hension and delivery shall be borne and defrayed by the party who makes the requisition, and receives the fugitive.

ARTICLE XI.

The eighth article of this treaty shall be in force for five years from the date of the exchange of the ratifications, and afterwards until one or the other party shall signify a wish to terminate it. The tenth article shall continue in force until one or the other of the parties shall signify its wish to terminate it, and no longer.

IN 1821 the United States of Mexico, until then a part of the Spanish possessions in America, became independent. The provinces of Coahuila and Texas were united as a State, and in 1827 formed a constitution. In 1835 the State declared its independence of Mexico, and in 1836 proclaimed itself the Republic of Texas. The independence of Texas was acknowledged in 1837 by the United States, Great Britain, France, and Belgium, but not by Mexico; and in 1838 a treaty for marking the boundary between Texas and the United States was concluded at Washington. As early as 1821 attempts had been made by Americans from the southern States to gain a foothold in Texas; but propositions by the United States in 1827 and 1829 to purchase Texas were not accepted, and in 1830 "orders were issued to prevent any further emigration from the United States." From 1843 onward annexation became a prominent question, advocated chiefly in the South. In 1844, however, both Van Buren and Clay, respectively the leading Democratic and Whig candidates for the presidency, declared against it, and a treaty for annexation, concluded April 12, 1844, was rejected by the Senate. The election of Polk was regarded as a victory for the annexation policy. December 12, 1844, Ingersoll of Pennsylvania, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, reported a joint resolution for annexation, which passed the House Jan. 25, by a vote of 120 to 98. February 4, in the Senate, Archer of Virginia, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, to which had been referred the resolution of the House, together with several similar propositions originating in the Senate, made a report recommending the rejection of the House resolution. The resolution was, however, taken

Signed: "Danl. Webster, Ashburton." - Ed.

up by the Senate Feb. 13, and considered daily until the 27th, when it passed, in an amended form, without a division, the vote on the third reading being 27 to 25. On the 28th, by a vote of 134 to 77, the House concurred in the Senate amendments, and March 1 the resolution was approved. The terms proposed were agreed to by the Congress of Texas June 18, and by a convention at Austin July 4. A State constitution was ratified Oct. 13, by popular vote, and by joint resolution of Dec. 29 Texas was admitted as a State. The area acquired by the annexation was 371,063 square miles.

REFERENCES. Text in U. S. Stat. at Large, V., 797, 798. For the proceedings of Congress, see the House and Senate Journals, 28th Cong., 2d Sess.; for the debates, see the Cong. Globe, or Benton's Abridgment, XV. For the diplomatic correspondence, etc., see Senate Doc. 1, 13 and 30, 28th Cong., 2d Sess., and Senate Doc. 1, 29th Cong., 1st Sess. Archer's report is Senate Doc. 79, 28th Cong., 2d Sess.

Joint Resolution for annexing Texas to the United States.

Resolved. That Congress doth consent that the territory properly included within, and rightfully belonging to the Republic of Texas, may be erected into a new State, 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 States of this Union.

2. And be it further resolved, That the foregoing consent of Congress is given upon the following conditions, and with the following guarantees, to wit: First, Said State to be formed, subject to the adjustment by this government of all questions of boundary that may arise with other governments; and the constitution thereof, with the proper evidence of its adoption by the people of said Republic of Texas, shall be transmitted to the President of the United States, to be laid before Congress for its final action, on or before the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and forty-six. Second, Said State, when admitted into the Union, after ceding to the United States, all public edifices, fortifications, barracks, ports and harbors, navy and navy-yards, docks, magazines, arms, armaments, and all other property and means pertaining to the public defence belonging to said Republic of Texas, shall retain all the public funds, debts, taxes, and dues of every kind, which may belong to or be due and owing said republic; and shall also retain all the vacant and unappropriated lands lying within its limits, to

be applied to the payment of the debts and liabilities of said Republic of Texas, and the residue of said lands, after discharging said debts and liabilities, to be disposed of as said State may direct; but in no event are said debts and liabilities to become a charge upon the Government of the United States. Third. New States, of convenient size, not exceeding four in number, in addition to said State of Texas, and having sufficient population, may hereafter, by the consent of said State, be formed out of the territory thereof, which shall be entitled to admission under the provisions of the federal constitution. And such States as may be formed out of that portion of said territory lying south of thirtysix degrees thirty minutes north latitude, commonly known as the Missouri compromise line, shall be admitted into the Union with or without slavery, as the people of each State asking admission. may desire. And in such State or States as shall be formed out of said territory north of said Missouri compromise line, slavery, or involuntary servitude, (except for crime,) shall be prohibited.

