Map of Texas, containing the latest grants and discoveries, 1836 . 12 Map of the United States in 1826 Map of Roads, Canals, and Steamboat Routes in the United States 148 467 . . Map showing the distribution, east of the 100th meridian, of the 536 HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES. CHAPTER XL. TEXAS, OREGON, AND THE SLAVE-TRADE. MARCH fourth, 1821, the day whereon, according to law, Monroe should a second time have taken the oath of office, fell on a Sunday. Never in our history had such an event happened on such a day, and, considering the peculiar character which the Christian world has given to the first day of the week, Monroe was uncertain what to do. Regard for the Sabbath prompted him to put off the oath till the morrow. Regard for his duty prompted him to take it the moment his first term expired. In the end his religious feelings triumphed, and he was sworn into office at noon on March fifth, thereby establishing a precedent which has twice been followed since his death. The first important act of his second term was the appointment of Andrew Jackson to the Governorship of Florida. After two years of delay, due to the state of affairs in Spain, the Florida treaty of 1819 had at last been ratified by Ferdinand and reratified by the Senate of the United States on Washington's birthday, 1821. Time did not serve to organize the new territory; hence, beyond spreading over it the revenue laws and the law against the slave-trade, and authorizing the President to invest the powers of the existing Government in a proper person, no legislation had been attempted when the session closed. Whoever was sent as Governor would be invested, therefore, with all the immense powers of the old Captain-General of Cuba and the old Governors of Spanish Florida, save that he could neither levy taxes. nor grant land. For this post a man of the utmost prudence was needed. But it pleased Monroe to select Jackson, because, in his opinion, some amends were due for the attack made upon the general in the House of Representatives two years before; because the victory at New Orleans had given him a popularity such as was not enjoyed by any other American then living; and because, by a recent act of Congress, he was about to be turned out of the military service of the United States. The law provided that after June first, 1821, there should be but one major-general, and, as Jackson was the youngest in commission, he must go. That the nation might be spared the odium of discarding the most distinguished soldier then in her service, Monroe at once appointed him Governor of Florida, and commissioner to receive the territory from the Spaniards. He promptly accepted the office, and, while James Grant Forbes was despatched in the sloop of war Hornet to carry the order of the King of Spain to the CaptainGeneral of Cuba for the delivery of the province, and bring back the necessary orders for the surrender of Florida, its forts, and its archives to the American commissioner, Jackson travelled slowly southward to Pensacola. At that city, in July, amid the tears and sobs of the people, the province was formally delivered to the Americans. Had the weeping Spaniards at Pensacola looked over the world on that memorable July day, they could have found no spot on earth so blessed as the United States, no people so prosperous and happy as those with whom their lot was cast. Abroad, near by, around them on every hand, were nations struggling desperately for a little of that kind of liberty of which henceforth it was to be their privilege to enjoy so much. With all the details of the revolutions and counterrevolutions of Mexico and Colombia, Guatemala, Chili, Buenos Ayres, Naples, Greece, Portugal, and Spain we are most happily not concerned. Yet the story of them must be told with some fulness if we are to understand two memorable events of Monroe's second administration-the announcement 1808-18. REVOLUTIONS IN MEXICO. 3 of the doctrine that bears his name, and the early settlement of Texas. The uprising of the Spaniards against Joseph Bonaparte, in June, 1808, had been followed by a struggle between the new King and the revolutionary juntas that sprang up in every Spanish city and struggled for control of the American colonies. Chief among these dependencies of the Crown was Mexico. There the natives of Spain and the Mexicans in office, influenced by the emissaries of Bonaparte, would gladly have obeyed the order of the Council of the Indies and declared for King Joseph. The Viceroy Iturigaroy and the Mexican people, led by the agents of the junta of Seville, were for adhering to Ferdinand Seventh; but, when agents of other juntas appeared and claimed to govern the country, the people in their distraction appealed to the viceroy to establish a revolutionary government for Mexico. As he was about to comply, the Spaniards holding office under the Crown seized and committed him to the prison of the Inquisition. When the junta of Seville heard of this, it approved the act, and appointed the Archbishop of Mexico viceroy. He was soon removed, however, and the government intrusted to the Court of Audience, which held it when the victories of Napoleon in Spain scattered the junta of Saville for the time being. It reassembled, however, at Cadiz, and sent out Don José Venegas as viceroy. The dispersion of the junta had been the signal for a revolt of the native Mexicans under the lead of Don Miguel Hidalgo, a curate of Dolores, in the province of Guanaxuato. Half-breeds and creoles, Indians and mestizos, even royal troops, hurried to his standard, and, with an army growing as it marched, he set off for and took the city of Guanaxuato. The revolt now became general, and Hidalgo, after providing abundance of munitions with the money found in the city treasury, started for Mexico. His troops were many and enthusiastic; his supplies were plentiful; all opposition melted away as he approached, and there seemed to be nothing to stop his triumphant progress. But, though the viceroy had few troops, he had a weapon which to the ignorant and superstitious rabble that followed Hidalgo was far more terrible VOL. V. powers of the old Captain-General of Cuba and the old Governors of Spanish Florida, save that he could neither levy taxes nor grant land. For this post a man of the utmost prudence was needed. But it pleased Monroe to select Jackson, because, in his opinion, some amends were due for the attack made upon the general in the House of Representatives two years before; because the victory at New Orleans had given. him a popularity such as was not enjoyed by any other American then living; and because, by a recent act of Congress, he was about to be turned out of the military service of the United States. The law provided that after June first, 1821, there should be but one major-general, and, as Jackson was the youngest in commission, he must go. That the nation might be spared the odium of discarding the most distinguished soldier then in her service, Monroe at once appointed him Governor of Florida, and commissioner to receive the territory from the Spaniards. He promptly accepted the office, and, while James Grant Forbes was despatched in the sloop of war Hornet to carry the order of the King of Spain to the CaptainGeneral of Cuba for the delivery of the province, and bring back the necessary orders for the surrender of Florida, its forts, and its archives to the American commissioner, Jackson travelled slowly southward to Pensacola. At that city, in July, amid the tears and sobs of the people, the province was formally delivered to the Americans. Had the weeping Spaniards at Pensacola looked over the world on that memorable July day, they could have found no spot on earth so blessed as the United States, no people so prosperous and happy as those with whom their lot was cast. Abroad, near by, around them on every hand, were nations struggling desperately for a little of that kind of liberty of which henceforth it was to be their privilege to enjoy so much. With all the details of the revolutions and counterrevolutions of Mexico and Colombia, Guatemala, Chili, Buenos Ayres, Naples, Greece, Portugal, and Spain we are most happily not concerned. Yet the story of them must be told with some fulness if we are to understand two memorable events of Monroe's second administration-the announcement |