, under Santa Anna, on the 22d of February, which lasted three days ; and in whicli four or five thousand men were murdered, and left welter- ing in their blood. On the 27th of March, the city of Vera Cruz, with the castle of San Juan de Ulloa, surrendered to the combined military and naval forces by which they Avere surrounded, after being bom- barded four days ; and after the city was nearly laid in ruins. More than two hundred and thirty tons of cannon halls and bomb- shells, were fired into the dwellings and streets of this devoted city. The slaughter was principally among the women and chil- dren. The following extracts from the Boston Daily Mail, of April 13, 1847, will give the reader some idea of the awful havoc ; " On the second day of the bombardment an offer was made to surrender the town ; but Gen. Scott M'ould not accept the town without the castle, and two days more of bombardment ensued, when the soldiers of the garrison, listening to the entreaties of the suffering inhabitants, compelled the general commanding to surrender both town and castle." " The bombardment of four days placed the town in ruins, under which great numbers of non-combatants, men, women and chil- dren, were buried." " 'rhe bombardment is represented to have been terrific, and to its thunders succeeded the moans of the dying in every part of the town for several days afterwards." " The destruction in the city is most awful ; and half of it is destroyed. Dwellings are blown to pieces, and furniture scattered in every direction ; the streets torn up, and the strongest build- ings seriously damaged." A correspondent of the Auburn Daily Advertiser, who was one of the first to enter the city of Vera Cruz, after its surrender, thus describes what he saw : 72 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE, " Never had I beheld such destruction of property. Scarcely a house did I pass that did not show some great rent made by the burstinir of our bomb-shells. At almost every house at which I passed to examine the destruction occasioned by these dreadful messengers of death, som« one of the family, (if the house did not happen to be deserted,) would come to the door, and inviting me to enter, point out their property, and with a pitiful sigh exclaim, ' La bomba ! La homha ! ' [the bomb ! the bomb !] My heart ached for the poor creatures." " During my peregrinations, I came to a lofty and noble man- sion, in which a terrible boaib had exploded, and laid the whole front of the house in ruins. While I was examining the awful havoc created, a beautiful girl of some seventeen, came to the door and invited me into the house. She pointed to the furniture of the mansion, torn into fragments, and the piles of rubbish lying around, and in ormed me, with her beautiful eyes filled with tears, that the bomb had destroyed her father, mother, brother, and two little sisters, and that she was now left in the world alone I O war ! war ! who can tell thy horrors ? Who can picture thy de- formities ? " " During the afternoon I visited the hospital. Here lay upon truckle beds the mangled creatures who had been wounded during the bombardment. In one corner was a poor, decripit, bed-ridden woman, her head white with the sorrows of seventy years. One of her withered arms had been blov/n off by a fragment of a shell. In another place might be seen mangled creatures of both sexes, bruised and disfigured by the falling of their houses, and bursling of the shells. On the stone floor lay a child in a complete state of nudity, with one of its poor legs cut off just above the knee. The apartment was filled with flies, that seemed to delight in the agonies of the miserable creatures over whom they hovered, and the moans were heart rending." " I went about from cot to cot, and attempted to condole with the sufferers, by whom I was invariably greeted with a kind smile. Not even this abode of wretchedness had been exempt from the cursed scourge of war! A bomb had descended through the roof, and after landing on the floor, exi)loded, sending some twenty already mangled wretches to ' sleep the sleep that knows no wak- ing.'" Truly, slavery, thou art a frightful monster, when thou canst thus butcher the innocent, and fatten the earth with the carcasses of the slain, for the purpose of extending and perpetuating thy terrible and bloody dominion. The following article from General Orders, was published with solemn pomp, several days after the surrender. FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 73 '« GENERAL ORDERS, NO. 72. Army Head Quarters, | Camp Washington, before Vera Cruz, March 28. j 6. The hihabiiaiits ol Vera Cruz, and their property, are placed under the safeguard of every AmericatL^s honor ; and any miscre- ant who shall do injury to any persons or property, shall be promptly brought before a military commission, under General Orders, No. 20. By command of Maj. Gen. SCOTT. (Signed) H. L. Scott, Asst. Act. Adj. Gen., 29lh March, 1847." Does the reader wish to know what sort of a " safeguard," " every American's honor "' will afford to the defenceless Mexi- cans, he is referred to the letter from Monterey, published in the Charleston Mercury, — the letter of Mr. Haile to the New Or- leans Picayune. The article from the Austin Democrat, &c., on page 57 of this work, and the following extracts from the New Orleans Delta. In a letter of Major Coffee to the New Orleans Delta, giving an account of the battle of Buena Vista, he says : " Some days before the fight, a transaction occurred at Agua Nueva, which called down a severe censure from Gen. Taylor. One of the Arkansas volunteers was lassooed by the rancheros, and dragged to death amongst the prickly pears and thorn- bushes; his friends heard of it, went out and slaughtered 18 or 20 peons, (half-serfs,) totally unarmed. It was certainly un- christian like, but they kill us when they meet us to disadvan- tage." The following extracts from a letter published in the St. Louis Republican, detail the particulars of this bloody transaction. "Camp of the Army of Agua Nueva, \ Mexico, February 13, 1847. j Occasional murders of our men have been perpetrated ever .since we have been in the country, — all killed by the lasso. The Arkansas regiment of horse, from their having been employ- ed as scout:-., and occupying the outposts, have been particularl)' exposed to this guerilla warfare^ and have lost four or tive of their men. The day before yesterday, it was reported that one of their number had been killed by the Mexicans, as he had been missing from camp since the day before^ when he went out to look for his horse." " Search was made for the body, and it was found about a thousand yards from our camp, with a lasso around the neck, 6 74 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. and lied to a prickly pear, having been dragged some three hundred yards fiom the chaparral. The Arkansas men vowed vengeance deep and sure. Yesterday morning, a number of them, some thirty perhaps, went out to the foot of the mountain, two miles off, to an ' arroyo,' which is washed in the side of the mountain, to which the ' paisano' of Agua Nueva had fled up- on our approach, and soon commenced an incUscriniinaie and bloody massacre of the poor creatures, who had thus fled to the mountains and fastnesses for security. A number of our regi- ment being out of camp, I proposed to Col Bissell to mount our horses and ride to the scene of carnage, where I knew, from the dark insinuations of the night before, that blood was running freely. We hastened out as hastily as possible, but owing to the thick chaparrals, the work of death was over before we reached the horrible scene, and the perpetrators were returning to camp glutted with revenge." "Let us no longer complain of Mexican barbarity — poor, de- graded, ' priest ridden ' as she is. No act of ifihuman cruelty, perpetrated by her most desperate robbers can excel the work of yes- terday, committed by our soldiery. God knows how many of the unarmed peasantry have been sacrificed to atone for the blood of poor Colquitt. The Arkansas regiment say not less than thirty have been killed, I think, however, at least twenty of them have been sent to their eternal rest. I rode through the chaparrals, and found a number of their dead bodies, not yet cold. The features, in every instance, were composed and tran- quil — lying upon their backs, eyes closed, and feet crossed. You would have supposed them sleeping, but for the gory stream w^hich bedewed the turf around them. In some instances, after the vital spark had fled, in the overflow of demoniac vengeance, the carbine ball dashed out the brains of its clayey victim.'^ " The army condemns the bloody deed, and but through the agency of Capt. Coffee, of our regiment, who rallied his men, and ste[)ped between the victims and their executioners, seven- teen others would certainly have been killed, who were brought by him into camp. And what punishment was inflicted upon the perpetrators of ' this indiscriminate and bloody massacre ? ' Why, they have been blamed by Gen. Taylor ! We gather the following from the Boston Times of May 11, 1847 : '' By a letter f-om Gen. Taylor of the 4th April, it appears that a partv of Americans, under Col. Mitchell's command, the 1st Ohio U. S. Dragoons, and Texas Rangers, made prisoners of twenty-four Mexicans at Guellapea, gave tJiem a mock trial by night, and then shot them, through the head ! " We pity those who are compelled to place themselves under such a " safeguard '" for protection, either in their persons or their FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 75 property. And bitter experience has taught the poor Mexicans, that it has been thus far no better than that aflbrdecl to sheep, by a pack of hungiy wolves. And many disgraceful outrages are already reported to have been con:imitted upon the defenceless inhabitants of Vera Cruz by their new guardians, whose only bond is their " honor." As General Scott has actually inflicted punishment upon ^'■several " Americans for outrages upon " the unoffending inhab- itants of the country," we cheerfully make room for his own ac- count of the matter. In imitation of General Taylor, and other American commanders, on the 11th of April, General Scott issued a proclamation " to the good People of 3Iexico,^^ assuring them, among other things, that ^^ Americans are not their enemies^^^ — in which he says : "For the Church of Mexico, the unoffending inhabitants of the country and their property, 1 have from the first, done every- thing in my power to place them under the safeguard of martial law against the few bad men in this army." "My orders, to that effect, known to all, are precise and rig- orous. Under iheni, several Americans have already been pun- ished by fine, for the benefit of Mexicans, besides imprisonment; and one. for a rape, has been hung by the neck." In the next paragraph he triumphantly asks : " Is this not a proof of good faith and energetic discipline! " But alas ! for both his " good faith and energetic discipline," it turns out, as we learn from the Vera Cruz Eagle of April 15th, that the one who has been hung was a colored man by the name of Kirk. Had he been white he would have done what he did, with entire impunity. And we have yet to learn that a single one of the hundreds of white '• miscreants," who are guilty of the same thing, have been punished at all. But this man was not a soldier, as his color was a legal bar to his enlistment. He was only a camp follower. Nor is it that the commission of rape, at the present day, by the Americans, either in Mexico, or on their own plantations, is a crime, per se, that poor Kirk was exe- cuted. His crime consisted in not being of the right complexion rather than the rape ; and it was for assuming the prerogatives of a white American, and doing what they alone, claim the right to do, that he was "hung by the neck." All these professions of friendship, are a sham and a cheat; as such professions from such men ever must be. After having murdered them by thou- 76 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. sands, pillaged, and destroyed scores of iheir cilies, towns and villages, conamitted upon their families " all kinds of outrages," and robbed them of more than half their entire country, the captain of this gang of freebooters, pausing for a moment in his work of carnage and plunder, seizes a poor black maiij harigs him by the neck for venturing to exercise the privileges of a white man, and then very coolly tells the Mexicans, that " Americans are not their enemies ! ^"' and that he has "done everything in his pov.'er " to protect both them and their property; and trium- phantly points them to this hanging as a proof. As additional evidence of what was stated in the outset, that the design of the government, in making this war, was^con- quest, and conquest too for the basest of all purposes, the attention of the reader is called to the following paragraph from the Presi- dent's last annual message : "^ " It may be proper to provide for the security of these impor- tant conquests by making an appropriation