USA > Texas > The history of the republic of Texas, from the discovery of the country to the present time; and the cause of her separation from the republic of Mexico > Part 21
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We never heard a client of Jack Ketch's at the Old Bailey complain of his operation because it was executed, as Mr. Kennedy would say, in the mildest form. To give some illustration of this slavery " in its mildest form." A female slave in New Orleans attracted my attention and excited my deepest sympathy by one of the most barbarous ex- hibitions of which the mildest form of slavery consists. I observed her carrying the child of a planter, after its mother, with an iron collar round her neck, not having
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the mildest form of protection even enjoyed by an English bull dog, that of having the spike outside to prevent a larger dog injuring him; but this un- fortunate slave had the points of the collar inversed, so that every motion of her neck when she dared to contemplate the visage of this little urchin-whose sire was no doubt an advocate of Mr. Kennedy's slavery in its mildest form-caused the sanguinary vesicular of this painful instrument to draw blood from the young slave, who once hung upon the breast of a mother as fond, nay, I will say without comparison, fonder, than this tigress mother of the little urchin she was then carrying. If this be Mr. Kennedy's mildest form, may Heaven preserve us from his voracious one! but from any form of Mr. K.'s, I repeat the same prayer.
But to return to the " figment" of which he com- plains. I feel proud, as an Englishman, to have it in my power here to record the Address of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, presented by a benevolent and high-minded Englishman, Mr. Jo- seph Sturge, to the President of the United States.
ADDRESS TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
" SIR,-As the head of a great confederacy of states justly valuing their free constitution and political organization, and tenacious of their rights and their character, the Committee of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, through their esteemed coadjutor and representative, Joseph Sturge, would respectfully approach you, in behalf of millions of their fellow-men held in bondage in the United States. Those millions are not only denied
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the political immunities enjoyed by the citizens of your great re- public generally, and the equal privileges and the impartial protec- tion of the civil law, but they are deprived of their personal rights : so that they cease to be regarded and treated, under your other- wise noble institutions, as MEN (except in the commission of crime, when the utmost rigour of your penal statutes is invoked 'and enforced against them), and are reduced to the degraded con- dition of 'chattels-personal' in ' the hands of their owners and possessors, to all intents, constructions, and purposes whatsoever.'
" This is the language and the law of slavery; and upon this law, guarded with jealousy by their political institutions, the slaveholders of the south rest their claim to property in man. But, Sir, there are claims anterior to all human laws and superior to all political institutions; claims which are immutable in their nature-claims which are the birthright of every human being, of every clime and of every colour-claims which God has con- ferred, and which man cannot destroy without sacrilege, or in- fringe without sin. Personal liberty is amongst these the greatest and the best, for it is the root of all other rights, the conservative principle of human associations, the spring of public virtues, and essential to national strength and greatness.
"The monstrous and wicked assumption of power by man over his fellow-man which slavery implies, is alike abhorrent to the moral sense of mankind, to the immutable principles of jus- tice, to the righteous laws of God, and to the benevolent prin- ciples of the gospel. It is, therefore, indignantly repudiated by the fundamental laws of all truly enlightened and civilized com- m.unities ; and by none more emphatically than by that over which, Sir, it is your honour to preside.
" The great doctrine that 'God hath created all men equal, and endowed them with certain inalienable rights, and that amongst these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,' is affirmed in your Declaration of Independence, and embodied in the theory of your constitutional laws. But there is a stain upon your glory. Slavery, in its most abject and revolting form, ww !! tes your soil : the wailings of slaves mingle with your songs
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, of liberty, and the clank of their chains is heard in horrid discord with the chorus of your triumph.
" The records of your States are not less distinguished by their wise provisions for securing the order, and maintaining the insti- tutions of your country, than by their ingenious devices for rivet- ing the chains and perpetuating the degradation of your coloured brethren. Their education is branded as a crime against the state ; their freedom is dreaded as a blasting pestilence ; the bare suggestion of their emancipation is proscribed as treason to the cause of American independence.
