and to take steps to govern and defend that region. After a long debate congress did what he asked. At first England had thought that we would never appeal to arms; she now changed her opinion and made a treaty in which the forty-ninth degree was taken for the boundary. The men of the Northwest were displeased because we had not stood out for 54° 40', but the rest of the country felt it was well to close the dispute without war.

The Oregon treaty was not completed before we were at war with Mexico. Texas claimed that her southern boundary was the Rio Grande, and now that she was a state we felt War with obliged to defend her claim. Mexico disputed it, and Mexico when Polk ordered an army under General Taylor to the northern bank of the Rio Grande, a Mexican army crossed the river in April, 1846, and attacked him. Taylor defeated his opponent and carried on a brilliant campaign south

of the Rio Grande. He beat the Mexicans in several battles, the most important of which was at Buena Vista, where his army was far outnumbered.

It was soon evident that the war would go on many months if we continued to fight battles in northern Mexico. To force the enemy to make peace it was Mexico City necessary to strike captured at his capital. That is why Taylor was allowed to halt

Gen. Winfield Scott

where he was, while a great army under General Winfield Scott landed at Vera Cruz in March, 1847, and marched overland to Mexico City. Scott won several important battles before he entered the capital on September 14. Mexico was now at our

the treaty

mercy, and some Americans began to urge that we take it all. Polk put aside every such suggestion. He made a treaty in which the Rio Grande was recognized as the southern boundary of Texas Terms of and in which California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and parts of New Mexico and Colorado were ceded to the United States. For this region we agreed to pay $15,000,000. The most important result of the Mexican war was the acquisition of California. It came in the same year in which we got Our Pacific the Oregon boundary settled, and we thus found ourselves possessed of a great region facing on the Pacific Ocean. The expansion of the Southwest had grown into the conquest of a great empire. Four years were enough to add to our possessions Texas, California, and all the lands between them, and they had seen our title to Oregon become clear and certain. These are, perhaps, the most important events in Polk's presidency.

coast

In the beginning of 1846 California was a Mexican province, and most of the inhabitants were Indians. There were a few missions California in which the priests sought to teach Christianity to in 1846 the savages; and around these one might find some ranches. Every seaman on the coast knew that the bay of San Francisco, Vancouver Sound, and San Diego harbor were the only good harbors in a long stretch of the coast. It was to get possession of the first of these harbors that Polk had been most concerned in his plan to buy California. If we were to have Oregon, it was necessary to have good ports on the coast which should become the center of our trade on the Pacific.

In 1846 a few Americans had arrived in California from Oregon. When they learned that the United States was at war with Mexico, California they attacked the Mexican garrisons and drove them conquered into the southern part of the province. Immediately there appeared American ships on the coast, and a small force was sent overland from the East to seize the province. By such efforts as these the weak Mexican rule was overthrown, and long

before the treaty of peace was signed California was under the American flag.

A few months later a Mormon walked down one of the streets of San Francisco holding aloft a bottle of yellow dust and shouting, "Gold! Gold ! Gold from the American river!" The Discovery

people of the town crowded around him; and as soon of gold as they satisfied themselves that it was really gold that he carried they hurried off to the place where it was found. It was the beginning of a great rush toward California. San Francisco was deserted. Servants left their masters, clerks left the stores in which they were employed, and crews deserted from their ships as soon as the anchors had dropped in the harbor. All were bound for the happy places at which, as the report ran, a man might scoop up more than a hundred dollars worth of gold in a day. Late that year, 1848, the news reached the Eastern cities, and here the same feverish anxiety was shown to get to the gold fields as had been shown in San Francisco. By 1850 the population of California was 92,597, which was enough to warrant her admission into the union. We shall see in the next chapter the difficulties that arose over the admission of California.

QUESTIONS

I. What nations held the coast of the Gulf of Mexico after the Seven Years' war? Who took Louisiana in 1800? in 1803? Who owned the territory on each side of Louisiana? Describe life in Louisiana before American occupation began. What was the relation between the new and old stocks in Louisiana? Who were the creoles?

II. Why were the boundaries of Louisiana doubtful? What claims did we advance? How did we come to give up the claim to Texas? How did the people of the West feel about this action?

III. Describe the plans of the Austins. How were the plans carried out? Why did the Mexicans become alarmed at the arrival of Americans in Texas? In what way did they try to take from the Texans the control of their local affairs? How did the abolition of slavery affect the Texans? Why did it not inconvenience the Mexicans? How did the immigrants treat

the orders that no more persons should come to Texas from the United States?

IV. How did the Texan war of independence begin? Describe the defense of the Alamo. Describe the campaign of San Jacinto. What treaty was made after it? Why was it rejected by the Mexican government? Why was actual fighting suspended?

V. How was the suggestion of Texan annexation received in the South and West? in the North? Why did it fail? What did Jackson do about Texas?

VI. How did the death of Harrison prove a calamity for the whigs? What was Tyler's position on the bank question? How was he regarded by the two great parties? Who were the presidential candidates in 1844? VII. Why did Tyler favor annexation? Why did the South favor it? What was England's plan for Texas? What was the fate of the annexation treaty? How did the South feel about the outcome of the vote? How did the North feel? What were the positions of Clay and Polk on annexation? Who was elected? How was annexation accomplished and by whom? What provision was made for the division of Texas?

VIII. Describe the claims of England and the United States to Oregon. What agreement was made with England? What part of the country showed special interest in Oregon? How did the matter play a part in the election of 1844? How did Polk settle the question?

IX. How did war begin with Mexico? Describe Taylor's campaign on the Rio Grande. Describe Scott's march to Mexico City. What were the terms of the treaty of peace?

X. How did our Pacific coast possessions develop during Polk's administration? Describe the California of 1846. What harbor appealed to us? What three movements were concerned in the conquest of California? What was the effect of the discovery of gold? How did it influence the California life?

SUGGESTED TOPICS

The Creoles of Louisiana; The Life of Stephen F. Austin; General Sam Houston; Attempts to Recharter the Bank under Tyler; California in the Early Days of American Rule.

CHAPTER XXIII

THE CONTROVERSY OVER SLAVERY IN THE TERRITORIES

THE line which first divided the area of slavery from the area of freedom was the Maryland-Pennsylvania boundary. It was commonly known as Mason and Dixon's line, from the Two dividnames of the two surveyors who ran it in 1767. It was ing lines long the boundary between freedom and slavery, and that is why the region south of the line came to be called "Dixie." West of the Alleghanies the Ohio River served the same purpose as Mason and Dixon's line in the old states. It was adopted as the boundary when the Northwest ordinance of 1787 excluded slavery from the territories north of the Ohio and left it in existence in the region south of that river. For many years the North and the South seemed satisfied with this division.

The Mis

When the admission of Missouri came up in 1820, it was necessary to decide about slavery in the region formerly called Louisiana. We have seen that it was agreed that slaves should be excluded from all the Louisiana purchase north of the souri Comparallel 36° 30', except Missouri, which already had promise line slaves and was allowed to keep them. This dividing line ran, of course, no farther than the boundary of what had been Louisiana; that is, no farther than the Rocky Mountains. If you will look at the map, you will see that the second of these lines was a little farther south than the first and the third was still farther south than the second. Had Mason and Dixon's line been extended due west from the Alleghanies to the Pacific, the South and the North would have divided the western region nearly equally. As it was the South got a smaller share of the West with each division. She was fully conscious of this in 1848, when the ques