force; when freemen unsheathe the sword it should be to strike for liberty, not for despotism.

21. Resolved, That to preserve the peace of the citizens, and secure the blessings of freedom, the legislature of each of the free states ought to keep in force suitable statutes, rendering it penal for any of its inhabitants to transport, or aid in transporting from such state, any person sought to be thus transported, merely because subject to the slave laws of any other state; this remnant of independence being accorded to the free states by the decision of the supreme court, in the case of Prigg t. The State of Pennsylvania.

1844.-WHIG PLATFORM,

Baltimore, May 1.

1. Resolved, That these principles may be summed as comprising a wellregulated national currency; a tariff for revenue to defray the necessary expenses of the government, and discriminating with special reference to the protection of the domestic labor of the country; the distribution of the proceeds from the sales of the public lands; a single term for the Presidency; a reform of executive usurpations; and generally such an administration of the affairs of the country as shall impart to every branch of the public service the greatest practical efficiency, controlled by a wellregulated and wise economy.

1844.-DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM,

Baltimore, May 27.

Resolutions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, of the platform of 1840, were reaffirmed, to which were added the following:

10. Resolved, That the proceeds of the public lands ought to be sacredly applied to the national objects specified in the constitution, and that we are opposed to the laws lately adopted, and to any law for the distribution of such proceeds among the states, as alike inexpedient in policy and repugnant to the constitution.

11. Resolved, That we are decidly opposed to taking from the President the qualified veto power, by which he is enabled, under restrictions and responsibilities, amply sufficient to guard the public interest, to suspend the passage of a bill whose merits can not secure the approval of twothirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, until the judgment of the people can be obtained thereon, and which has thrice saved the American people from the corrupt and tyrannical domination of the bank of the United States.

12. Resolved, That our title to the whole of the territory of Oregon is clear and unquestionable; that no portion of the same ought to be ceded to England or any other power, and that the re-occupation of Oregon and the re-annexation of Texas at the earliest practicable period, are great American measures, which this convention recommends to the cordial support of the democracy of the Union.

CHAPTER XIV.

POLK'S ADMINISTRATION.

1845-1849.

POLK'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

The President, in a somewhat lengthy inaugural, set forth his views, which were substantially in accordance with the platform of his party. He discountenanced any interference with slavery, and thought that any attempt to destroy this "domestic institution" would be fraught with most "ruinous and disastrous" consequences.

As to the Texas question, he stated that its adjustment was probable, and declared it to be a matter which exclusively concerned Texas and the United States. He thought the legal claim of our government to Oregon was "clear and unquestionable," and promised to maintain this right by all constitutional means. The President opposed a national bank; was entirely silent on the question of internal improvements; and rather diffuse on the vital question of the tariff. The principle that the spoils belong to the victors, which had come down from Jackson and had been accepted by the whigs, was adhered to by the new administration.

ANNEXATION OF TEXAS.

In accordance with the resolution passed by the last session of Congress, Texas accepted annexation, both by her own. Congress and by a popular convention. Mexico offered a formal protest merely, and discontinued diplomatic relations with the United States. She offered to acknowledge the independence of Texas, however, if that state would maintain

a separate existence. The proposals of the two powers, the United States and Mexico, respectively, were laid before the Texas Congress, which convened on the 16th of June, 1845, and on July 4 they completed the act of annexation in accordance with the terms proposed by the American Congress. At the instance of Texas, the President sent an army under General Taylor into the newly acquired territory.

Congress met December 1, 1845, the democrats having a maTwenty-ninth Congress, jority in both houses. John W. DaFirst Session. vis, of Indiana, was chosen speaker. On the 29th of December Texas became a state of the Union, and on the 31st an act was passed extending the revenue system of the United States over the doubtful territory of the Nueces river and the Rio Grande.

WAR WITH MEXICO.

Thus far Mexico had not offered any actual resistance to the proceedings of the American government. In March, 1846, hostilities were induced by an order from the President advancing General Taylor from the Nueces to the Rio Grande, for the purpose of occupying the debatable territory. In carrying out this order the army was brought into contact with Mexican troops. The first engagement was at Palo Alto, and resulted in a Mexican defeat. General Taylor drove the enemy across the Rio Grande. May 11, 1846, the President sent a special message to Congress, announcing that a state of war existed between us and Mexico by the act of the latter, and, after detailing the preliminary skirmishes, declared that the blood of American citizens had been shed on American soil by Mexican troops, and asked for a declaration of war. The whigs looked upon the action of the President, in sending troops into the disputed territory, as one intended to provoke hostilities. And when a bill was introduced recognizing the existence of war, and appropriating $10,000,000 for

its prosecution, they voted for it under protest, doing so only because the army had been forced into a perilous situation and must be rescued.

WILMOT PROVISO.

While hostilities were pending, the President sent a message to Congress, August 8, asking for money with which to negotiate a peace and purchase a section of Mexican territory, provided he should find such accession expedient or desirable. A bill was accordingly introduced in the House of Representatives appropriating $2,000,000 for this purpose. This at once brought up the slavery question, and David Wilmot moved a proviso to the bill prohibiting slavery in the territory that should be acquired. This provision, after the name of its originator, was called the WILMOT PROVISO. This was supported by the whigs and northern democrats, but failed to become a law, having been passed by the House, and sent to the Senate too late for action. Those of the dominant party who supported it were called Wilmot proviso democrats.

THE SUB-TREASURY.

An act was passed re-establishing the sub-treasury, which had been done away with in 1842. This now became a permanent institution of the country, and agitation on the subject was henceforth closed.

TARIFF.

During this session the tariff of 1842 was repealed, and there was substituted for it an act known as the Tariff of 1846. This act was in accordance with the strict constructionist theory, imposing a tariff for revenue only, without regard to protection.

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

It has already been noted that in the platform to which