for the purpose of erecting fortifications and defraying the expenses necessarily incident to the maintenance of our possession and authority over Now if the President only wanted to drive invaders out of Texas — who were never in it — and to make Mexico pay her debts, what did he mean by calling upon Congress to erect forti- fications for " securing our possession and authority " over " these important conquests ? " Did he mean to yield these " conquests," fortifications and all, as soon as the invaders were driven off, and Mexico had paid her debts'? He meant no such thing. He meant, and so did the nation, to conquer Mexico and swallow her up, for having committed the unpardonable sin of abolishing slavery. And after overrunning two-thirds of her territory with incarnate devils, mad with whiskey, madder for the extension of slavery, and satiating their lusts, and glutting their love of plunder with the " beauty and booty "' of Matamoras, Monterey, and multitudes of other places, the President sent Senor Atocha, a renegade Mexican, to that government with the modest offer to pay them about the valuation of the town of New Bedrord,^^ Mass., for three quarters of the entire Republic of Mexico, for the purpose of seeking, in her refusal to sell herself, an occa- « December, 1846. f Fifteen milJions of doHass. FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 77 sion for further aggression. IMexico lefused of course, as every- body well knew she would, and Scotl, at the head of the invad- ers, was sent to finish the work of conquest. From the city of Vera Cruz he maiched upon the capital. He met the Mexican army, under Santa Anna, at Cerro Gonlo, and a bailie ensued on the 18lh of April, in which 431 Americans, and more than 1,000 Mexicans were maimed and murdered. From the butchering of Cerro Gordo, the Americans pushed towards the capital of Mexico; taking possession of, and plun- dering in rapid succession, Jalapa, Perote, and the large city of Puebla, containing a population of about sixty thousand. Here they remained until the early part of August, when, being rein- forced by five thousand men, they urged their way towards the " Halls of the Montezumas." On the 19lh and 20th, they en- countered " the enemy " at Contreras and Churubusco, and after two days of hard fighting were again victorious. Here an armis- tice was agreed upon, which, however, lasted but a few days, as each party accused the other of violating its provisions. Hostilities were recommenced on the 7th of September, and the sanguinary battle of El Molino del Rey was fought on the succeeding day, in which 789 Americans, and about 3.000 Mex- icans were mangled and slain. The legalized banditti from the Uniled States, were now in the immediate neighborhood of the far-famed Mexican capital. The prize was just within their grasp ; and they fought with the desperation of tigers for their prey. Post after post, and fortress after fortress yielded to their prowess. The storming of the castle of Chapultepec on the 11th of September, was one of the most ferocious fights on record. The contest was continued for several days; and after a desper- ate struggle, in which numerous forts and batteries were taken by storm, the Mexican army retreated ; and on the 14th of Sep- tember, 1847, the city of Mexico was surrendered into the hands of the invaders. As it does not enter into the design of this work to follow out in detail the operations of the American armies in Mexico, any farther than is essential to a right understanding of the relative position of the two nations, and the objects and designs of the United States in waging the war, we pass over the various bat- tles, guerrilla fights and skirmishes which succeeded the cap- 6* 78 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. ture of the city of Mexico, and come to the negotiations on the subject of peace. During the few days of arnnistice, between the battles of Chn- rubusco and Moliiio del Rey, Nicholas P. Trist, a commissioner appointed by the United States to accompany Gen. Scott, and hold the " olive branch " while he slew with the sword, opened a correspondence with Don Pacheco, " Minister of Relations of the Mexican Republic," with the view of establishing a treaty of peace between the two nations. The proposition, submitted by Mr. Trist, through rather more modest than that of Senor Atochd's, went to the extent of taking on the behalf of the United States, the Californias and the whole of New Mexico. These negotiations came to nothing; and Trist was recalled. Before his return, however, with the assistance of Scott, he succeeded in negotiating a treaty w'lih the Mexican government, and for- warded a copy to Washington. After striking out several arti- cles, and inserting others, it was ratified by the Senate of the United Stales, on the 10th of March, 1848, and then sent back, with the amendments, to again undergo the action of the Mexi- can government. The portion of the fifth article defining the boundaries, is as follows : " The boundary line between the two republics shall commence in the Gulf of Mexico, three leagues from land, opposite the moulh of the Rio Grande, otherwise called Rio Bravo del Norte, or oppo- site the mouth of its deepest branch, if it should have more than one branch emptying directly into the sea ; from thence up the middle of that river, followin;: the deepest channel, where it has mure than one, to the point where it sti ikes the southern bound- ary of New Mexico ; thence westwardly, along the whole south- ern boundary of New Mexico, (which runs north of the town called Passo,) to its western termination ; thence northward, along the western line of New Mexico, until it intersects the first branch of the river Gila ; (or if it should not intersect any branch of that river, then to the point on the said line nearest to such branch, and thence in a direct line to the same;) thence down the middle of the said branch and of the said river, until it em{)- ties into the Rio Colorado; thence across the Rio Colorado, fol- lowing the division line between Upper and Lower California, to the Pacific Ocean."'' Whether the amended treaty is ratified by Mexico or not, it is evidently the design of the American government to hold all the yACTS FOR THE PEOPLE, '7%- territory acquired by it to the United States ; so ttiat slavery has ah-eady obtained territoiy over v;hich to stalk without let or hindrance for centuries to come. The Annericans are still pursuing the v/ork of conquest, with appetites sharpened by plunder, and lusts inflamed with blood. Were they fighting in a good cause, were they battling in de- fence of their hearth-stones and family altars, which had been invaded by a cruel foe, they never would have disgraced their cause, by committing atrocities so revolting to humanity, as those perpetrated by the American soldiers upon the unarmed Mexican peasants aad their defenceless families. But as we tiave fairly demonstrated, that the cause in which they are fight- ing is the blackest under heaven, it follows that the most de- praved and wicked of our race are fightitig it. Good men never fight in a bad cause ; and good men are not fighting in this. On the contrary, the nation has vomited up from the kennels and sinks of pollution, the lowest moral forms of human life, embrac- ing both the dregs and scum of society, and sent it forth a burn- ing lava-flood of desolation, wasting and destroying the country of our Mexican brothers, — • but recently consecrated to universal liberty. There has been much said since the commencement of this war calculated to excite the prejudices of the ignorant against the Mexicans. They have been represented as a race of semi- barbarians, ignorant of everything that can ennoble and bless our race. For the purpose ef stemming this tide of bitter pre- judice, we here insert an extract from the recently published w^ork ot Mr. Thompson, late American Minister to Mexico. He says : " On the 16lh of June, 1842. the Texan prisoners of the Santa Fe expedition were released by General Santa Anna, that being bis birth-day, or rather the anniversary of his saint, (Saint Anto- nio,) which is the day kept by all Mexicans instead of their own birth-day. I knew that they were to be released on that day, on the parade ground near the city, and fearing that the im- mense populace which would be assembled might offer them «ome violence, I went out, knowing that ray official station would protect me, and might enable me to protect them. Never was fear more groundless, or a surprise more agreeable. Santa An- na reviewed on that occasion a body of more than ten thousand troops; and there were not less than thirty or forty thousand ether persons assembled in the field. Wlien the order for their 8Gf FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. liberation was given, it was received with acclamaiions and shouts by the Mexican troops, which extended through the whole va:jl concourse. The otficers and others threw pieces of money to the Texans. and as they passed through the ciowd, instead of jeers and insults, every Mexican had a\vord of kind- ness for them, running up to them and shaking hands, and ex- claiming, ' amigo, amigo ' — my friend, my friend I I saw one poor lepero pull off his blanket and offer it to a Texan who was rather more ragged than he was himself. As they passed along the streets, men and women would run out from their shops and offer them bread and other articles. Let it be remembered that these men had invaded their country, and that they had been sedu- lously taught to regard them as their born enemies ; los Texa- nos (the Texan?) having all the associations with a Mexican that the words los Moros (the Moors) had with their Gothic ancestors. 1 could not refrain from asking myself whether, if the people of any other country had invaded ours and been made prisoners, they would under like circumstances have passed through such a crowd not only without insult, but with such demonstrations of kindness and sympathy." " An incident occurred while the prisoners were confined in Tacubaya, which is characteristic, not only of the Mexicans of both sexes, but of women everywhere. On one occasion, and it was one of the very first exceptions to the remark which I have just made, a subaltern Mexican oificer struck a Texan who was at work on the streets; a young lady of one of the most respect- able families, and I sincerely regret that I have forgotten her name, who happened to be passing by, called the officer to her^ and asked him if he was a Mexican by birth. He replied that he was not. She said, 'I am rejoiced to hear it, sir, and I did not suppose that you were, for I did not believe that any Mexican would be guilty of so cowardly an act as to strike a prisoner who dare not return the blow." We also give some further favorable notices, which seem to have been extorted from their authors. From the Boston Daily Mail. " Noble Conduct. — A correspondent of a cotempbrary, writ- ing from Vera Cruz, gives the following account of an incident, of a character which we love to record. ' Our blockading squad- ron are daily capturing prizes. I cannot forbear mentioning a circumstance which is alike honorable to the Mexicans and our officers, which robs war of some of its sterner and more repulsive features. When hostilities were opened, and the blockade an- nounced, Gen. Bravo, in opposition to the advice of a council of his officers, permitted all the American vessels in port to de- part without molestation, and allowed them eight days to close up their concerns before leaving. Yesterday, the Somers and FACTS FOR THE FEOi'LE. 81 the Falmouth each captured a valuable prize, under the Mexi- can flag. A colonel of the army was passenger in one of thenu Caplain Gregory, commamling the squadron, deemed this a suit- able opportunity to acknowledge the courtesy of the Mexican General. He, therefore, released both of the prizes, and des- patched a graceful and appropiiaie note to Gen. Bravo, inform- ing him that he had been told of his liberal conduct towards our vessels, and as an act of such generous magnanimity could not be permitted to pass unnolicetl by an American officer, that we had the honor of returning to him the two vessels which had be- come lav^'ftil prizes to our squadron. I need not say that all the squadron cordially acquiesced in this timely reciprocation of the forbearance and honorable conduct of the Mexicans.' '' From the Nevj York Journal of Commerce. MEXICO. " There are three encouraging facts concerning the Mexicans stated by our late Minister, Mr. Thompson, viz.: The good -character of the v/omen, the general temperance of the people, and the ability of nearly all of them to read and write. The women, (he observes,) in their manners are perfect, and in the great attributes of the heart, affection, kindness, and benevo- lence, in all their fortns, they have no superiors. He thinks that in the most important point they have been much slandered ; and there is no city in Europe of the same size, where there is less immorality than in Mexico." •' ' I am sure,' he says, ' that during my residence in Mexico, I did not see a dozen men drunk, and I have seen assemblies of fifty and a hundred thousand people without one case of drunk- enness. As to intemperance among respectable people, it is almost unknown.