" These things are uttered in sorrow; for the Committee deeply deplore the flagrant inconsistency so glaringly displayed, between the lofty principles embodied in the great charter of your liberties, and the evil practices which have been permitted to grow up under it, to mar its beauty and impair its strength.
" But it is not on these grounds alone, or chiefly, that they deplore the existence of slavery in the United States. Manifold as are the evils which flow from it, dehumanizing as are its ten- dencies, fearful as its re-action confessedly is on its supporters, the reproach of its existence does not terminate in the institution which gave it birth. The sublime principles and benign spirit of Christianity are dishonoured by it. In the light of divine truth it stands revealed in all its hideous deformity, a CRIME AGAINST Gon, a daring usurpation of the prerogative and authority of the Most High. It is as a violation of his righteous laws, an outrage on his glorious attributes, and a renunciation of the claims of his blessed gospel, that they especially deplore the continuance and support it receives among you; and, in the spirit of Christian love and fraternal solicitude, they would counsel its immediate and complete overthrow as a solemn and imperative duty, the performance of which no sordid reasons should be permitted to retard, and no political considerations to prevent. Slavery is a sin against God, and ought therefore to be abolished.
" The utter extinction of slavery, and its sister abomination the internal slave-trade -- second only in horror and extent in the United States to the African, and in some of its features even
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more revolting-can be argued by the philanthropists of this country only on the abstract principles of moral and religious duty ; and to those principles the people of your great republic are pledged on the side of freedom, beyond every nation of the world.
" The negro, by nature our equal, made, like ourselves, in the image of his Creator, gifted with the same intelligence, impelled by the same passions, and redeemed by the same Saviour, is re- duced by cupidity and oppression below the level of the brute, spoiled of his humanity, plundered of his rights, and often hurried to a premature grave, the miserable victim of avarice and heedless tyranny ! Men have presumptuously dared to wrest from their fellows the most precious of their rights -- to intercept, as far as they may, the bounty and grace of the Almighty-to close the door to their intellectual progress-to shut every avenue to their moral and religious improvement -- to stand between them and their Maker! It is against this crime the Committee protest, as men and as Christians ; and they earnestly and respectfully call upon you, Sir, to use the high powers with which you are invested to bring it to a peaceful and speedy close.
" May you, in closing your public career, and in the latest hours of your existence on earth, be consoled with the reflection that you have not despised the afflictions of the afflicted ; but that, faithful to the trusts of your high stewardship, you have been ' just, ruling in the fear of God'-that you have executed judgment for the oppressed, and have aided in the deliverance of your country from its greatest crime, and its chief reproach !
Signed on behalf of the Committee, " London, March 8th, 1811. " THOMAS CLARKSON."
Such sentiments and appeals may be resisted for a while, but they cannot be hushed into obli- vion, deserving as they do the attention of the present age, and to be handed down to posterity as an heir-loom. While the recital of the inhuman
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horrors of the slave-trade as set forth in the follow- ing extract, will fill the hearts of generations yet unborn with emotions of dismay and dis- gust, which no pen can describe ; I could almost persuade myself that even now I hear those who advocate it, say, " Methinks it is good to be an abo- litionist."
"CAPTURE OF A SLAVER.
(Extract from the Log of her Majesty's Schooner Fawn.)
LAT. 23 30 : LONG. 40 WEST. LIEUT. COMMR. J. FOOTE, H. M. SCHR. FAWN.
