ether in a single territory, there arose a mighty shout
for a position beside the staid commonwealths of the East and the South.
Statehood meant to the pioneers self-government, dignity, and the right
to dispose of land, minerals, and timber in their own way. In the quest
for this local autonomy there arose many a wordy contest in Congress,
each of the political parties lending a helping hand in the admission of
a state when it gave promise of adding new congressmen of the "right
political persuasion," to use the current phrase.

=Southern Planters and Texas.=--While the farmers of the North found the
broad acres of the Western prairies stretching on before them apparently
in endless expanse, it was far different with the Southern planters.
Ever active in their search for new fields as they exhausted the virgin
soil of the older states, the restless subjects of King Cotton quickly
reached the frontier of Louisiana. There they paused; but only for a
moment. The fertile land of Texas just across the boundary lured them on
and the Mexican republic to which it belonged extended to them a more
than generous welcome. Little realizing the perils lurking in a
"peaceful penetration," the authorities at Mexico City opened wide the
doors and made large grants of land to American contractors, who agreed
to bring a number of families into Texas. The omnipresent Yankee, in the
person of Moses Austin of Connecticut, hearing of this good news in the
Southwest, obtained a grant in 1820 to settle three hundred Americans
near Bexar--a commission finally carried out to the letter by his son
and celebrated in the name given to the present capital of the state of
Texas. Within a decade some twenty thousand Americans had crossed the
border.

=Mexico Closes the Door.=--The government of Mexico, unaccustomed to
such enterprise and thoroughly frightened by its extent, drew back in
dismay. Its fears were increased as quarrels broke out between the
Americans and the natives in Texas. Fear grew into consternation when
efforts were made by President Jackson to buy the territory for the
United States. Mexico then sought to close the flood gates. It stopped
all American colonization schemes, canceled many of the land grants, put
a tariff on farming implements, and abolished slavery. These barriers
were raised too late. A call for help ran through the western border of
the United States. The sentinels of the frontier answered. Davy
Crockett, the noted