^ Again, '1 had not a servant during my resi- dence in Mexico who did not read and write — neither very well, it is true, but quite as well or better than the same class in this country. I often observed the most raijged leppers. as they walked down the streets, reading the signs over the store doors. How this happens, I knov/ not, unless it be the effect of the Lancasterian schools which are established all over the coun- try.' " A correspondent of the New Orleans Delta, giving an account ^f the battle of Monterey, says : '' During the progress of the seige of Monterey, there were <3on?tant and affecting evidences of the kindness the Mexican women afforded to the soldiers of the American army, to the regu- lars as well as volunteers. When our men and officers were passing through the streets of the city, during the most exciting intervals of the battle, they would run out of Uieir houses with i3askets filled with br«ad and cakes of diffejent kinds, and dis- SS" FACTS FOR THE PEOPL^o. tdbute the contents amongst the officers and soldiers, without th^ reception of fee or reward for their kindness. And it can b© easily imagined that these were highly acceptable donalionsy inasmuch as many of us at the lime were very mach reduced in our stock of provisions. There were also naany of us, during the seige and af'er we had entered the city, placed in different yard& in the place, where we fired from the tops of the houses upon the Mexican troops, who were stationed in the public squares or plazas." " Here, too, our toils and lassitudes were greatly soothed by the tender assiduities of the Mexican females. There were some of them still remaining in the houses which backed upon these yards, who cheerfully tendered their services to cook for us, re- ceiving a small amount of compensation from those who had money, and to those who were destitute of means, handing food without any reward whatever." " The humanity of the Mexican women was also brightly manifested during the most intense heat of the action, in caus- ing the wounded among the American soldiers to be removed out of the streets, where they laid welterinjj in their blood, into their houses, where they carefully anil tenderly dressed their Vvounds, and provided them with food and drink. They also evinced the most ardent devotion to such of the wounded sol- diers on the American side as were taken prisoners by the Mex- icans, and sent to iheir hospital. They dressed their wounds, washed their clothes, and brouyht them fruit of different kinds, without any charge for their pains." The Mexicans-, then^ are not wild beasts, but men, brother men ; whom we are bound by every principle of justice, human- ity, and religion, to love and protect, rather than to hate and destroy. And would the limJts and designs of this work permit^ we would show that in temperance, humanity, and national jus- tice, they are far superior to the nation which is now grinding them to powder. But we forbear. An impartial future is yet to sit in judgment on the character of this nation, which in regard to its privileges, has been exalted to heaven, but which, by il&. eiimes and oppressions, has thrust itself down to hell. FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE, We, the people of the United States, in order to establish jus- tice, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution. — Preamble io ConslUutiGn of the United States. The United States — twelve out of the thirteen slave-hold- ing — entered on their career as a ration bound by a compact, not to prohibit the foreign slave-trade until the honrie market could be supplied by the domestic : — to give up the soil of the whole country as hunting-ground upon vi^hich the slave-holders might chase down the flying bondman : — to allow a represen- tation in Congress based upon three-fifths of all the slaves in the land, and to aid the master, by bullet and bayonet if need be, to keep his slaves in subjection.* With such a beginning, strange that any should fail of seeing the end. Having thus received the bantling under its protection, the next business of the government was, to provide for its future v/ants. Slavery has shared largely in its provisions, and fattened on its bounties, until the little one has become a giant, whose tread shakes the nation. Before it, the questions of Peace and War, Banks, Tariffs, and Sub-Treasuries, are as the small dust of the balance. The Constitution had hardly been ratified by the people, and the government gone into operation under it, when Congress be- gan to legislate, and the President and Senate to make treaties for the better security of slavery. The fathers of the republic had fought through a seven years' war with Great Britain, be- cause, as they declared, " God had created all men equal;'* and after having wiped the blood and dust of this battle in be- half of I/t6erii/ from their brows, they sat down in their legisla- *See Art. I., Sec. 2 and 9, and Art. IV., Sec. 2 aad 4, Con. U, S. i'4 TACTS FOR THE PEOPLE^ live capacity, and commenced, on a large scale, the business oi forging manacles for the limbs of slaves. Some of the methods in which the powers of the Federal Government have been employed for this purpose, will aov^ be mentioned. INDIAN HELATIONS. "On the 7th August, 1790, the United States concluded a treaty with the Creek Indians, in which they distinctly agreed to deliver up the negroes then residing within their territory, to the officers of the United States • and if not delivered on or before the first day of June following the date of the treaty, the Governor of Georgia was authorized to appoint three persons to repair to the Indian country to demand them»" " For this and other stipulations on the part of the Indians, the United States agreed to pay them an annuity of fifteen hundred dollars, together with certain goods mentioned in the treaty." * Many of these slaves had run away from their masters, while they were fighting for their liberty ; and having obtained that, after a long and severe struggle, they turned their attention to the very laudable undertaking of reducing them to bondage again. " But the Indians neglected to deliver the negroes ; and on the 31st December, 1795, the Secretary of War communicated to the President the fact, that the Indians had disregarded their compact, and advised that the slaves be paid for by the United Stales, t This communication vras sent to the Senate and House of Rep- resentatives by the President on the 12lh January foUov/ing, but no final action appears to have taken place at that time.l On the 29th of June, 1796, another treaty was entered into between the United States and the Creek Indians, called 'the treaty of Coleraine/ By the terms of this latter treaty, the Indians again covenanted to deliver up to the officers of the United States, such negroes as were resident in their nation; and if they were not delivered by the first day of January next following the date of the treaty, then the Governor of Georgia was authorized to ap- point three persons to repair to the Creek nation and demand sai But then the nation got the hnnling-ground, which was the sole object of the purchase ; and after securing its title deed, and talcing formal possession of the country, the next step was to break up the asylum of the fu- gitive slaves by exterminating the Seminoles. This scheme "was at length accomplished by means of UT.T/^T.TT^. TTTiT^ ,, THE SECOND SEMINOLE OR ^UaORIDA WAR The reader will recollect, that by the treaty of" Payne's Land- ing," entered into in 1832, the Seminoles agreed to emigrate West, and re-unite with the Creeks ; and that they refused to go lest their wives and children should be taken from them by the Creeks and held as slaves. The people of Florida, however, were anxious to rid their territory of them ; and a large number of the principal inhabitants joined in a petition to the President for their removal, in which they declare, that '^ While this indomitable people continue where they now are, the owners of slaves in our territory, and even in the States con- tiguous, cannot for a moment, in anything like security, enjoy this kind of property." "The President referred the memorial to the Secretary of War, and he called upon the a:jent of the United Slates, then with the Seminoles, for information. The agent, (General Wiley Thompson,) replied, that 'the principal causes which operate to cherish this feeling hostile to emigration are, first, the fear that their re-union with the Creeks, which will subject ihem to the government and control of the Creek national council, will be a surrender of a large amount of negro property now held by these people, to the Creeks as an antagonist claimant;' and Gen. Thompson further adds: 'This Creek claim to negroes now in possession of the Seminoles, which is supposed to be the first cause of hostility to the emigration of the latter tribe, grows out of the treaty of 1821, between the United States and the form- er.' " t — Rights of the free States subverted. After receiving this important information, our army was or- dered to that territory for the purpose of compelling the Indians to emigrate. On the 27lh of Jan., 1835, Gen. Thompson called for * In 1839, Custom liouse officers at St. Augustine and St. Johns, were paid two thousand six liundrcd and fifty dollars, for collecting nothing. J. R. GlDDINGS. t See House Doc. No. 274, 1st Ses. 24th Congress, 94 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. more troops, and the war began. Hungry men-stealers snatched at their prey. The Washington correspondent of the N. Y. Journal of Com- merce, June 3, 1836, says : "' It was stated on the floor of Congress and uncontradicted, that our government recognized the claim of the slave-holders, and SENT AGENTS TO KIDNAP THE CHILDREN OF THE SeMINOLES." They seized Oceola, the chief of the Seminoles, chained him to a log, lore his wife from him, and with four hundred and sixty others adjudged to be slaves by the staff officers, delivered her over to interminable bondage.* No marvel that an Indian chief, as he looked on his little children and thought of their stolen mother, should vow vengeance on the robbers. This slave-hunt, which has been dignified by the name of *' war," was continued through a period of five years. It was protracted on the one side by the desperation of fugitives, prefer- ring death to slavery ; and on the other by a determination to an- nihilate those who gave them shelter and protection. A Mobile paper of March 28th, 1838, says : ''It is the power to entice awoy and instruct in bushfighting so many of our slaves ihat we would wish to annihilate. These Seminoles cannot remain in the peninsula of Florida, without threatening the internal safety of the South." Of its destruction to life, the Army and Navy Chronicle says : " Apprised as we have been of the deadly service in Florida in which our gallant army has been, since 1835, engaged, we are not a little surprised to learn the great mortality among its offi- cers and men." We have no data from which we can estimate the number of lives sacrificed in that war; but it may be safely asserted, that the capture of each slave cost the lives of two white men, and at least eighty thousand dollars in cash. The whole expense of this war has been estimated at forty millions of dollars. The following letter from Gen. Zachary Taylor to the War Department, will illustrate one of the modern modes of warfare, as practiced in the United Slates of America in the nineteenth century ; * House Doc. 52, 3d Ses. 27th Con. facts for the people. 95 "Head Quarters. Army of the South, ) Fori Brook, July 28, 1839. } Sir: — T have the honor to enclose you a cotnrnunicaiion, this moment received, on ihe sutijeci of prt cnrinir blood-hounds fronn the Island ol Cuba, lo aid the army in its operntiotis a<:aiiist the hostile^ in Florida. I am dtcidedly in favor of the measure, and htg leave again to urge it, as the otdy means of ridding the country of the Indians, who are now broken up into synall parties that take shelter in swamps and hammocks as the army approaches, making it impossible for us to follow or overtake them without the aid of such auxiliaries. Should this measure meet the approbation of the Department, and the nece.^jsary authority be granted, I will open a correspon- dence on the subject with Mr. Evertson, through Major Hunt, Assist- ant Quarter Master at Savannah, and will authorize him, if it can be done on reasonable terms, to employ a few dogs, with persons who understand their management. I wish it distinctly understood, that my object in employing: dogs is only to ascertain where the Indians can be found, not to worry them,. {! ! ! ) I have the honor to be, your obedient servant, (Signed) Z. Taylor, Bt. Br. Gen. U. S. A. Commanding. To Gen. R. Jones, Washington, D. C." Tender-hearted rnan ! He v^rished " 07ily to ascertain where the Indians were, not to worry them." Whether they were ^^ worried'''' or not the reader can judge. The hounds were procured ; and blood-hounds, soldiers, and offi- cers marched side by side under the star spangled banner, not only in pursuit of the humane Seminole, but the panting fugitive also, who had fled from Southern oppression.