" On the 19th of February, 1841, Cacupos, on the Coast of Brazil, about eighteen miles, observed a large brig standing in for the land ; altered our course so as to cut her off, if possible, on approaching. She appeared not to have the least idea of our being a man-of-war-allowed her to close within range of our long 32 pounder-fired a gun over her, and another as quick as possible a-head-she then up with her helm, attempted to run, but appeared in great confusion. We continued to throw the shot over, a-head and astern of her, without intention of striking, as we were positive of slaves being on board ; after a short time she was increasing her distance ; Lieutenant Foote then deter- mined to put a shot into the hull, but with great regret, on account of the unfortunate beings on board. Shots were thrown close under her stern twice-a third was about to be fired, when we observed her round to. In about twenty minutes we came up. and boarded her. The slaves were all below, with the hatches on : on turning them up, a scene presented itself, enough to sicken the heart even of a Portuguese. The living, the dying, and the dead, huddled together in one mass. Some unfortunates in the most disgusting state of small-pox, in the confluent state, covered from head to foot ; some distressingly ill with ophthalmia, a few perfectly blind, others, living skeletons, with difficulty
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crawled from below, unable to bear the weight of their miserable bodies. Mothers with young infants hanging at their breasts, unable to give them a drop of nourishment. How they had brought them thus far appeared astonishing ; all were perfectly naked. Their limbs much excoriated from lying on the hard plank for so long a period. On going below the stench was insupportable. How beings could breathe such an atmosphere and live, appeared incredible. Several were under the loose planks, which was called the deck, dying ; one dead. We pro- ceeded to Rio Janeiro with the prize. On the passage we lost thirteen ; in harbour, twelve from small-pox and debility ; a number also died on board the recovery ship Crescent. After clearing the hold and fumigating the brig, it was determined by Mr. Ouseley, the British minister, to send the brig, with a part of her cargo, for adjudication to the nearest colony, under the command of Mr. G. Johnstone, mate of the Fawn. We sailed on the 19th March, with 180, well provided with medicines, and directions in what manner to use them. Tapioca and lime juice were also provided ; notwithstanding all the care that a small crew could bestow on them, we unfortunately lost twenty, chiefly from scurvy and general debility. This unfortunate brig left Bahia forte, on the coast of Benguela, with 510 negroes ! and eighteen days after, on her capture, she had but 375 ! ! "
Such are the outrages against which the aboli- tionists of England are contending; and that the high-minded Americans in the north are deter- mined to relieve their country of the accursed traffic in human blood, will be seen from the fol- lowing paragraphs.
" NATIONAL NOMINATING CONVENTION.
"A NEW body under this title met at New York, on the 12th of May. It consisted of 141 delegates, from eleven states ; and
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it was their object to consider and act upon the propriety of then nominating presidential candidates for the election of 1844. After ballots which were decided by very large majorities, it was re- solved unanimously,
" That James G. Birney, of New York, as candidate for the Presidency, and Thomas Morris, of Ohio, as candidate for the office of Vice-Presidency, be unanimously and cordially sup- ported at the election of 1844, and recommended to the support and confidence of the people of the United States as the worthy representatives of the just principle of liberty, and deserving the highest honours that can be bestowed by a people wishing to be free."
The following resolutions also were adopted :---
"That the friends of liberty throughout the nation be requested to nominate and to vote for Township, County, and all other officers, favourable to the immediate abolition of slavery.
" That duty, patriotism, and humanity, call upon all Ameri- cans to unite heartily and fully in the effort to remove all op- pressive laws, and to establish equal rights and the impartial administration of justice throughout this land.
" That the thanks of the liberty party, and of the people of the United States, are due to Joshua Leavitt, for his memorial, accompanied with appropriate statistical tables, to the 22nd con- gress, praying the adoption of measures to secure an equitable and adequate market for American wheat.
" That this Convention recommend to our friends throughout the country to send in their memorials to the congress now about to assemble; to abolish slavery in the district of Columbia, and the inter-state slave-trade.
" That the President of the United States be respectfully re- quested to liberate his slaves, and that the presentation of this request be referred to the discretion of Alvan Stewart, Samuel Webb, and Benjamin Shaw.
" The Convention then adopted a plan of organization for the Liberty Party (for so the new party is to be called), and resolved to meet again in two years."
