dams
_Memoir_, Clay _Correspondence_ (Colton), Calhoun _Correspondence_
(Jameson), and Mrs. A. M. Coleman's _The Life of John J. Crittenden_
(1871) are most useful for these years. The debates of Congress for the
period of 1833 to 1873 are found in the _Congressional Globe_ and
_Appendices_. For the philosophy of slavery and the Southern social
system of which slavery was the basis read _The Pro-Slavery Argument_
(1852), containing Thomas R. Dew's and James H. Hammond's writings on
the subject.

CHAPTER VIII

WAR AND CONQUEST

The treaty which Upshur and Calhoun negotiated with the Texan envoys in
the spring of 1844 was presented to the Senate in April, and held in
committee until after the two party conventions had met in Baltimore.
The Whigs condemned it, as has been noted, and the Democrats accepted
it. It was a mere matter of form, then, for the Whig Senate to reject
the treaty which had become in a great measure the platform of their
opponents. When Congress reassembled in December the result of the
election had made it plain that Calhoun and Walker, and not Clay and Van
Buren, represented the wishes of the people, though the majority of the
popular vote was exceedingly small.

Tyler seemed anxious to hasten the work of annexation, and he
recommended the accomplishment of his purpose by joint resolution of the
two houses of Congress. Benton, who disliked Tyler and hated Calhoun,
and who had opposed the adoption of the treaty in the preceding spring,
now gave his influence to the Administration, and during the closing
hours of the session the House and the Senate passed the joint
resolution making Texas a State by narrow majorities. There was
widespread opposition to the annexation of new territory, especially
pro-Southern territory, by the new method. Joint resolutions in State
legislatures that were evenly divided were not unknown; but for Congress
to evade a plain rule of the Constitution requiring two thirds of the
Senate by a mere majority of both houses was denounced as the rankest
usurpation. Without serious concern as to public opinion in the East or
great deference to the President-elect, Tyler and Calhoun hastened
messengers to Texas and ordered two regiments of troops, under the
command of Colonel Zachary Taylor, to take position at Corpus Christi on
the southern bank of the Nueces River, and sent a squadron of the navy,
under