tJs^vw^- <7 University of California Berkeley PRICE THREE CENTS A Tract for the Day. H0 TO CONQUER TEXAS, BEFORE TEXAS CONQUERS US. B00ton : REDDING & CO. 8 STATE ST, March 17, 1845, orfi nol - M/JT Ha i *. no! T8 FREEDOM IN TEXAS. WHAT shall we do ? The Senate has passed the annexation resolu- tions. The House has assented to the compromise amendment, which compromises nothing but the integrity and honor of two Senators. Mr. Tyler has signed the resolves. Massachusetts and New England have resolved, in this emergency, not to withdraw from the Union. They have resolved rightly. They have preferred still to do in the Union, what measure of good they might, although the instrument of union is thus rudely attacked and wounded. Massachusetts, or again let us say New England, desires to do what of good may still be done, not- withstanding this reckless action of a partizan Con- gress. The scene of action, however, is now removed. New England can no longer hope to effect any thing by the eloquence of her statesmen in Congress. Texas itself is the proper scene for her future ef- 4 forts. Good men and true have now to labor in and on Texas, to avert the dangers of annexation. Those dangers were manifold. They included I. The injury inflicted by the measure on the Federal Constitution. / II. The weakness of the Federal Government, more dangerous as the extent of territory of the Union increases. III. The continuation, through an undefined time, of slavery, in a region adapted to it as Texas is by its position. IV. The destruction of the balance of power be- tween free and slave States, and Atlantic and west- ern States.* V. The introduction into the Union of an un- principled population of adventurers, with all the privileges of a State of naturalized citizens. VI. The creation of an enormous State, in time to become the real Empire State of the country. Texas, with three hundred and ten thousand square miles of territory, is admitted as one State, into the Union. If she remain such, she will prove the Aus- tria of the confederacy, to overrule all opposition. t Of these evils, the two first are now past remedy. They were inflicted, and inflicted for ever, when Mr. Tyler set his name to the Joint Resolutions. The other evils, however, all suppose a condition which it is still in the power of northern men to overthrow. o) * See Appendix A. t See Appendix B. 5 They suppose, that is, that the population of Tex- as, with the rapid increase which it shall gain when united to this Confederacy, is to be a slave-holding population ; a population of the same views and principles with that which first colonized the coun- try, and which now holds it. In the ordinary course of emigration, this supposi- tion would prove true. Must it prove true, how- ever ? May not northern men, northern capital- ists, northern emigrants, northern fathers and moth- ers, northern teachers and pupils, change this con- dition ? May not the north pour down its hordes upon these fertile valleys, and bear civilization, and Christianity and freedom into their recesses ? North- ern energy has peopled and civilized southern coun- tries heretofore may it not again ? We ask to the questions the attention of all con- siderate men, who view the admission to the Union, of Texas, as Texas now is, as an evil. We may not, we ought not to leave Texas as it is. We ought, by acting in Texas, by our emigrants in Texas, by our moral influence in Texas, by our votes in Texas, to continue there the contest of freedom, in the first skirmish of which we have been defeated. We ought thus to prevent the four last evils which have been named. We ought to hasten the end of slave- ry in South Eastern Texas, and make Northern and Western Texas free. We ought to restore the bal- ance of power between the free and slave States. We ought to place in Texas a population of high principle, if we can ; and we ought to attain such influence in Texan councils, that Texas shall be from time to time subdivided, as need may be. Such a subdivision will never take place, if all Texas is to hold slaves, unless the federal Union pay roundly for it. Why should it ? Why should Texas subdivide herself, if she be a State of homogeneous interest, and if by remaining whole she can control the Union? There can be no question that Texas, particularly the upper country of Texas, is naturally one of the finest agricultural countries in the world. " The country," says Iken, " is naturally divided into three separate regions, which in many respects differ from each other. The first, a level region, ex- tends along the coast, with a breadth inland varying from one hundred miles where greatest, in the cen- tre, to seventy and thirty miles ; being most contract- ed towards the south-west extremity. The soil of this region is a rich alluvium, with scarcely a stone, yet singularly free from stagnant swamps. Broad woodlands fringe the banks of the rivers, be- tween which are extensive pasture lands. The se- cond division, the largest of the three, is the undu- lating or rolling prairie region, which extends for one hundred and fifty or two hundred miles farther in- land, its wide grassy tracts alternating with others that are thickly timbered. These last are especially prevalent in the east, though the bottoms and river- valleys throughout the whole region are well wood- ed. Limestone and sandstone form the common substrata of this region ; the upper soil consists of a rich friable loam, mixed indeed with sand, but seldom to such an extent