The whole matter came to a climax January 1, 1842, when Adams presented a petition signed by forty-five citizens of Haverhill, Massachusetts, protesting against the institution of slavery and praying that the union be dissolved. Adams at once moved that the petition be referred to a special committee, with instructions to report why it should not be granted.

The reading of the petition raised a storm. Adams was greeted with cries of "Villain!"—"Curse him!"-"Expel him!"—and the house adjourned in the greatest confusion. The next day a resolution of censure was introduced, and its adoption urged in the most vindictive manner. Adams replied in language suited to the occasion and would not be silenced. When asked how long he expected to hold the floor, his reply was, "Burke took three months for his speech in the impeachment of Warren Hastings, and I think I may get through in ninety days or less."

The southern members, now seeing that opposition to so fearless a champion was useless, voted that the resolution of censure be laid upon the table. Adams had won in the final struggle of his life. Three years later (1845) the "gag-. rule" was rescinded.

423. Abolition.-The opposition to the "right of petition" had tended greatly to increase the abolition sentiment in the north. Since the year 1832 abolition societies and antislavery societies had been everywhere organized, and now counted their membership by the thousands.

William Lloyd Garrison, with his weekly newspaper, "The Liberator," had kept the whole country aroused. Through his influence abolition literature had been circulated even in the south. In Jackson's time, the postmaster-general had directed that all such literature be excluded from the mails. This action only hastened the growth of the abolition movement.

From 1833 to 1837, Elijah P. Lovejoy edited "The St. Louis Observer," an abolition paper, in which he ardently

attacked slavery. On account of violent opposition from the proslavery element in that city, he had moved (1836) across the river to Alton, Illinois, where he was attacked by a mob and killed (1837) and his press destroyed and thrown into the river. This tragedy on the Mississippi bluff caused intense excitement throughout the country, which grew in intensity as it rolled eastward into the New England states, where it gave to the antislavery cause its most brilliant advocate-Wendell Phillips. In a thrilling address at a mass meeting in Faneuil Hall-the Cradle of Liberty-made in reply to a speech by the state's attorney of Massachusetts, in which that officer sought to excuse the mob at Alton, Phillips so roused his audience and the entire country that he at once sprang into national prominence as the champion of human liberty. From that day on, the name of Wendell Phillips was coupled with that of William Lloyd Garrisonthe great leader of the antislavery forces.

424. The Republic of Texas, a Disturbing Element in National Politics.-The greatest event in the administration of Tyler was the annexation of Texas. Moses Austin, of Connecticut, having secured permission of the Spanish government, founded a colony in the province of Texas in 1821, where he took with him the spirit of Yankee thrift and enterprise. The soil being rich and the climate attractive, the colony made rapid growth. Its success at once attracted attention in the United States. Jackson, while president, made an effort to purchase the province of Texas from the Mexican government, but all offers were rejected. This failure, however, did not check the tide of immigration which continued to pour into the province of Texas from the United States.

Austin and his followers had carried with them the institution of slavery. This institution was now attacked in 1835 by the Mexican government, which issued a proclamation granting freedom to every slave in Mexican territory and making Mexico a consolidated state. This proclamation

aroused the opposition of the Texans, who immediately declared their independence and set up a government at Austin. A war resulted, which under the leadership of General Samuel Houston was fought to a successful issue at the battle of San Jacinto, whereupon the Texas republic was established (1836) with a constitution favoring slavery. General Houston became its president. The limits of the new

republic were not clearly defined.

Mexico insisted that Texas did not extend beyond the Nueces on the southwest and stopped on the west at a boundary far within the Texas claims. In fact Texas asserted the right to over twice the territory which Mexico admitted to belong to her. Here were the seeds of future war. The independence of the Texas republic was soon acknowl

edged by the United

States, England,
France, and Belgium.

Texas at once applied for admission into the American union. From that date (1836) until its annexation had been accomplished, Texas became a disturbing political question in national politics.

Texas first

425. Annexation of Texas-1845.-When applied for admission in 1836, congress was flooded by petitions from the north opposing its admission on the grounds of slavery. On the other hand, annexation was strongly urged in the south. And yet neither political party seemed

to be able to unite all its forces on either side of the question -the southern Democrats and "states' rights" Whigs favored it, while the northern Democrats and the "free-state" Whigs arrayed themselves against it. The question therefore became a sectional issue. Van Buren, though urged by the southern Democrats, opposed annexation during his entire term. In Tyler's administration, however, the Democrats, under the leadership of John C. Calhoun, made annexation a party issue and declared for the admission of Texas. The Whigs, under the leadership of Henry Clay, now united in opposition. This precipitated a bitter contest, in which those favoring annexation won. Congress, on December 29, 1845, passed a joint resolution annexing Texas to the United States, and admitting it into the union as one of the states of the republic.

426. New States Admitted into the Union: Texas-1845; Florida-1845.-Before the admission of Texas, Florida, with a constitution favoring slavery, had been admitted into the union as the twenty-seventh state. Texas was admitted as the twenty-eighth state.

427. Samuel F. B. Morse and the Telegraph-1844.—In the year 1844 Samuel F. B. Morse, while sitting in a small office in Baltimore, placed his fingers upon the key of a small magnetic instrument which, with its mysterious clickety-clickclick, instantly flashed to a friend in Washington this message: "What hath God wrought!"-the first telegram ever sent in America.

At that time the Democratic national convention was in session in Baltimore. Morse accordingly sent a telegram to Silas Wright in Washington notifying him of his nomination for vice-president. Morse's assistant at Washington transmitted Wright's reply, declining the nomination. This was the first news ever sent by telegraph wire. On the same day the news of the nomination of James K. Polk to the presidency was flashed to Washington, and on the following morning it appeared in the daily papers of

that city. The people read in astonishment, almost unable to believe, but later applauded the name of Professor Morse as one of America's greatest inventors.

Like all great inventions, the electro-magnetic telegraph had cost infinite patience and unmeasured toil. Morse had begun his experiments twelve years before, and by 1834 had demonstrated to his own satisfaction that messages could be transmitted to distant points by wire, through the agency of electricity. In 1835 he submitted his invention to congress, and asked for an appropriation to construct a telegraph line between the cities of Baltimore and Washington,―a distance of forty miles, but his request was refused. Morse then visited the countries of Europe, where he met with no better success. Returning to America, he persistently besieged congress until that body in 1843 voted an appropriation of $30,000 to construct the line for which he had asked in 1835. In 1844 this line was completed with the startling, though successful, results here narrated.

The success of the telegraph was instantaneous. To-day it has become one of the indispensable agencies in the transmission of news and the transaction of business. In the United States alone there are nearly 200,000 miles of telegraph line, using nearly a million miles of wire. As the years have gone by, Morse's instruments have been gradually improved, and the efficiency of the telegraph service increased. The world yet awaits in eager expectation the results of inventive geniuses who are constantly at work upon the improvement of telegraphic appliances. Since the year 1900, "wireless telegraphy" has been assured. The astonishment of the world was no greater in 1844 than it was in 1902, when Marconi, through the agency of "wireless telegraphy," flashed a message from the shores of America across the Atlantic ocean.

428. The Presidential Election in 1844.-The presidential election of 1844 was held prior to the admission of Texas, which question became an issue in the campaign.