3. And be it further resolved, That if the President of the United States shall in his judgment and discretion deem it most advisable, instead of proceeding to submit the foregoing resolution to the Republic of Texas, as an overture on the part of the United States for admission, to negotiate with that Republic; then,

Be it resolved, That a State, to be formed out of the present Republic of Texas, with suitable extent and boundaries, and with two representatives in Congress, until the next apportionment of representation, shall be admitted into the Union, by virtue of this act, on an equal footing with the existing States, as soon as the terms and conditions of such admission, and the cession of the remaining Texian territory to the United States shall be agreed upon by the Governments of Texas and the United States: And that the sum of one hundred thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby, appropriated to defray the expenses of missions and negotiations, to agree upon the terms of said admission and cession, either by treaty to be submitted to the Senate, or by articles to be submitted to the two houses of Congress, as the President may direct.

No. 98. Act for the Prosecution of the

Mexican War

May 13, 1846

A BILL authorizing the President to accept the services of volunteers in certain cases had been introduced in the House early in the session of 1845-46, but no further action in reference to it had been taken. On the receipt of Polk's war message of May 11 the bill was at once taken up, a new first section and preamble substituted, and, with further amendments and a changed title, the bill passed the same day, by a vote of 174 to 14. In the Senate, the following day, a motion to strike out the preamble was lost, 18 to 28, and the bill, with a slight amendment, was passed, the vote being 40 to 2. On the 13th the House concurred in the Senate amendment, the act was approved, and a proclamation by the President was issued.

REFERENCES. Text in U. S. Stat. at Large, IX., 9, 10. The brief proceedings and debates may be followed in the Journals and Cong. Globe, 29th Cong., 1st Sess., or Benton's Abridgment, XV. The political causes and aspects of the Mexican war, and its significance in connection with the slavery controversy, are discussed at length in general histories of the period and in biographies of contemporary public men. See also Webster's Works (ed. 1857), V., 253-261, 271-301; Calhoun's Works (ed. 1854), IV., 303-327, 396-424. An Act providing for the Prosecution of the existing War between the United States and the Republic of Mexico.

WHEREAS, by the act of the Republic of Mexico, a state of war exists between that Government and the United States:

Be it enacted. . ., That, for the purpose of enabling the government of the United States to prosecute said war to a speedy and successful termination, the President be, and he is hereby, authorized to employ the militia, naval, and military forces of the United States, and to call for and accept the services of any number of volunteers, not exceeding fifty thousand, who may offer their services, either as cavalry, artillery, infantry, or riflemen, to serve twelve months after they shall have arrived at the place of rendezvous, or to the end of the war, unless sooner discharged, according to the time for which they shall have been mustered into service; and that the sum of ten millions of dollars, out of any moneys in the treasury, or to come into the treasury, not otherwise appropriated, be, and the same is hereby, appropriated for the purpose of carrying the provisions of this act into effect.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized forthwith to complete all the public armed vessels now authorized by law, and to purchase or charter, arm, equip, and man, such merchant vessels and steam-boats as, upon examination, may be found fit, or easily converted into armed vessels fit for the public service, and in such number as he may deem necessary for the protection of the seaboard, lake coast, and the general defence of the country.

So much of the northern boundary of the United States as lay between the Lake of the Woods and the Rocky Mountains had been fixed by the Ashburton treaty of 1842; west of the mountains, however, the boundary was still undetermined. By virtue of the discovery of the Mississippi, France had claimed all the region west of that river as far as the Pacific; and this claim, of doubtful value at best, had passed to the United States upon the purchase of Louisiana in 1803. The region known as Oregon was also claimed by the United States, on the ground of Gray's discovery of the Columbia River in 1791. Oregon was also claimed by Great Britain; but by a convention of Oct. 20, 1818, the two countries agreed to a joint occupancy of the country for ten years, without prejudice to the rights of either party. By the treaty of 1819 between the United States and Spain, the latter accepted the 42d parallel as the northern limit of its possessions on the Pacific coast; while by treaties of 1824 with the United States, and of 1825 with Great Britain, the southern limit of the Russian possessions was fixed at 54° 40'. The "Oregon country," therefore, was the region between 42° and 54° 40′, and west of the Rocky Mountains. The convention of 1818 was continued indefinitely Aug. 6, 1827, but made terminable by either party after Oct. 20, 1828, on twelve months' notice. In the presidential campaign of 1844 the Democratic platform demanded "the re-occupation of Oregon, and the re-annexation of Texas, at the earliest practicable pericd," the intention being, of course, to use Oregon as a political offset to Texas. A bill to organize a territorial government for Oregon, with the line of 54° 40′ as the northern limit, passed the House Feb. 3, 1845, but the Senate refused to consider it because slavery was to be prohibited in the proposed territory. A joint resolution of April 27, 1846, authorized the President, at his discretion, to give the required notice of withdrawal from the agreement of 1827 with Great Britain. The matter in dispute was finally settled by the treaty of June 15, 1846, although, owing to