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But why should such trifling demonstrations alarm our poor slavery historians ? The cause is simply this :- If slavery in the states is abolished, then the planters of the south will invest their capital in legi- timate commerce, and, becoming thus a commercial community, they will find it to their interest to pre- serve the present tariff, in order to force a portion of the black population to become manufacturers, and in that case the great anti-tariff revolution that was to be brought about in Mexico and the United States, through the medium of the free trade views of the Swampites of Texas, would, together with the pro-slavery writers' anti-tariff arguments, all fall to the ground. However, there is another point involved in the question of the abolition of slavery in the United States, which the Texans may very reasonably view with great alarm.
It will presently be proved, with the assistance of the writings of the Texan advocates, that persons of northern habits cannot labour in the cultivation of the soil of Texas, owing to its unpropitious cli- mate; therefore none but negro labour can, by any possibility, be employed to develope the resources of the country, her staples being cotton, sugar, rice, coffee, indigo, and tobacco, all of which require the constant attention of the labourer in the open field, at those seasons when the sun is most ardent ; con- sequently, the abolition of slavery by the United States would at once blast the bright and fondest hopes of the young republic; for, to introduce
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slaves from any other country except the United States and French colonies, is piracy, and punish- able by death, while a law, passed by the Texan congress in 1835, prevents " the importation and immigration of free negroes and mulattos into Texas." And the Texans have also passed an act to compel all free persons of colour, and free negroes, settled in Texas, to quit the republic ; therefore it will be seen that Texas cannot hope (owing to her own infamy and inconsistency, that of expelling free men from her republican soil,) to see ber resources developed by free negro labour, and, unless Texas can main- tain her position as a slave-holding republic against the combined moral force of Mexico, England, and the northern states of the American union, she must not trust to slave labour.
That Mr. Kennedy did not take this view of the subject, founded on facts, is somewhat surprising, and to be lamented. However, it is to be hoped that he is fully " impressed with the delicacy of his task, coming forward, as he does, quite as much in the character of a panegyrist as of an historian ;" and, in order to test Mr. Kennedy's pretensions to accuracy in both these capacities, I have placed the laws of " the benighted Mexicans" in juxta-position with those of his beloved, enlightened, free, gene- rous, and noble Anglo-Texan race, who tread " the bowers of a second Eden-fair, indeed, serenely fair, as a Madonna's aspect-those gardens of the desert."
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" Those boundless unshorn fields, where lingers yet The beauty of the earth, ere man had sinned- The Prairies."
These are but an humble specimen of Mr. Ken- nedy's poetical embellishments. But, in conclusion, I beg to refer the reader to the Appendix for the laws of Mexico and Texas, as regards the " accursed system of slavery." This I deem the only way of refuting, indisputably, the extravagant assertions of Messrs. Kennedy, Hamilton, and Ikin, as also " the board established" at Exeter Hall " on anti-slavery principles."
CHAPTER VIII.
Territorial History-Political, Conventional, and Natural Boun- daries -Climate of Texas-Mrs. Holley's and Mr. Kennedy's Climate of Texas-Geology of Texas-Mountains-Rivers- General Statistics-Hints to Emigrants, &c.
THE territorial history of Texas has already been discussed in detached parts. However, it forms such an important item in the geography of a coun- try, that it will be necessary here to recapitulate those points that have been alluded to in the pre- ceding pages.