as to prevent the culture of the most exhausting products. The third, or mountainous region, situated principally on the west or southwest, forms part of the great Sierra Madre, or Mexican Alps, but little explored, and still unset- tled." Of the midland district, the English traveller, Mrs. Houston, speaks, from the observations of those who had seen it, in these words : " To the lowlands, which are certainly not healthy, but wonderfully rich and productive, suc- ceed the beautifully undulating Rolling Prairies. Nothing can surpass this portion of Texas in natural attractions ; its ever verdant prairies resemble our most beautiful parks ; magnificent clumps of timber are scattered over its surface, and its valleys are watered by quick-running streams." It will be remembered that in the whole of this Republic there are not now, at the largest computa- tion, more than three hundred thousand persons. Its population is about that of the State of New Hampshire. The most thickly settled portion of the district is the lowland. Most easily cultivated, most fit for that barbarous rudeness of labor, which alone is possible in a slave country, this district, if we are rightly informed, has filled up most rapidly. To freemen, however, the midland district offers equal or superior advantages. The climate is better ; the cooler air and consequent vigor and health, give an advantage which the slight ease of tillage gained on the sea coast does not counterbalance. It is already an extensive grazing country, and it would seem that the agricultural product can scarcely be named, 8 which may not be raised there. Maize, rye, barley, and oats ; peaches, melons, figs, and in the warmer sections olives, dates, pine-apples, oranges and le- mons; the sugar-cane, tobacco, and short stapled cotton, are all mentioned among successful crops in this midland region. It is not wild nor Utopian to hope that, by a sys- tematic and united effort, free emigration, and free labor, and free institutions, may attain a predomi- nance in this territory. As we have said, it is as yet thinly settled. The inland parts of Texas, and more especially those directly west of Louisiana, and south and west of our Indian territory,* do not now contain an individual to the square mile. In those parts, if northern settlers will turn thither, if northern capitalists will assist them, if northern as- sociations will unite them, if Christian principles will rule them, in those parts may be planted free- dom in Texas. Those parts of the country may one day be its wealthiest, its strongest, and its most populous parts. Those parts may at no distant day supply by their looms and their workshops, the man- ufactures which their slave-holding neighbors need. Those free States shall hem in, shall discountenance, shall work the end of 1 the domestic institution. Their institutions of learning, their schools and col- leges, and libraries, shall enlighten Texas. And it is not impossible that this result may come soon. It is not extravagant to hope for it. * The territory to which the Indians have been removed by the U. S. government, comprises the districts west of Arkansas and Missouri. It has been ceded to the re moved tribes for ever. There does not need any spasmodic exertion, any self-sacrifice, any crusading spirit, to effect it. The means are already at work which may compass it, if principle, and morals, and religion can direct them. Those means are found in the immense emigration now in progress, from free States. The only labor necessary to those who would free Texas, or a part of Texas, is in turning a comparatively small part of this emigration thither. Some farther pains will be needed, that such settlers shall not forget their north- ern feelings beneath a southern sun ; that they shall retain the love of labor and the hatred of slavery, which they feel sincerely when they leave their homes. A calculation, based on the censuses of 1830 and 1840,* gives us a view of the emigration from free States during that period, which we may fairly take for the basis of calculation for the present time. That emigration has doubtless increased with the increase of the population of the country. The westward emigration of that period was at the ave- rage rate of two per cent, of the population of the old free States at its commencement. If that ave- rage were precisely correct at the present time, the westward emigration of the present year, 1845, would be 129,261 individuals. The emigration of ten years, between 1840 and 1850, from the old free States, to the new free States and territories, will probably prove to be about 1,300,000 persons. That of the ten years between 1830 and 1840 was something more than 1,000,000 persons. Now, cannot Northern Texas, south of the ridicu- * Sec Appendix C. 10 lous " compromise line, 3 '* be included among these free States and territories ? It is what Wisconsin was five years since* Cannot some part of this em- igration of northern free men and women be led thither ? If only a tenth part took that course, there would be in 1855 a population of 150,000 free men in those districts. There would not be a half or a quarter of that number of slaveholders. Place free and slave labor together, on fair ground, with no prejudice to favor the one or the other, and as sure as God's word is true, as sure as truth is stronger than falsehood, as sure as hope is stronger than fear, as sure as the soul, and the heart, and the mind, have more power than passions or terrors, in