The Idea Will Become Familiar Disunion in the Era of Mass Party Politics
The Idea Will Become Familiar Disunion in the Era of Mass Party Politics
This chapter describes how the issue of Texas annexation became a centerpiece of the antislavery petition campaign. The Republic of Texas had declared independence from Mexico in 1836; Texans overwhelmingly favored annexation to the United States. Abolitionists vehemently opposed the addition of Texas to the roster of states, and for good reason—the Lone Star Republic was a bastion of slavery. Texans had won their independence from Mexico with the help of militia companies raised in New Orleans, Mobile, Natchez, and other Southern locales. Newspapers such as the New Orleans Picayune had fostered sympathy for independence and spurred recruitment by casting Texans as “embattled, expatriated” Americans. Most important, Texans had earned the reputation as defenders of slavery; they had vehemently protested efforts by successive Mexican administrations to restrict and gradually dismantle the institution, winning concessions such as an 1828 decree that allowed Texans to register their slaves as “indentured servants.”
Keywords: Texas annexation, antislavery petition campaign, Republic of Texas, abolitionists, Lone Star Republic, bastion of slavery
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