* The English nation has fixed an indelible stain on its char- acter, by employing the Hessians to fiyht against the Colonies in the war of the Revolution. But here we see these same colo- nies, after becoming "free and independent States,'' and after exhausting their own ingenuity as well as their military prowess, in hunting down and catching fugitive slaves — forming an alli- ance with the dogs of Cuba, and actually running and fighting side by side with their blood-hound allies. After scouring her plains with armed men and blood-hounds, and either slaughter- ing or driving from her borders the last vestige of those unfortu- nate red men, in whose bosoms was left one single throb of pity * House Doc. 125, 8d Session, 25th Congress. 96 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. for the panting fugitive, Florida, with her whips and chains and thumb-screws, her yokes and gags and branding-irons and trained bulldogs and hunters of men, her gory hammocks steam- ing in the sun, the bones of her murdered native children bleach- ing on their father's graves, or rotting amidst the blood and ashes of their conflagrated homes, with hot haste — after two hour's debate, has been admitted as a meet co-paitner to this " great sisterhood of States ! " She stands side by side in loving fellow- ship with Massachusetts; and Massachusetts does not blush at the relationship ! TREATIES AND NEGOTIATIONS WITH ENGLAND. Durini? our two wars with Great Britain, multitudes of slaves fled from their masters, and sought protection under the British flag. To enable the reader to judge of the number that escaped during the revolutionary war, we insert the following extract from Ramsay's History. *' When the British evacuated Charleston, S. C, in 1782, Gov- ernor Matthews demanded the restoration of some thousands of negroes who were within their lines. # # % * % ^ These, however, were but a small part of the whole taken away at the evacuation, but that number is very inconsiderable when com- pared with the thousands that were lost from the first to the last ot the war. It has been computed by good judges, that between the years 1775 and 1783, the State of South Carolina lost twen- ty-five THOUSAND NEGROES." [At least a fifth part of all the slaves in the State at the beginning of the war. See page 30.] — Ramsay's Hist. S. C. v. 1. pp. 473-4. Col. Lee of Virginia, in his Memoirs of the war in the South- ern Department, vol. 2, p. 456. says : " It is asserted upon the authority of the best informed citizens of South Carolina, that n^ore than twenty thousand slaves were lost to the State in consequence of the war." Extract of a letter from Mr. Jefferson, then Secretary of State, to Mr. Hammond, Minister of Great Britain, dated Philadelphia, Dec. 15, 1791: " On withdrawing the troops from New York, a large embarka- tion of negroes, the property of the inhabitants of the United States, took place. # =^ * # A very great number was car- FACTS FOR THE PEOi'LE. 97 ried ofTin private vessels, without admillini? the inspection of the Ariiericaii Cornmissioiiers." — See "Political Conespondence," Papers relative to Great Biilain, p. 4. Strange ^'■Liberty''' that, for which the colonies were fighting I It had not half so many attractions to their slaves, as the " tyran- ny " against which they were contending. The Virginia and Maiyland claimants under the treaty of Ghent, set forth that, "In July and August, 1814, the enemy made several land- ings on the northern neck of Virginia, On a sudden an order came, that all the troops should be marched to the defence of Washington, and this neck of eighteen miles wide, was emptied of all its efficient forces for nearly six weeks. During the ab- sence of the forces there was nothing to restrain our slaves, and they flocked in hundreds to the enemy.'''' See their memorial. — St. Pap., 2 Sess., 20th Cong., v. 5, No. 190, p. 4. To enable the reader to form some estimate of the number of slaves who escaped from our Democratic liberty, and sought a refuge under Monarchial tyranny during the last war, we give the following extract from the report of the Committee of Ways and Means, to the House of Representatives, Jan. 5, 1819. " At the conclusion of the war in 1815, it being known that MANY THOUSANDS of the slavcs of OUT citizcns had been carried otf by the Bri'ish ships of war," &c. — Am. St. Fap., F. Rel., v. 4., p. 114. Also the following extract of a letter from the Hon. John Quincy Adams to Lord Castlereah, Feb. 12, 1816. " In his letter of the 5ih September, the undersigned had the honor of enclosing a list of 702 slaves carried away after the ratification of the treaty of peace from Cumberland Island, and the waters adjacent ;%####*- a number perhaps still greater was carried away from Tangier Island in the State of Virginia, and from other places." — Am. St. Pap., 2d Ses.^ IGtk Cong., No. 82, p. 82. On the conclusion of peace in 1815, when the British squadron embarked from the Chesapeake to Bermuda, they took with them several slaves who had taken refuge on board their ships. Tracking the scent of a fugitive, with the keenness of its planta- tion dogs, our government followed in their wake. An agent was hurried ofl' to Burmuda to demand them of the governor. When the agent, Thomas Spaulding, appeared before that dig- nitary, and presented his request, the reply of the Englishman was 8 98 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. worthy of his country and his race : — *' I would rather that Ber- muda, with every man, woman and child in it, were sunk under the sea, than surrender up a sii!i2:le slave who had sought pro- tection under the flai^ of Eni^land." The ayent then applied to Admiral Griffith, commanding on the Bermuda station ; and promised to furnish him with a list of each slave claimed, which he expected to receive in a few days from the United Slates. The Admiral told him, that he need not wait ; as there was neither at Bermuda, nor any other British settlement, any authority " competent to deliver up persons, who, during the late wars, had placed themselves under the protection of the British flag." * From Governors and Admirals, our government next applied to the British Cabinet. And for the space of twenty years, did the official slave-mongers of '' this great Democratic confedera- cy," ply the British Government with its diplomacy, for the pur- pose of obtaining compensation for its runaway slaves. After refer- ring the subject to Russia, at the request of the Americans, and holding convention after convention, for the adjustment of a ques- tion of such vital import to " our Republican liberties," the British Cabinet, wearied with the importunities of the American Gov- ernment, and sick of the controversy, entered into a third con- vention on the 13lh of November, 1836, by which the sum of one million tivo hundred and four thousand dollars was paid over to the agents of this slave-holding government.! Every body knows that great numbers of slaves have escaped from "our free institutions," and found an asylum under the British Government, in Canada. On the 10th of May, 1828, the House of Representatives, by resolution, " requested the Presi- dent to open negotiations with the British Government, in the view to obtain an arrangement, whereby fugitive slaves, who have taken refuge in Canada, may be surrendered." J But the Executive had anticipated the wishes of the House; for as early as June 19, 1826, Henry Clay, who was then Secre- tary of State, wrote a letter of instructions to Mr. Gallatin, Min- ister to Great Britain, of which the following is an extract: "You are instructed to propose a stipulation for a mutual sur- *St. Pap., 14th Cong., 2Bd Ses. Senate, Dec. No. 82. t Laws of Onited States, vol. 8, 698. X See Journal of that dale. FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 99 render of all persons held to service or labor under ihe laws of one party, who escape into the tenitoiies of the other. Our ob- ject ill this stipulation is to provide for b. growing evil. Persons of the above description escape principally from Virginia and Kentucky, into Upper Canada. In proporiion as they are swccess- ful in their retreat to Canada, will \\\q number of fugitives increase. The motive for getting them back is the desire which is gener- ally felt to prevent the example of the fugitives becoming con- tagious.^'' " The States of Virginia and Kentucky are 'particularly anxious on this subject. The General Assembly of the latler has repeat- edly invoked the interposition of the United States Government wiih Great Britain. You will therefore press the matter."* This subject was pressed by our Minister, until he was distinctly told, "that such an arrangement on the part of Great Britain was impossible." " That the laws of Parliament gave freedom to every slave ivho should land on British ground.'^'' In 1843, several slaves escaped from Florida, and fled to the Island of New Providence. An agent was sent to that Island to demand them of the governor. An officer, and a detachment of the crew of one of our ships of war, together with the United Slates' Revenue Cutter, Nautilis, were also employed in an un- successful attempt to catch these slaves, and drag them back to their republican chains and whipping posts. " In 1831, ' The Comet,' a slave-ship from Alexandria, for New Orleans, was wrecked on the Island of Abaco, and her slaves and crew were taken to Nassau, in the Island of New Provi- dence. The Island being under British laws, the slaves were of course free as soon as they landed on the British territory. They had been free untler our laws, from the moment they were a league from our coast. Thus the reader vs-ill see that by the laws of both nations they were freemen. But the slave mer- chants, finding themselves unable to control the movements of their human cargo, called upon the authorities of the Island for assistance, to aid them in holding their fellow-men in subjection. But. there being no law there, by which one foreiirner could control the liberty of another, all aid was refused, and the slave- mongers returned to the United Slates, and claimed the assist- ance of the National Government to aid them in carrying out their attempted speculation in human flesh, by demanding of the British Government a comper,sation for iheir loss." " In 1833, the brig ' Encomium,' from Charleston for New Orleans, v^-iih slaves, was wrecked near Abaco. and her slaves obtained their liberty the same way." ♦ St. Pap., 2d Ses., 20 Cong., vol. I., No. 10. 100 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. ^'Tn 1835, 'The Enterprise,' another slave-ship, was driven into Bermuda, a British port, by stress of weather, and her slaves were also liberated by the force of British laws.'' "These repeated losses alarmed the slave merchants, and threatened seriously to affect the prospects of those who were engaged in breeding slaves for market. The Executive entered upon the subject with great zeal and energy. Instructions were sent to our minister at London, directing him to make demand of the British Government for reparation to the slave merchants who owned these cargoes of human beings. Not because the British Government or any subject of the British Crown had gained anything in consequence of these persons having obtained their freedom; but because the slave-dealers had sustained a loss, in consequence of the English Government not having en- acted laws authorizing the American slave-trade. He was in- formed that this feature of the British laws ' was too dangerous to a large section of our country to be tolerated.^ The demand was made, and as our minister was himsell" an extensive slave-hold- er, he entered upon the subject with so much zeal, that his as- sertions were soon carried far beyond the botmds of truth. In an official communication to Lord Palmerston, he declared that our * Government had more than once, in the most solemn manner^ deter- mined that slaves killed in the service of the United States, even in a state of ivar, were to he regarded as property, and not as persons j and the government held responsible for them.