inducing men to labor, so surely will free labor obtain a hold in any country, and drive out the forced labor of slaves. Though the space allowed in this pamphlet scarce- ly permits allusion to any but the political and moral inducements to such a turn of emigration, it offers a full display of temptations to the settler, even had he not such views as these. So he be assured that the new States to be made in Northern Texas shall be free States, that his children and his children's children shall grow up in a truly free land, he will find in Texas a thousand advantages which neither Michigan, nor Wisconsin, nor Iowa, nor Illinois can offer. The climate is milder, the variety of timber is greater, and it is more generally dispersed ; the soil is as good as any in the world. The published accounts of the midlands of Texas, from which we * See Appendix D. 11 have already quoted a few words, will show them to be as fine territory as the world affords. To bodies of settlers from the Eastern States, it would scarcely be more difficult to reach these dis- tricts than to remove themselves to Wisconsin or Iowa. Galveston, or New Orleans, give ready ac- cess to them ; New Orleans to the Red River lands, or Galveston to those in other parts of Texas. Freight and passage to either of these ports may at all times be readily obtained in any of the Atlantic seaports ; and once arrived at either, the remainder of a settler's journey is less arduous than would be the close of it, if he went wholly by land to a North Western State, Such being the ease of emigration, it does not seem absurd to hope that a part of the army of set- tlers who are leaving their homes this year, who will leave their homes for years to come, will march into the fertile prairies and woodlands of Texas. Is it too much to hope that they will carry with them the principles of their first homes ? Is it too much to ask them to live there, to die there, and to vote there, freemen ; and never to surrender them- selves in bondage to the most corrupting institution that the world knows ? Surely there is no reason to fear that if they are surrounded by a large enough number of persons of their own feelings and sympa- thies, they will fall back to the customs which now unfortunately rule the country where they are to settle ! Such an effort to introduce free labor and free institutions on the virgin soil of a new republic, 12 must command the sympathy of freemen and of Christians the world over. It must arouse to the full the zeal of those who are embarked in it. They would labor not only as adventurers in a new land, but as the pilgrims who were the pioneers there of a great principle. And through these means they would receive the blessing of that Providence which, though it employ human means, always smiles on such high principle, and guides it to success. The result of such an emigration as has been sup- posed, on the basis suggested, would be speedy and important. If one tenth of the settlers who will leave the old free States, within the ten next years, should settle in Texas, there would be a population in the midlands and uplands of Texas, at the end of that time, and probably before, of more than 200,000 people. A great majority of these would be attach- ed to free institutions. Here would be the materi- al for two new free States, who would have such a voice in the Texan legislature, as to compel their separation w r hen they should demand it, and who would be ready to join this Union as separate and independent States, before more than one slave State could be carved out of the remainder of Texas. On the ordinary calculation that five persons com- pose a family, the emigration from the old free States of 12,000 men, who would take with them their families, or collect them around them in Texas, would be a stock, with those whom they would find there, from which would spring at once a new State, to be independent of other Texan influence, and to be free in its institutions and manners. 13 Such an emigration is not extravagant or impos- sible. It is for young men and women who propose to go westward, to remember the cause of freedom and of their country, and travel southward rather than northward ; to turn to Texas and its mild cli- mate rather than Wisconsin and its more inclement air. Let them associate together, and they may have at once the strength and comfort of a village in their new home. It is for the organizations which have opposed the admission of Texas, to take measures for the same end, now that that admission is sure. A twentieth part of the petitioners against the annexation, may strip the annexation of its worst evils. It is for men of capital to look to the interest of the Union, and make such purchases of land in Texas that they may assist the poor settler who has no money to establish himself there ; but who has a true heart, and will have a true vote, when he arrives there. And if these will labor in the cause, God will watch the issue ; and the con- quest of Texas, by the peaceful weapons of truth, of freedom, of religion, and of right, will be sure. APPENDIX. (A.) See p. 4. We take from the Boston Advertiser the fol- lowing computations of the present and future balance of power between the States. It is the common habit of the people of this country, to look forward with complacency to the prospect of the future growth of the country in numbers, wealth and power; and therefore an increase of territory, especially if it be such a territory as is ca- pable of