The political boundary of Texas Proper, under the old Spanish regime, embraced an area of about 88,000 square miles, as defined on the map, while the remainder, which will be described as forming the territory of Texas Proper under the Mexican republican regime, formed a part of the province of Coahuila. Soon after the establishment of the independence of Mexico, many alterations were proposed as regard her territorial divisions, but it was not until the federal republican constitution
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was established that these alterations were made. At this period it was deemed prudent to equalize the elective franchise of the states that were to form the Mexican federation as nearly as possible, and therefore a portion of those states which possessed a greater population was transferred or annexed to those less populous, and thus the territory lying north of the boundary of Texas Proper, under the Spanish regime, to the Red River, and in a line almost due north from the source of the river Nueces to the junction of the 100th parallel of longitude, with the 34th of north latitude, was taken from the province of Coahuila, and annexed to the province of Texas, marked on the map as Texas Proper under the Mexican republican regime
On the 11th of March, 1827, the constituent congress of Coahuila and Texas divided the terri- tory of the state, in accordance with the republican constitutional act, into three departments, namely, Bexar, Monclova, and Saltillo, and Texas was also divided into the three following : Bexar (in Texas,) the Brazos, and Nacogdoches. The boundaries of these departments were marked on a map, and subsequently defined without any degree of local accuracy. The three departments of Texas were subdivided into grants or colonies under the En- presario System ; but the condition on which the grants were made, never having been fulfilled, except by Stephen Austin, one of the grantees, the
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colonies or grants have been erased from the map, and therefore no longer belong to this portion of my work. Texas can be said to have no natural boun- dary-unless we deny to Mexico the right of sove- reignty over the soil of that portion of her territory -except the Nueces river, and the Guadaloupe mountains, which might reasonably be laid down as her natural boundary, both on the west and south. But by an act of the Texan congress, dated December 19th, 1836, we find the Rio Grande politically defined as the natural boundary on the south and west of the republic of Texas, at the same time that the conventional boundary between Mexico and the United States is duly recognized, and claimed as the boundary of the republic of Texas on the cast and north, as fol- lows : "Be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives of the republic of Texas in congress assembled, That from and after the passing of this act, the civil and political jurisdiction of this re- public be, and is hereby declared to extend to the following boundaries; to wit : Beginning at the mouth of the Sabine river, and running west along the Gulf of Mexico, three leagues from land, to the mouth of the Rio Grande, thence up the principal stream of said river to its source, thence due north to the forty-second degree of north latitude, thence along the boundary line, as defined in the treaty between the United States and Spain, to the begin-
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ning ; and that the president be, and is hereby authorized and required to open a negotiation with the government of the United States of America, so soon as in his opinion the public interest requires it, to ascertain and define the boundary line as agreed upon in the said treaty."
By thus extending the western boundary of Texas to the Rio Grande, the Texans claim those parts of the Mexican states of Tamaulepas, Coahuila, Chi- huahua, and New Mexico, that lie to the east of the Rio Grande, in addition to Texas Proper under the Mexican republican regime, making in all a territo- rial domain of about 300,000 square miles. The northern and eastern boundary of Texas is laid down in the same act, in accordance with Onis's treaty of 1819, which was confirmed by a treaty of limits be- tween the republic of Mexico and the United States in 1828; but subsequent to this date a convention was agreed upon for the purpose of surveying and settling the boundary line, but as the survey had not been made previous to the declaration of the inde- pendence of Texas, the United States refused to recognize the boundary of Texas, according to the treaty of 1819, until the stipulation of her conven- tion with Mexico should be completed; therefore the Texan congress finally passed an act in 1839, to provide funds to carry the object of the original convention into execution, and in April, IS10, the commissioners appointed by Texas and the United States, commenced their arduous duties.
The conventional boundary between Mexico and
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the United States, as defined in Onis's treaty, is as follows :-
" The boundary line between the two countries west of the Mississippi, shall commence from the Gulf of Mexico, at the place where the river Sabine empties itself into the sea ; and it shall continue northward by the west bank of this river, until it reaches the thirty-second degree of latitude, from which point it shall continue in a straight line due north, until it strikes the red river of Natchitoches, and then it shall proceed eastward up the course of that river as far as the 100th degree of longitude west from London, and twenty-three degrees from Washington, at which point it shall cross that river, and continue by a straight line due north on the same degree of longitude to the river Arkansas, the south bank of which it shall follow up to its source in the forty-second degree of north latitude, and from this point a straight line shall be drawn following the same parallel of latitude to the Pacific Ocean. All according to the map of the United States, published in Philadelphia, by Mellish, and perfected in ISIS. But should it be found that the source of the Arkansas river is either to the north or the south of the said forty-two degrees of lati- tude, the line shall continue from the source of that river due north or due south, as the case may be, until it reaches the said forty-two degrees of lati- tude, and then shall follow that parallel to the Pacific Ocean."
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