Annexation of Texas
FOR OR AGAINST
For!
The question of Texas annexation had been around since the days of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. At that time, Thomas Jefferson himself had asserted that the true southern limit of Louisiana was the Rio Grande, and many Americans agreed. Naturally, the Spanish objected to this interpretation. In 1819, the United States and Spain signed the Adams-Onís Treaty, in which Spain relinquished Florida to the U.S. in exchange for the U.S. giving up claim to Texas.
With the Texas Revolution, the question arose again. After San Jacinto, Texas formally proposed annexation to the United States, and many Texans expected it to follow within a matter of months. Sam Houston was a protégé and close friend of President Andrew Jackson, who was known to favor the annexation to secure and expand the western border of the United States. Business interests in the United States also wanted to move in and develop Texas commercially.
Against!
The annexation of Texas was strongly opposed by many people in the United States because its laws allowed slavery, and the admission was of so large a State as Texas to join the Union would be a great addition to the future power of the slave-holding States. Its annexation was also opposed by many of the Whigs, who feared a war
with Mexico, for Mexico had never given up its hopes of reconquering Texas.