In the Shadow of Freedom: The Politics of Slavery in the National Capital

Debating Slavery by Proxy

125 David฀Zarefsky Debating Slavery by Proxy The Texas Annexation Controversy For almost twenty-five years, from the Missouri controversy until the mid-1840s,฀slavery฀was฀kept฀off฀the฀agenda฀for฀mainstream฀public฀ debate. The two major political parties had both northern and southern wings,฀with฀no฀wish฀to฀antagonize฀either.฀In฀Congress,฀the฀Missouri฀debates฀ made people aware of the volatile nature of the issue. Only two new states, one฀slave฀and฀one฀free,฀were฀brought฀into฀the฀Union.฀President฀Andrew฀ Jackson฀stifled฀his฀desire฀to฀aid฀the฀Republic฀of฀Texas,฀delaying฀even฀diplomatic ฀recognition฀until฀his฀last฀day฀in฀office.฀Neither฀he฀nor฀his฀successor,฀ Martin฀van฀Buren,฀responded฀favorably฀to฀overtures฀from฀the฀Texans฀seeking ฀annexation฀to฀the฀United฀States.฀The฀House฀of฀Representatives฀went฀so฀ far฀as฀to฀adopt฀a฀“gag฀rule,”฀refusing฀to฀receive฀petitions฀advocating฀abolition , not because most of its members supported slavery but because they recognized฀how฀dangerous฀the฀public฀airing฀of฀the฀issue฀could฀be. ฀ This฀state฀of฀affairs฀abruptly฀changed฀in฀the฀spring฀of฀1844, when the administration฀of฀John฀Tyler,฀prompted฀by฀motives฀ranging฀from฀exaggerated fears of a British abolitionist conspiracy to the precarious political position of President Tyler, sent to the Senate a treaty by which Texas should join the Union.1 ฀Texas฀had฀been฀a฀Mexican฀province,฀settled฀largely฀by฀U.S.฀ nationals attracted to the fertile soil of east Texas. Many were slaveholders who฀largely฀ignored฀Mexican฀law฀when฀it฀abolished฀slavery.฀Threats฀of฀ stepped-up฀enforcement฀were฀among฀the฀factors฀spurring฀the฀successful฀Texas฀ 1 Senate Executive Journal, 28th฀Cong.,฀1st฀sess.,฀Apr.฀22, 1844, pp. 257–61. 126 David Zarefsky revolt฀that฀resulted฀in฀the฀independent,฀slaveholding฀republic.฀But฀the฀new฀ nation฀fell฀upon฀hard฀times.฀That,฀together฀with฀Mexico’s฀threat฀to฀try฀to฀ recapture฀its฀renegade฀province,฀led฀the฀Texans฀to฀seek฀annexation.฀The฀ Tyler administration took seriously the rumors that, if that prospect failed, Texas฀would฀seek฀a฀deal฀with฀Britain,฀agreeing฀to฀abolish฀slavery฀in฀return฀ for฀commercial฀and฀financial฀advantage. ฀ Tyler’s฀message฀requesting฀ratification฀subordinated฀the฀slavery฀question,฀ perhaps deliberately. The president stressed national benefits to annexation and฀then฀explained฀how฀each฀section฀would฀gain.฀The฀North฀would฀gain฀ markets฀for฀manufactured฀goods;฀the฀West,฀for฀animals฀and฀raw฀materials.฀ For the South there would be peace of mind from the removal of a threat to its peace and tranquility on its southwestern border. In context, this meant that฀the฀South฀need฀not฀worry฀that฀fugitive฀slaves฀might฀seek฀a฀haven฀in฀a฀ free Texas. But that oblique line was the only reference to slavery in the message .฀Tyler฀then฀maintained฀that฀these฀national฀and฀sectional฀benefits,฀though฀ real,฀were฀insignificant฀when฀compared฀to฀the฀urgency฀of฀protecting฀the฀nation ฀against฀a฀possible฀British฀threat.2 ฀ Unfortunately,฀Tyler’s฀secretary฀of฀state฀was฀not฀so฀circumspect.฀John฀C.฀ Calhoun฀had฀been฀named฀to฀the฀post฀after฀the฀accidental฀death฀of฀Abel฀P.฀ Upshur. Both were committed annexationists and obsessively proslavery, but Calhoun฀was฀less฀under฀Tyler’s฀control.฀He฀completed฀the฀negotiations฀with฀ the Texans. He also answered a letter his predecessor had received from British฀foreign฀minister฀Richard฀Pakenham,฀denying฀rumors฀of ฀possible฀ British฀intervention฀in฀Texas฀but฀expressing฀the฀wish฀that฀Texas฀and฀all฀the฀ world฀might฀abolish฀slavery฀and฀announcing฀that฀Her฀Majesty’s฀government฀ was฀“constantly฀exerting฀itself ”฀to฀bring฀about฀this฀result.฀The฀reference฀to฀ constant฀exertions฀probably฀was฀a฀rhetorical฀flourish฀suggesting฀sincerity฀of฀ commitment,฀but฀Calhoun฀took฀it฀as฀a฀literal฀statement฀of฀Britain’s฀intention . He lectured his counterpart about the benefits of slavery and announced that this British threat forced the United States to annex Texas as an act of self-defense฀of฀our฀right฀to฀form฀our฀own฀domestic฀institutions฀in฀our฀own฀ way. Not only did Calhoun write the letter and send it to Pakenham, but he also฀included฀it฀among฀the฀documents฀sent฀to฀Congress฀along฀with฀the฀treaty.฀ 2 Ibid. Debating Slavery by Proxy 127 Some฀northerners฀seized฀upon฀the฀letter฀as฀confirmation฀that฀there฀was฀a฀ southern฀plot฀to฀annex฀Texas฀in฀order฀to฀spread฀slavery,฀an฀allegation฀previously ฀having฀been฀made฀by฀“fanatics”฀such฀as฀Benjamin฀Lundy฀and฀former฀ president฀John฀Quincy฀Adams.3 So the Senate had a choice. It could either debate the treaty while downplaying ฀the฀slavery฀issue,฀as...