^ By means of the most unceasing energy, and misrepresentations on the part of our minister, the British Government were induced to pay over to our Executive the sum of £"25,000 sterling, for the benefit of those who claimed to own persons on board ' the Comet ' and ' the Encomium.' These vessels were wrecked, and the per- sons on board obtained their liberty prior to the taking effect of the general emancipation act, which liberated the slaves in the British West Lidia Islands. But the 'Enterprise' had enteied Bermuda after the taking effect of that law, and the British Min- isters refused all compensation to the slave owners on board that ship. Partial success, however, stimulated the Executive to a more vigorous prosecution of the claims of the unfoitunale slave- dealers who owned the cargo of the ' Enterprise.' Fresh instruc- tions were sent to our minister at London ; and to aid the Exe- cutive with the influence of the Senate, resolutions declaring the Iciw of nations to authorize a slave-ship when driven by stress of weather to enter the port of a friendly power, and to hold control of the slaves on board until she can refit, were introduced into the Senate by the Hon. J, C. Calhoun ; and althoui^h their fallacy was apparent to every county court lawyer, yet they were adopted by the Senate without a dissenting voice. Most of the Senators from free States, however, refused to vote.=^ To aid the Execu- * See Senate Jour., 1st Ses., 26th Cong, TACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 101 tlve Still further, the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the House of Representatives made a report, in which this subject was men- tioned, and an allusion was made to the unpleasant consequen- ces which would follow a final rejection of the demand by Great Britain." * While this was the state of diplomatic corresponilence be- tween the two iiovernments, the ' Hermosa,' another slave-ship, was wrecked, and her slaves obtained their freedum in the same manner as ttiose on board the other ships. In October, 1842, soon after the wreck of the Hermosa, the Creole left Richmond, Va., for New Oi leans, with slaves on board. While at sea, the slaves rose upt)n the crew, killed one of them, and look the ship to Nassau, and, leaving her to the control of her captam, they went on shore in puisuit of their own happiness. These circum stances appear to have aroused the whole slave-holding interest. Instructions were again transmitted to our minister at London, and he was exhorted to press the demand upon the British Gov- ernment for compensation for the slaves on board those ship=. The Senate called for the correspondence, discussion ensued, in which grave Senators threatened destruction to ttiose Islands if compensation were not granted to the slave merchants who had thus lost their cargoes of slaves."' On this subject Mr. King said, "If such outrages continue, nothing could prevent a collision; and unless the British Gov- ernment should retrace her steps, war must inevitably ensue.^' Mr. Calhoun, "hoped the citizens would know what protection this government could extend to their property. And it we can- not obtain justice, every man with an American heart in his bosom, will be ready to raise his hand against oppression.'''' Mr. Barrow said, that " if these contemptible British subjects at Nassau, are permitted to go on in this way, seizing by force of arms, and liberating slaves belonging to American citizens, the South would be compelled to fit out an armament and de- stroy those towns." Such was the "outburst of indignant feeling." in the legisla- ture of ^'ihejreest Nation on Earth,'^ when intelligence reached the Capitol, that a cargo of their slaves had obtained their free- dom, by landing within the limits of a Monarchial govern- ment. ATTEMPT TO OBTAIN FUGITIVE SLAVES FROM MEXICO. Encouraged by the success which have crowned its endeavors to induce the British Government to become the catchpolls to the slave-holders, this government next tried to seduce the Mex- * Se« Jour. H. Rep., 2d Ses., 26th Cong. 8# 102 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. icans from their allegiance to the principles of freedom, and to persuade them to act the part of watch-dogs to the plantaiions of the Souih-westerii slave-holding Stales. Hardly had Mexico be- come a nation, when the subject was brought before the Ameri- can Congress — that great palladium of slavery. As an entering wedge, on the 18th Dec, 1826, Mr. Brent of Louisiana, offered the following : '■'• Resolved, That the President of the Unied States be requested to inform this House whether any measures have been taken to obtain the runaway negro slaves from Louisiana and elsewhere, which have taken refuge in the territories of Mexico."* And accordingly a treaty was negotiated with the Mexican Minister for the surrender of such fugitive slaves as might seek a refuge on the soil of that Republic. But the treaty was re- jected by the Mexican Congress, which denounced slavery as " a palpable violation of the first principles of a free republic." Upon the subject of this refusal, Mr. Poinsett, our Minister to Mexico, made to his government the following commentary: "The article for the restoration of fugitive slaves was rejected on philanthropic principles altogether. Such are most likely to influence the young legislators, of young nations." The nation which Mr. Poinsett had "the honor to represent," had got to be full fifty years old ; — man grown, for an individ- ual, but for a nation, it was still in its swaddling clothes. But though young in years, it was hoary in crime, and bloody with guilt. And this was doubtless the reason of its putting on such airs of superiority. SOUTHAMPTON INSURRECTION. In August, 1831. a few slaves in the upper part of Southamp- ampton county, Virginia, commenced an insurrection. Their whole numbers perhaps at no time exceeded one hundred. When the news reached Norfolk, the aulhorilies of that city made immediate application to Col. House, then commanding at Fortress Munroe, who, at six o'clock the next morning, embarked on board a steamboat with three companies of United States troops, for the scene of action. He was reinforced by a detach- ment from on board the United States ships Warren and Natchez, amounting in all to about three hundred men, who without any * Jour. H. R. for 1826-7, p. 70. FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 103 authority whatever, thus turned out to suppress the efforts of their fellow-nien, who were exerting themselves to attain that liberty lor which so much blood was shed during the war of our Revolution. Their elForls to regain the inalienable rigiits vviih which God had endowed them, were as !ei;al, and far more just and holy, ihan. those of Washington and hh associates during the Revolution; inasmuch as ihey fouaht for natural rights, while our fathers contended for political privileges. Yet so eager were these officers of the United Slates army and navy to put down these attempts of their fellow-men to break the chains of oppression, that they waited for no orders or directions from proper authority, but, in violation of the Constitution, of law, and of justice, they sought to kill and to murder those who were seek- ing to obtain their freedom." * OTHER ACTS or CONGRESS- As early as 1790, Congress passed a naturalization law, pre- scribing the mode in which "any alien being a white person ** might be admitted to the rights of an American citizen. In 1792, an act was passed for organizing the militia, providing that "each and eveiy free, able-bodied white male citizen," &c. No other nation on earth prohibits any portion of its citizens from partaking in the national defence. But this nation enslaves its colored citizens, sells them at auction, robs them of wives, children, homes; of everything they hold dear; — scourges them till the earth is watered with their tears, and fattened with their blood. And it may be that the fire of patriotism burns too dimly on the ' altar of their hearts,' for them to fight very bravely in defence of such a country. But why prohibit those who might wish to fight, but for the purpose of creating a degrading dis- tinction 1 The fourth section of the act of 1810, organizing the Post- Office department, provides that " no other than a free white person shall be employed in carrying the mail of the United States, either as a post-rider, or a driver of any carriage carrying the Mail," under a penalty of fifty dollars. f While Florida was a territory of the United States, the bills passed by its legislature were submitted to Congress. If ap- proved by that body, they became laws; but not otherwise. * Niles' Register. f. lay's View, p. 9. 104 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. Thus, Congress enacted, that if any person should aid any other person held as a slave to escape from slavery, he should be punished by the pillory, branding, fine and imprisonment. In July, 1844, Jonathan Walker, a citizen of Massachusetts, was seized on the high seas, between Florida and the Bahamas, charged with having violated this law, carried in a United Slates' steamer to Pensacola, tried before a United States' Court, set in a United States' pillory, branded with a United States' branding iron, chained with a United States chain to the naked floor of a wretched prison, without either bed, chair or table ; and after being confined in this horrid condition more than eleven months, was released on condition of paying into the treasury of this liberty loving nation the sum of five hundred and ninety-six dollars. EFFORTS TO PREVENT EMANCIPATION IN CUBA. While Mexico and the South American Republics were &\rug- gling for their independence, ihey did not, like their more North- ern neighbor, march to the battle field with the sword in one hand, while they flourished the slave-driver's whip in the other. On the contrary, they began simultaneously with their efforts to obtain their own liberty, to extend its blessings to their bondmen. And when they had fairly achieved their independence, they gave freedom to every slave within iheir borders. At the time of the Congress of Panama, Spain was still striving to maintain her supremacy over these colonies. This Congress assembled in 1825 ; and the United States were invited to attend. And as " Cuba was at a short distance, devoted to the royal cause, and affording a depot for the royal forces ready to prey on their com- merce, Mexico and Columbia proposed to invade this island with the view of throwing off the royal authority." But this govern- ment, true to those slave-holding instincts which had guided and controlled all its foreign relations, saw nothing but mischief in the proposed measure. Mexico had commenced the work of abolition the year before. Columbia was doing the same. With these republic?, the words of liberty were not mere "rhetorical flourishes." They meant something, even to the poor bondman. Yet they were signs of FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 105 ill-omen to the South, which this government could not help seeing. It saw, further, that the conquest of Cuba by these re- publics, would result in the abolition of slavery in tliat island. And as the naiion had given its pledge to the slave-holding interest, and had always lived it out in the fulness of its spirit, the idea of emancipation in Cuba was not to be tolerated. Accordingly, our representatives to the Congress of Panama, Messrs. Anderson and Sargeant, were instructed by Henry Clay, who was then Secretary of Slate, to use their utmost endeavors to dissuade Mexico and Columbia from the proposed invasion. In his letter of instructions of May 8ih, 1826, he says : " It is required by the frank and friendly relations which we most anxiously desire ever to cherish with the new republics, that you should, without reserve, explicitly state that the United States have too much at stake in the fortunes of Cuba, to allow them to see with indifference a war of invasion prosecuted in a desolating manner; or to see employed in the purposes of such a war, one race of the inhabitants combatting against another. The humanity of the United Slates in respect to the weaker, aufl which in such a terrible strugjile would probably be the suflfer- ing portion, and the duty to defend themselves against the con- tagion of such near and daiijicrous examples, would cons'iairi them even at the hazard of losing the friendship of Mexico and Columbia to employ all means necessary to their security."' In ca«e Mexico and Columbia should send an army of deliver- ance to Cuba, for the purpose of " loosing the bands of wicked- ness," and giving freedom to the thousands of her sighing cap- tives, thus ridding that island of a most heaven-daring system of oppression, — '^the humanity of the United States" would prompt them to send over an army of the " sons of liberty," to fight in behalf of these Spanish slave-holders. How strangely are men drawn together by the afhnities of a common interest. Pilate and Herod could be made friends, when there was a "just man '^ to crucifj-. Our Minister at St. Petersburg was instructed : *• To endeavor to engase the Russian Government to contribute its best exertions towards terminating the existini; contest be- tween Spain and her colonies. Fiom the vicinity of Cuba to the United States, and the nature of its populalion, their government caimot be indifferent to any political change, Lo which that island may be destined."'* * Letters from Mr. Clay to Mr. Middlelon, lOdi May, 1825. 