Part 40 (1/2)

[Sidenote: The ”Bear Republic,” 1846.]

[Sidenote: California seized by American soldiers.]

336. Seizure of California.--California was the name given to the Mexican possessions on the Pacific coast north of Mexico itself. There were now many American settlers there, especially at Monterey. Hearing of the outbreak of the Mexican War, they Set up a republic of their own.

Their flag had a figure of a grizzly bear painted on it, and hence their republic is often spoken of as the Bear Republic. Commodore Stockton with a small fleet was on the Pacific coast. He and John C. Fremont a.s.sisted the Bear Republicans until soldiers under Colonel Kearney reached them from the United States by way of Santa Fe.

[Ill.u.s.tration: JOHN C. FReMONT.]

[Sidenote: Mexican cessions, 1848.]

[Sidenote: The Gadsden Purchase, 1853. _McMaster_, 334.]

337. Treaty of Peace, 1848.--The direct cause of the Mexican War was Mexico's unwillingness to give up Texas without a struggle. But the Mexicans had treated many Americans very unjustly and owed them large sums of money. A treaty of peace was made in 1848. Mexico agreed to abandon her claims to Texas, California, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado. The United States agreed to withdraw its armies from Mexico, to pay Mexico fifteen million dollars, and to pay the claims of American citizens on Mexico. These claims proved to amount to three and one-half million dollars, In the end, therefore, the United States paid eighteen and one-half million dollars for this enormous and exceedingly valuable addition to its territory. When the time came to run the boundary line, the American and Mexican commissioners could not agree. So the United States paid ten million dollars more and received an additional strip of land between the Rio Grande and the Colorado rivers. This gave the United States its present southern boundary. This agreement was made in 1853 by James Gadsden for the United States, and the land bought is usually called the Gadsden Purchase.

[Sidenote: Oregon.]

[Sidenote: Joint occupation by United States and Great Britain.]

338. The Oregon Question.--It was not only in the Southwest that boundaries were disputed; in the Northwest also there was a long controversy which was settled while Polk was President. Oregon was the name given to the whole region, between Spanish and Mexican California and the Russian Alaska. The United States and Great Britain each claimed to have the best right to Oregon. As they could not agree as to their claims, they decided to occupy the region jointly. As time went on American settlers and missionaries began to go over the mountains to Oregon. In 1847 seven thousand Americans were living in the Northwest.

[Sidenote: ”All Oregon or none.”]

[Sidenote: Division of Oregon, 1846.]

339. The Oregon Treaty, 1846.--The matter was now taken up in earnest. ”All Oregon or none,” ”Fifty-four forty or fight,” became popular cries. The United States gave notice of the ending of the joint occupation. The British government suggested that Oregon should be divided between the two nations. In 1818 he boundary between the United States and British North America had been fixed as the forty-ninth parallel from the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains. It was now proposed to continue this line to the Pacific. The British government, however, insisted that the western end of the line should follow the channel between Vancouver's Island and the mainland so as to make that island entirely British. The Mexican War was now coming on. It would hardly do to have two wars at one time. So the United States gave way and a treaty was signed in 1846. Instead of ”all Oregon,” the United States received about one-half. But it was a splendid region and included not merely the present state of Oregon, but all the territory west of the Rocky Mountains between the forty-second and the forty-ninth parallels of lat.i.tude.

CHAPTER 33

THE COMPROMISE OF 1850

[Sidenote: Should Oregon and Mexican cessions be free soil?]

[Sidenote: The Wilmot Proviso. _McMaster_, 324.]

340. The Wilmot Proviso, 1846.--What should be done with Oregon and with the immense territory received from Mexico? Should it be free soil or should it be slave soil? To understand the history of the dispute which arose out of this question we must go back a bit and study the Wilmot Proviso. Even before the Mexican War was fairly begun, this question came before Congress. Every one admitted that Texas must be a slave state. Most people were agreed that Oregon would be free soil. For it was too far north for negroes to thrive. But what should be done with California and with New Mexico? David Wilmot of Pennsylvania thought that they should be free soil. He was a member of the House of Representatives. In 1846 he moved to add to a bill giving the President money to purchase land from Mexico a proviso that none of the territory to be acquired at the national expense should be open to slavery. This proviso was finally defeated. But the matter was one on which people held very strong opinions, and the question became the most important issue in the election of 1848.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ZACHARY TAYLOR.]

[Sidenote: Candidates for the presidency, 1848.]

[Sidenote: ”Squatter sovereignty.”]

[Sidenote: Free Soil party. _McMaster_, 334-335.]

[Sidenote: Taylor and Fillmore elected.]

341. Taylor elected President, 1848.--Three candidates contested the election of 1848. First there was Lewis Ca.s.s of Michigan, the Democratic candidate. He was in favor of ”squatter sovereignty,” that is, allowing the people of each territory to have slavery or not as they chose. The Whig candidate was General Taylor, the victor of Buena Vista.

The Whigs put forth no statement of principles. The third candidate was Martin Van Buren, already once President. Although a Democrat, he did not favor the extension of slavery. He was nominated by Democrats who did not believe in ”squatter sovereignty,” and by a new party which called itself the Free Soil party. The abolitionists or Liberty party also nominated a candidate, but he withdrew in favor of Van Buren. The Whigs had nominated Millard Fillmore of New York for Vice-President. He attracted to the Whig ticket a good many votes in New York. Van Buren also drew a good many votes from the Democrats. In this way New York was carried for Taylor and Fillmore. This decided the election, and the Whig candidates were chosen.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE SITE OF SAN FRANCISCO IN 1847. From an original drawing.]