sustaining a thinking population, is conceived to be, as a matter of course, a desirable acquisition. There are many who are accustomed to make calculations of the rate of increase, by which the country will become, in the course of a few years, one of the most powerful nations, not merely of the Western conti- nent, but of the civilized world. The ratio of increase which has governed the growth of our population since the declaration of independence, will, according to these calculations, in the space of another fifty years, swell the population of the country to 80,000,000. Long before this period shall arrive, they argue that the seat of power, and the centre of population, will be transferred from the Atlantic States to the Western side of the mountains. ********** To give the proper extension to the vast empire of which this rich country is to become the seat, and to give it, as well as the territory of the United States, a more regular conformation, the annexation of Texas is necessary. By this annexation, also, the object is expedited and rendered more sure, of transferring the centre of population and influence to the banks of the Mississip- pi. With this addition, and without allowing any great prepon- derance to Oregon, the precise centre will be upon the father of waters, and in a very few years there will be no contest for the supremacy, between the East and the West. The only contest for the seat of empire will be between St. Louis and perhaps Memphis, or some other city to be erected upon the banks of the 15 Mississippi, instead of retaining it where the seat of government is now placed, upon the banks of the Potomac. **##**#### The present number of States being 26, the bills now reported in the House of Representatives, providing for the admission of Iowa and Florida, with a provision for a future subdivision of the latter into two States; and Wisconsin being now by its popula- tion entitled to admission whenever it shall request it, we have 30 States, independently of Texas. Should the proviso for the subdivision of Florida be rejected, [as it since has been,] the number of States will be 29 ; with the addition of six States from Texas the number will be 35, and with another from Flori- da, 36. The balance of States will then be as follows : INCLUDING TEXAS. Number of States. Square miles. Western States, 21 or 20 990,000 Atlantic States, 15 321,400 Slaveholding States, inc. Delaware, 21 or 20 883,400 Free States, 15 438,000 EXCLUSIVE OF TEXAS. Western States, 15 or 14 672,000 Atlantic States, 15 321,000 Slaveholding States, 15 or 14 565,400 Free States, 15 438,000 It will be observed, that the States bordering on the Gulf of Mexico are classed with the Western States, and that the West- ern Territories not yet entitled to admission as States, with Ore- gon, are not included in this computation. (B.) See p. 4. The injury which we have last mentioned is that most dwelt on by Mr. Benton, in his conclusive speech against Mr. Brown's resolution. That resolution admits Texas as one State. By the constitution of the United States, no State can be subdivided without the consent of its own authori- ties. The subdivision of Georgia from its original size was only obtained after long delay, by grants to that State of land, and of services in removing Indians, from the federal government, amounting, according to Mr. Benton, eventually, to more than $20,000,000. This became, then, he said in closing, a matter of calculation. If it required twenty years, and $20,000,000, to induce Georgia, without debt as she was, to give up territory for one State, how long and how much will it take to induce debt- ridden Texas, to cede territory for four or five States ? 16 (C.) See p. 9. In 1S30, the population of the United States was 12,866,020 In 1840, 17,068,666 Increase, 4,202,646 Of this increase, about 600,000, probably, was due to foreign emigration. The increase of population from other causes, then, was 3,602,646, or about 28 per cent, of the population in 1830. We take 28 per cent., therefore, as the ratio of natural increase of population, in ten years. In 1830 the population of the free Western States and Terri- tories was 1,470,018 In 1840 it was 2,967,840 The increase was, 1,497,822 Of this increase, the portion not resulting from emigration may be taken at 411,604 that being 28 per cent, of the population in 1830. The increase by emigration into those States, is then 1,086,218 This emigration was almost wholly from old free States, or through free States. The population of the old free States in 1830, was 5,536,779. The emigration westward in the next ten years was about 20 per cent, of that number. We take two per cent, of the population of the old States, therefore, as the propor- tion which shows the annual emigration from them. (D.) See p. 10. The resolution which admits Texas, provides that there shall be no slavery in that portion north of 36 30 7 , the Missouri compromise line. Mr. Adams and Mr. Brinkerhoff have both declared in Congress, that no pretension as to the ter- tory of Texas ever carried it within a hundred miles of that line. Mr. Adams says that he never knew that it was thought by any one to extend further north than 34. The government map carries a strip of it up to the line of 42. But whether this sec- tion be included eventually in Texas, or not, there is no question that it is a mountainous and desert region. The reasoning which we have attempted to press in this pamphlet relates only to territory farther south.