106 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. Spain was also begged and entreated to put a stop to the war, lest it might result in the abolition of slavery in Cuba, and so shake the system so fondly cherished by the " democracy " in the United States. Mr. Clay, in his letter to Mr. Everett of April 27th, J825, says : " It is not for the netv republics, that the President wishes you to urge upon Spain the expediency of concluding the war. The possible contingencies of a protracted war, might bring upon the Government of the United States duties and obligations, the per- formance of which, however painfid it should be, they might not feel at liberty to declined * Some extracts from the debates in Congress on the Panama Mission will further illustrate the solicitude of the Americans for the safety of their " peculiar institution." Mr. Randolph of Virginia, said : "Cuba possesses an immense negro population. In case Mexico and Columbia should invade Cuba at all, it is unquestionable that this invasion will be made with this principle, this geyiius of universal emancipation, this sweeping anathema against the white population in front, and then, sir, ivhat is the situation of the Southern States?" Mr. Johnson of Louisiana, said ; " We know that Mexico and Columbia have long contemplated the independence of Cuba. What then, at such a crisis, becomes the duty of this government? Send your Ministers instantly to this assembly where the meas- ure is maturing. Advise with them, remonstrate — menace, if necessary, against a step so dangerous to us." Mr. Berrien, of Georgia, said : '♦ With a due regard to the safety of the Southern States, can you suffer these islands to pass into the hands of BUCANiERS, drunk ivith their neio born liberty^ If our interests and our safety shall require us to say to these new republics, Cuba and Porto Rico must remain as they are, we are free to say it. And by the blessing of God (?) and the strength of our arms, to enforce the declaration ; and let me say to gentle- men, that these high considerations do require it, — the vital in- terest oftlie South requires i7."f In what respect did the United States differ from " these new republics," which this sturdy democrat here stigmatized as " Buc- aniers?" Certainly there is a broad difference. The United States, whether bucaniers or not, never got so " drunk with their new born liberty," as to demolish their human flesh shambles, in the boisterous merriment of their intoxication. They are always ♦Senate, Dec. 1st Ses., 19th Cong., vol. 3 t Cong. Debates, vol. 2. FACTS FOR THE PKOPLE. 107 sober enough to keep the watch-dogs of iheir plantations well trained; their whips, and gags, and thumb-screws, their iron col- lars and chains, and bowie-knives and branding-irons, ready for use. They never for a moment forget these; not even in the very midst of their great national revels, in honor of "freedom and the rights of man." Whether Mexico and Columbia were influenced by the threats and "menaces" of the United States or not, they gave up the talked of invasion; but the war still continued, and with it, the fears of the Americans. They were alarmed lest some change in in its fortunes might yet give freedom to the slaves in Cuba. And Spain was again urged to cease this warfare, so hazardous to " the vital interests of the South." On the 22d of October, 1829, Mr. Van Buren, then Secretary of State, wrote a letter of instructions to Nr. Van Ness, Minister to Spain, in which he says: " Consid- erations connected with a certain class of our populations, make it the interest of the Southern section of the Union, that no attempt should be made in that island to throw off the yoke of Spanish de- pendence ; the first effect of which would be the sudden emancipa- tion of a numerous slave population, whose result could not but be sensibly felt on tlie adjacent shores of the United States" RELATIONS TO HAYTI. The existence of this republic is almost coeval with our own. Its government, as an independent nation, was organized on the 1st of July, 1798. And as there are many gross misconceptions in the public mind relative to the causes of the revolution in the Island, and as we have been so often told that the " horrors " of St. Domingo resulted from, and were the legitimate fruits of emancipation, it may be well to take a glance at so much of its history as will prove that emancipation was not in any sense the cause of the troubles and insurrections in St. Domingo; and that the history of that colony furnishes the clearest proof of the entire safety of immediate emancipation. In 1790, the free colored population was supposed to be some- what greater than that of the whites. Though many of this class were wealthy and educated, they were debarred from all political privileges on account of their complexion. The Island was at this 108 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. time a colony of France. The entire population was estimated at 086,000. 600,000 of whom were slaves, 44,000 free people of color, and the reinaiiider whites. The wliites were divided into three classes ; the Creole plan- ters, or large proprietors, constituting the native aristocracy, the European residents, composing the office-holders, adventurers, speculators, and petiis blancs, the jipoorer whites, tradesmen, me- chanics. Although each of these classes hated the others, they had one feeling in common, and that was a most implacable abhorrence of the mulattoes or free colored people, who it is stated owned one- third of the real estate, and one-fourth of the personal property of the Island. Notwithstanding this, they were compelled to do any kind of public service witliout compensation ; degraded and in- sulted in every possible way short of absolute enslavement. The slaves were most brutally treated in the French part of the Island. Large masses of them consisted of newly imported Africans, who still retained the superstitions and usages of their native country. On the 27th of December, 1788, the States General of France passed a resolution to admit to that body a number of the " Tiers Etat,'^ (persons of third estate,) equal to that of the other two or- ders. When the news reached St. Domingo, the white colonists immediately resolved to assert their right to be represented, and commissioned eighteen delegates, who were fully recognized by the States General. About this time the society of Les Amis des JVoirs, (friends of the blacks,) was formed. Every blow struck for liberty in France, electrified the colonies. When the fall of the Bastile reached St. Domingo, the colonists became wrought up with intense excitement. "Liberty and Fraternity" sounded from the lips of all classes. Meantime, in the general discussion of the subject of human rights, the mulattoes or free people of color, began to take a deep interest. Many of this number were at Paris receiving an educa- tion ; and their correspondence with friends at home, stimulated them to the demand of rights, which the French Revolutionists could with no consistency deny. In 1789, the mulattoes sent a deputation to Paris to urge their claims to representation in the Colonial Assembly. They pre- FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 109 sented 6,000,000 livres to the government, and pledged one-fifth of their property to aid in the liquidation of the national debt. Encouraged by the sympathies of Lafayette and his associates, and others, the free people of color in the colony began to press their claims on the attention of the authorities; but they were at once met with the most unrelenting opposition from all classes of the whites. Lacombe, a mulatto, was hung at Cape Francois for having merely signed a petition on the subject. A venerable magistrate at Petite Goave, who had drawn up a simi- lar petition for the mulattoes, was dragged from his house and brutally murdered. The petiis blancs, (small whites.) signalized themselves above all others, by their outrages against the unfor- tunate people who, thus far, had distinguished themselves for their forbearance. Lafayette and his friends were meanwhile urging the claims of the free people of color, and had the satisfaction of procuring the passage of a decree by the National Assembly, dated March 8th, 1790, that every person of twenty-five years of age, the proprietor of real estate, or in fault of that, who had been a resident of the place for two years, and paid his taxes for support of the colony, should be entitled to vote for members of the Colonial Assembly. Let it he ohstrvf-d^ that the contest concerned not the natural rights of the slaves, whom nobody proposed to emancipate., but the political rights o/the free people of color. The promulgation of the act kindled a flame in the colony. The whites execrated the National Assembly. The Colonial As- sembly passed a resolve that it would prefer death rather than share political rights with "a degenerate and bastard race." Bitter feuds continued to prevail in the colony until the provin- cial provinces were arrayed against each other, and open war broke out between the Governor General and the Colonial As- sembly. In the struggle the free people of color were invoked by the former, and he made such head against the Assembly, that the whole body, driven to desperation, resolved to embark for France and lay its grievances before the National Assembly. Meanwhile the mulattoes continued to be the subjects of the grossest out- rages and insults, and began to lose their patience. Vincent or James Oge, an educated mulatto, in Paris, who had for a long time been laboring to reclaim the rights of his peo- 9 110 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. pie, disgusted at an explanatory decree of the National Assembly, out of heart, irritated and desperate, abandoned Paris, landed at Cape Francois, put himself at the head of two hundred of his friends, resolved to compel concessions. No rights but those of the mulattoes were in question. The response to his demands, was a force of six hundred men sent to punish him. These were routed. They were followed by an army of twelve hundred strong. Oge and his fellow-chief, Eaptiste Chavanne, were taken, led bare-headed in their shirts into the public square, with ropes around their necks, and then placed upon the wheel, where, with faces upturned, and their thighs, legs, and arms broken, they died a horrible and lingering death. This was never forgotten; it filled the hearts of the free colored population with undying hate. The consequences of the unwise, vacillating, inconsistent legis- lation of the National Assembly, were most ruinous. Nothing could exceed the consternation of the great planters ; they looked with dismay upon the elevation of the petits blancs ; and both were fired with deadly animosity against the mulattoes. "Amid all the varying animosity of party warfare," says Brown, in his history of St. Domingo, "on one subject the unanimity was perfect. This was the doggedness of Creole prejudice when the question was brought up to establish the political rights of the mulattoes. Up to this moment, despite all the influence of the home govern- ment, these people had been excluded from their rights. The Constituent Assembly at Paris, to obviate all doubt, and settle the question, decided. May 15th, 1791, that "all people of color resid- ing in the French Colonies, and born of free parents, were enti- tled to the same privileges as French citizens, and among others, to the right of voting at elections, and to seats in the Provincial and Colonial Assemblies. The violence of the colonists now over- leaped all bounds. The parties swore to resist force by force." All this time the free people of color were quiet, carefully ab- staining from violence, relying upon the energy and good faith of the home government. An influential member of their class wrote to a friend in Paris : " We have never been guilty of mur- dering any one, or of intending any one's death ; yet our own blood has been poured out like water. We could retaliate; but we refrain. The idea that the negroes might take advantage of such hostilities to desolate this beautiful country, is enough to make us renounce the thought." FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. Ill The slaves had hitherto been perfectly tranquil. The struggle had not touched their rights ; no claim was set up for them. But now the noise of the conflict about them attracted their attention. Their masters, too, apprehensive that their discussions about rights, and the general disorganization of society, might tempt them to revolt, doubled the patrols. This excited the amazement of the negroes. Is it wonderful that when society appeared to be in a state of dissolution, and civil war raged on every side, the slaves being sometimes armed by their masters in their bloody conflicts, that the bonds of so unnatural a system as slavery began to give way ? In 1796, a few insurrectionary movements took place in differ- ent sections, but were suppressed by measures of unheard of cru- elty. General Caradeux caused the heads of fifty slaves to be cut off on the Aubay plantation, and stuck on poles along the hedges, like palm-trees! What could be expected ? On the night of the 22d of August, 1791, the slaves in the northern provinces rose upon their masters, and in four days