cupation of Algiers, war with Morocco
broke out in May. The Prince de Joinville bombarded and captured the
fortified town of Mogador. Marshal Buguead won a signal victory over the
Moors on the banks of Isly. After the defeat of the rebellious subjects of
the Sultan of Morocco, this potentate, Abder Rahman, made common cause with
the French against Abd-el-Kader. A French treaty with China was negotiated
by Guizot in October. In regard to the vexed problem of Tahiti and the
Hawaiian Islands an understanding was reached with the other Powers. Amends
were made to England for the French indignities to the British Consul at
Tahiti, while the independence of Hawaii was guaranteed by a joint
declaration of France, Great Britain and the United States. Toward the
close of the year the uncertainties of government in Spain were once more
made manifest by a military insurrection, headed by General Zurbano.

1845

[Sidenote: Poe's "Raven"]

At the beginning of the year, in America, came a literary sensation of
unwonted brilliancy. In the New York "Evening Mirror," January 29, Edgar
Allan Poe's famous poem "The Raven" was reprinted from the advance sheets
of "The American Whig Review," in which the name of the author was masked
under the pseudonym of "Quarles." The poem was copied all over America and
soon reached England. Baudelaire translated it into French. As Poe's
biographer, Woodberry, has said: "No great poem ever established itself so
immediately, so widely and so imperishably in men's minds." A literary
tradition has it that Poe only received ten dollars for this masterpiece,
and had to wait a year and more for his money.

[Sidenote: Texas annexed to the United States]

[Sidenote: Florida admitted to Union]

[Sidenote: James K. Polk, President]

[Sidenote: Oregon dispute settled.]

War between the United States of North America and Mexico was now seen to
be inevitable. On January 25, a joint resolution for the annexation of
Texas passed through the American House of Representatives by a vote of 120
to 98, and through the Senate by 27 over 25 votes. On March 1, President
Tyler signed the bill. The tactics by which Texas was annexed were similar
to those by which the Missouri Compromise had been forced through Congress
in 1820, and the nullification compromise in 1833. It meant a distinct
gain for the pro-slavery party in the United States, and was denounced as
such by the abolitionists of the North. Both in Mex