one-third of the province was a smoking heap of ruins. Then began " the horrors of St. Domin- go." From that time till order was re-established by Touissant, the Island was a hell in which all the furies seemed to be let loose. Every man's hand was against his brother — the poor whites, the European residents, the Creole planters, the mulattoes, now turned their weapons against each other, and then united for a time in beating back the black hordes which pressed upon them. These revolted, not because they were emancipated, but because they were enslaved; and their revolt was sustained and directed by French loyalists and the counsels of Spain. On the 16th of September, 1792, three French Commissioners arrived with authority to regulate the affairs of the province. They stationed themselves at different points ; Sauthonax at Cape Francois, Polverel at Port au Prince, and Ailhaude at Aux Cayes. The last soon abandoned his charge in despair, and returned home. A strife sprung up between Sauthonax and M. Galbaud, lately arrived from France with the appointment of Governor. The commission of Galbaud v^as soon revoked; but he deter- mined to hold on to his authority. A civil war was the result. The streets of Cape Francois were drenched in blood. Sautho- nax, hard pressed, and on the point of losing all, proclaimed liberty 112 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. to the slaves in the city, rallied them to his stand, and invited one of the insurgent hands to come to his aid, and then let them loose upon (Jalbaud and his sympathizers. Galbaud's forces were routed ; the city caught fire in the conflict ; the forces of Sautho- nax fell upon it and pillaged it, and the citizens who escaped with their lives, took refuge on board some ship in the harbor. Hun- dreds of millions' worth of property was destroyed and the loss of life was enormous; and to attribute this to the abolition of slavery, argues unpardonable ignorance or something worse. No decree of emancipation had yet been promulgated. Ac- counts were received of great preparations of England to make a descent upon the colony. As a last resort, Sauthonax, by a sol- emn act August 20, 1793, proclaimed the abolition of slavery throughout St. Domingo, and the admission of the blacks to the rights of citizenship. In the south and west, where the slaves had not generally revolted, the proclamation excited extreme alarm and indignation. A grand council of the Commissioners and planters was held at Port au Prince, and the latter were per- suaded to submit. "The negroes of the south were appeased by this graciousness of their masters, and returned to their labors on the neglected plantations. They began co plant provisions for their sustenance, to relieve the distresses of the famine which were beginning to press heavily upon them from the failure of importation from abroad." * There is not the record of a single insurrection caused by this act of emancipation. But though the liberated negroes were contented, the planters were sullen and exasperated against France. The planters agreed to aid the British in taking posses- sion of the island ; and the British agreed to enable them to re- duce their negroes to their former slavery again. The war against the blacks was now carried on with bloody atrocity; many of the mulattoes co-operating with the English and planters, to reduce them to bondage again. The Island seemed utterly God-forsaken, when TouissANT L'Overture putting himself at the head of the insurgent blacks, and th3 remnant of native troops, carries on the war against the English, until in 1793 they are compelled to evac- uate the Island. May 5, 1797, Touissant was declared general-in-chief of the *Brovvn's History. FACTS FOR THE PEOPX^E. 113 colony. His influence over the liberated blacks was omnipotent. All authorities concur in representing-, that civil feuds disappeared under his wise measures. The blacks went to work, order was restored, the whites enjoyed security, commerce began to flourish, and all the arts of peace were again taking root. The indepen- dence of the Island was thoroughly established under the name of "the Republic ofHAYTi." The next attempt to subjugate the island was made by Bona- parte. " Early in January, 1802, a French army of 20,000 men were landed at St. Domingo, under General Le Clerc, and various reinforcements afterwards followed." " The war was waged with atrocious cruelty on the part of the French ; and the blacks aided by the climate succeeded in destroying about forty thousand of their enemies in about eleven months ; and on the J9th of Novem- ber, 1802, the wrecks of the invading army surrendered to Dessa- lines, the black chief." * "In 1805, Dessalines was appointed governor for life, and soon after assumed the title of emperor. He was slain by a military conspiracy in 1806, and was succeeded by Christophe as Chief Magistrate for life; Petion, a mulatto, being a rival candidate, and defeated in a severe battle in 1807. In 1811, he assumed the title of King, and was massacred in a military conspiracy in 1820. But during the whole period from 1801 to 1818, Petion was President of the mulatto population, in the south and west part of the island. He died in 1818, greatly lamented, for he was a good and able ruler, and Avas succeeded by Boyer, who on the death of Christophe, in 1820, became President of the whole of the French part of the island. The Spanish part was ceded to France in 1794, but was held by the Spanish population till 1821, when they off*ered to join the republic of Columbia, but were rejected. They have remained independent ever since, though in number, proba- bly not exceeding 100,000. The Pre&idency of Boyer continued till his expulsion a few months ago." "Here, then, is a history of the colored population of Hayti for forty years. In that period, they have exhibited one civil war between the blacks and mulattoes ; two dethronements of mon- archs, and one expulsion of a President, and three changes of government ; two from republicanism to monarchy, and one from monarchy to republicanism. This looks like a formidable cata- logfue of discords. But how does it compare with the catalogue of France? During this period we have seen France pass from a republic under a directory, to a republic under a Consul for years ; then to a Consulship for life ; then to the rule of an * Jay's View. 114 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. Emperor; then to that of a Constitutional King; then to that of Emperor; then to that of another Constitutional King- strivinir to overthrow the constitution ; then to that of a 'Citizen King,' sur- rounded by republican institutions, and again to a republic. During the same period, France has exhibited the civil war of La Vendee, two dethronements of Kings, two of Emperors, two inva- sions of the * allies;' and Paris, ' which is France,' has exhibited the massacre of the 'sections,' and the ' tnemorable three day-s ;' and we may add to the catalogue not less than six constitutions. And though no King or Emperor has been assassinated in this period, the attempts to assassinate Napoleon were 'legion,' and those to kill the King have been more than we can count. Now if all the disorders of Hayti prove the incapacity of its people for self government, what story do those of France tell for French- men ? Especially when we reflect that many of the disorders of Hayti grew out of those of France. "Shall we go to Mexico and South America for comparisons in capacity for self-government? Let the innumerable contests among generals, and the horrible oppressions which they have inflicted upon the people answer the questions. Shall we go to Spain and Portugal ? In each, the revolutions have been like the changes of the season, and are siill in pros^ress, and we may chal- lenge the bloodiest details of Haytien history, for parallels to the atrocities of Spain. If Dessalines and Christcphe were cruelty- rants, as they were, what shall we say of such monsters as Miauel and Ferdinand VII. ? If the late anarchy of Hayti was deplorable, what is that of Spain? Well may those who deny the capacity of the Haytiens for self government, say that comparisons are ' odi- ous.' " But we are told that the Haytiens are rude and uncultivated barbarians, and therefore unfit to be acknowledged as the rightful governors of so fair a country. To this, it may be answered, that there is no surer index to the civilization of any nation, than its laws and institutions. By a brief reference to the provisions of the constitution of Hayti, we shall see at a glance that such charges are the vilest slander. That instrument is prefaced by the following preamble : " The people of Hayti proclaim, in the presence of the Supreme Being, the present Constitution, that they may consecrate forever, its rights, its civil and political guaranties, and its national inde- pendence." " Every citizen, over twenty-one years of age, exercises politi- cal rights." " Haytiens are equal in the eye of the law, and are equally ad- missible to all civil and military employments, and there is no distinction of orders." " The right of property is inviolable," FACTS 'FOR THE PEOPLE 115 **The freedom of speech and of the press are recognized. Ani. all forms of religion are equally tolerated.'' " Schools are established, a^d the mode of teaching untram- melled.'^ " Th'C trial by jury is established in all criminal matters." " The riglit of the people, peaceably to assemble and discuss political subjects, also the right of petition, recognized." The privileges and authority of the National Assembly, are the same as the American Congress, Their form of government is essentially like our own. Such are some of the provisions of the fundamental law of the Republic of Hayti. Now compare them with tiie laws of more than half the States of this Union, which convert nearly one-half of their entire population into goods and chattels; and which ex- pose them for sale at public auction like horses and swine in the market ; and then say who are the greatest barbarians, the Ilay- tiens or the Americans ? As an additional evidence of the civilization of Hayti, we insert the following from Brooks' Universal Gazdteer — Art. — St. Lh^ mingo : — " A college has been founded and liberally endowed at Cape Haytien, in which provision is made for instruction in all the lan- guages, arts, and sciences, usually taught in European establish* ments of the like kind ; public schools have been established in most of the principal towns of the west part of the Island; and be the future destiny of St. Domingo what it may, she is at present one of the most interesting subjects for contemplation in the world ; an age has hardly passed away since the bulk of the in- iiabitanis were held in the most abject and degraded state of bondajje; since when, they have successfully resisted the arms of two of the most powerful nations of their time, and now remain pursuing a silent hist steady course towards givinsf a new and ad- ditionally important character to the social relations of the civil- ized world." To show that the civilization of Hayti is not going backwards, we insert the following from the N'atlonal Intelligencer of July 24, 1847 : " The Journal of (/ommerce has files of papers from Port au Prince to the 8th instant. The Legislature was busily engaged in carrying out the meas- ures of the administration, judiciously conceived for the promotion of the public prosperity. Having established the conveyance of mails on certain of the great public routes, the government were 116 TACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. taking- measures to respond to the demands of the people for the extension of this public convenience, and had already adopted an efficient system for the repair and maintenance of the roads. Great encouragement is offered to the multiplication of the chan- nels of industry and the increase of production, and a temporary premium of three cents per pound has been accorded to the ex- portation of sugar. The papers congratulate the people that the appropriation of the public funds has been devolved upon the Chambers by the admin- istration, for the first time in the history of the Republic. After having passed through anarchy the most complete, the omnipotence of a dictatorship, and the vain semblance of constitutional power, we are now (says the Manifeste) in the full enjoyment of a Repre- sentative Government. MM. the Senators B. Ardouin and Delva embarked at Jacmel in the steamer of the 10th ulUmo. They are bearers of the con- vention, signed by the French and Haytien Plenipotentiaries, for the payment of the indemnity due to France, to be submitted for ratification to the King of the French. M. Ardouin will remain in France, as the representative of Hayti, with the title of Minister Resident near the French Gov- ernment. M. Eugene S. Villevaleix goes out as his Secretary of Legation." " For those who question the industry of the Haytiens, we sub- join the following tables, showing the exports from the Island of late years. No belter proof can be given of the general industry of a people, than the amount of their productions; and the records of the custom-house is one of the readiest evidences of this ; though of course but an approach to a just estimate. It enables us, however, to compare one nation with another." It will be re- membered that the population of the Island is estimated at 800,000 or 900,000. Not much greater than that of the State of Massa- chusetts. From Essays on Colonies, S,'c., by Judge Jerimie. EXPORTS IN 1832, FROM HAYTI. Coffee, 50,000,000 lbs., valued at $4,400,000 Cotton, 1,500,000 " Tobacco, 500,000 " Cocoa, 500,000 " Dye-Wood, 5,000,000 " Tortoise Shell, 12,000 " Mahogany, 6,000,000 feet. Hides, 80,000 lbs. FACTS FOR THE FEOFLE. 117 From the American Almanac Emp(>rts to the U.S. from Hnyti. Exi)orfs fioin U.S. to Hayli. Average annual Average cinniial imports for tliir-jexports lor tliir- teen years, endino teen years, eiidin^jt France In 1833, exported to llayti $i701,729. ' Same Average annHal!\ear, her imports exports from 1830 "from llayti, Exiiorts from Eii»lan(i to Ha)ti. IS.*; >, >f^ 1,759,- 'm.mn ted to §905,- |432.* 184!, liiil, 702, 106., 1S4 1, !pl, 225,700. 216. This shows a balance of trade against the United States, and in favor ofll'iyti, of $476,401) per annum. Also a balance of more than $200,000 against Frai^ce, and in favor of llayti. The aver- age anjouRt of income to the government for seven years, ending in 1825, was $2,687,358 ; and the average expenditure for the same time was $2,526,741, showing an average annual excess of income over the expenditures of $j 60,617. "A government, we need hardly remark, niisst be efficient, which for a series of years exhibits an almost uninterriipted excess of income over expenditure — the revenue being entirely created by trade." So much for the indolence and poverty of the Haytiens. Their annual exports, accQrdiRg to pop'iLition, are about equal to those of the United States. And i3o\v let us inquire what has been the conduct of the United States towards this heroic republic, which had thus man- fully and successftilly struggled for iis independence. They have ever refused to acknowledge their independence, or to enter into any civil or diplonmtic relations with them whatever. This nation professes to glory in the doctrine that " all men are created equal, and have an inalienable right to liherty," and it should not only have been first and foreraGst, to acknowledge the independence of the Haytiens, but the first generously to step for- ward and aid them in obtaining it. Instead of this, v/hat do we see.' Instigated by the erni^sariee of Bonaparte, who was exas- perated at the loss of his army, and his inability to subjugate the Island, as well as their own hatred of the colored race. Congress passed an act on the 28th of February, 1806, " to suspend the com- mercial intercourse between the United States and certain parts of the Island of St. Domingo." f The law provided that any vessel trading from ar.y part oi tim * Light and Truth, p. 395. f Laws of lite U. S^^ vol. 1, p. 4. 118 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. United States to any of the prohibited parts of St. Domingo, to- gether with the cargo of such vessel, should be forfeited, &c. This act was never repealed, but expired by its own limitation. One of the subjects of consideration at the Congress of Panama, which has already been mentioned, was the recognition of the in- dependence of Hayti. We here give some extracts from speeches in Congress, while the subject of the Panama mission was under discussion there. Mr. Berrien of Georgia : — " Consistently with our own safe- ty, can the people of the ^ouih pennit the intercourse which would result from the establishing relations of any sort with Ilayti ? Is the emancipated slave to be admitted into their ports, to spread the doctrines of insurrection, and to strengthen and invigorate them, by exhibiting in his own person an example of successful revolt ? " Mr. Benton of Missouri: — ''The peace of eleven States of this Union will not permit the fruits of a successful negro insur- rection to be seen among them ; — it will not permit the fact to be seen and told, that they are to find friends among the white people of the United States." Mr. Hamilton of South Carolina: — " It is proper that on this occasion I should speak with candor and without reserve ; that 1 should avow what 1 believe to be the sentiments of the Southern people on this question, and this is, that Haytien independence is not to be tolerated in anyformP Mr. Hayne of South Carolina — "With niHhing connected ■with slavery can we consent to treat with other nations ; and least of all ought we to touch the question of the independence of Hayti, in conjunction with the revolutionary governments whoso own history affords an example scarcely less fatal to our repose. These governments have proclaimed principles of liberty and equality ; and have marched to victory under the banner of uni- versal emancipation. You find men of color at t!ie head of their armies, in the legislative halls, and in the executive departments. Our policy with regard to Hayti is plain. We never can ack- nowledge her independence. Let our government direct all our Ministers in South America and Mexico, to protest against the independence of Hayti." Mr. Johnson of Louisiana : — "It may be proper to express to the South American States, the unalterable opinion entertained here in regard to intercourse with them. The unadvised recogni- tion of that Island, (Hayti,) and the public reception of their Min- isters, will nearly sever our diplomatic intercourse, and bring about a separation and alienation injurious to both. I deem it of the highest concern to the political connection of these countries. FACTS FOR THE TEOPLE. 119 to remonstrate against a measure so justly offensive to us, and to make that remonstrance effectual.* Twelve years after, on the 17th of December, 1838, a petition was presented to Congress, praying for the establishment of the usual international relations with Hayti. As soon as the objects of the petition were known, a storm was raised on the question of its reception; and no less than thirty-two members voted against it. A few extracts from the speeches on that occasion, will show- that time had nothing abated the bitterness of feeling on the part of the white skinned " democracy," towards their Haytien neigh- bors. The Chairman of the Committee of Foreign Relations, to which the memorial was finally referred, said, "that similar petitions had been sent there the last session, which had never been reported on. This would take a similar course ; it would never be heard of again.^^ Mr. Legare of South Carolina: — "As sure as you live, sir, if this cause is permitted to go on, the sun of this Union will go down — it will go down in BLOOD — and go down to rise no more. I will vote unhesitatingly against nefarious designs like these. They are treason ; yes sir, I pronounce the authors of such things traitors ; traitors not to their country only, but to the ivhole human race^ This refined gentleman either meant to except the Hayfiens, or to say that they were no part of the human race, Mr. Wise of Virginia: — " We are called upon to recognize the insurrectionists who rose on their French masters. A large number of those now in power in this black republic, are slaves who cut their master's throats. And will any gentleman tell me now, that slaves, aided by an English army, ought to be recog- nized by this government ? Never will I — never will my constit- uents be forced into this. This is the only body of men who have emancipated themselves by butchering their masters. They have long been free, T admit; yet if they had been free for centuries, — if time himself should confront me, and shake his hoary locks at my opposition, I should say to him, I owe more to my constituents, to the quiet of my people, than I owe, or can owe to mouldy pre- scriptions, however ancient." This Virginian for once has been wise above what is written. The " English army " of which he speaks went to St. Domingo, not for the purpose of aiding the slaves in obtaining their freedom, * Cong. Debates, vol. 2. 120 FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE, but to assist the masters in reducing them to slavery, after they had been emancipated ; with wl)at success has already been shown. He seeins also to have forgotten, that Washington, and Hancock, and Warren, and Jefferson, and Franklin, and Henry, and probably his own father — if not a tory — had but a little ■while before, risen on their English " masters," and " cut their throats;" and obtained their freedom by "butchering" them, in the same way the Haytiens had done. But then, these latter bear a different complexion from the former, which makes the difference. "In 1842, the imports from Hayti into the United States ex- ceeded in value the imports from Prussia, Sweden and Norway, Denmark and the Danish West Indies, Ireland and Scotland, Hol- land, Belgium, Dutch West Indies, British West Indies, Spain, Portugal and all Italv, Turkey, and the Levant, or any one of the South American republics."* Although this government has been willing to hunt down fugi- tive slaves, to the remotest corners of the continent, and even across the ocean, it affords no protection to this commerce. " Our trade with Flayti is embarrassed ; it is subjected to se- vere discriminating duties. We are probably the least favored of any people in the ports of that Republic. Tonnage duties and vexatious port charges, discourage and oppress our commerce there. The acknowledged cause of all the embarrassments to that trade, is found in the fact that our government refuses to acknowledge the government of Hayti. While all other powers have acknowledged them as an independent sovereignty, we stand aloof as if they were a lawless tribe of savages. We have no rep- resentative at the Island of any grade ; nor have they a public officer accredited here. No commercial relation, therefore, exists between the two governments."! And Northern men are willing thus to sacrifice their immense trade with Hayii, rather than incur the displeasure of the slave power, by pressing up Congress to acknowledge its independence. Such have been some of the schemes and machinations of the slaveocracy of this nation to extend and perpetuate that system of untold horrors. But the cunning shall yet be taken in iheir own craliiness. For a returning sense of justice, a clearer perception of the great truth of man's brotheihood, the onward progress of the swelling tide of freedom, shall yet sweep the accursed system of slavery from the face of the earth. * Jay's View. t Speech of Mr. Grennell, H. R. Dec. 18, 1838. I 8 Trice, 20 Cents. HISTORY THE MEXICAN WAR, , PACTS m\{ THE PEOPLE, ^ SHOWING TIIK RELATION OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT TOi SLAVERY COMril.KI.* FROM OFFICIAL AND AUTHENTIC DOCUMENTS. BY LORING MOODY. ^ICONl) EIHTION, WITH ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS. BOSTON: BELA MARSH, 25 CORNHILL. 1848. m. ]¥ TESTIMONIALS. \ . s Facts for the People. — -Mr. Loring jVloody, of Boston, bass I handed ns a paniphle!, being a coinpilatioa from llie works ol> ^ Wm. Ja,y, J. R. Gitlciings, and others, with valuable additions by^ 'I Mr. Moody, on the relation of the U. S. Government to Slavery, j \ It embraces the History of the Mexican VVar, its origin and ob-5 I ject.>=. It is a very valuable siore-house of facts, compiled almost^ J entirely from the U. S. Laws, and Public Documents. We^ \ know of no work equal to it for general circulation. Price, 20$ \ cents. We urged upon Mr. Moody the importance of having the > >. work on sale at the Book Stores of this city, and we trust an ^ I arrangement will be made to bring that work into the reach of^ i our fellow citizens. It traces the slave action of the government^ ? from 1790, and brings it to our own year, 1847. — BangorX \ Gazette, Jan. 29, 1847. \ Facts for the People, showing the relations of the U. S. Government to Slavery, embracing a history of the Mexican War, its origin and object. Compiiett' from official and other authentic documents. By Loring Moody. \ We trust and hope that the work will be purchased exlensiyely^ \ for several reascns. 1st. It is a compilation of facts upon impor-^ \ tant subjects. 2d. It is sold at a low price, and whether- the? > reader can agree with Mr. Moody or not, in respect to his infer- ^ \ ences, the facts are worth the time and the price of the book, — > ^ to be used by citizens of all parties, — each in his own way. — \ ^ Evening Gazette. ^ \ Facts on Slavery, — By Loring Moody, published and for sale \ \ at the office of the Liberator, 21 Cornhill. Mr. Moody has made^ I up a small 18mo. volurrxC, of 142 pages of facts, -'showing the? \ relations of the United Stales Government -to Slavery;" includ-| I ing a " history of the Mexican War," to the capture of Vera^ > Cruz. He has drawn freely for his facts, upon Jay's View of? > Slavery, (liddings' Rights of the Free States, Lundy's War in-^ Texas, &c. It is a useful compilation of facts. — Einoncipator.\ '^'\ • «5