By Nabilah Saiful & Enya Samuelle Oh
In the Day 2 council sessions of the Historical U.S Senate Committee (HUSS), the topics of alternative solutions to allow for the annexation of texas were brought up and discussed at length. The committee also managed to progress forward in their debate, introducing a draft resolution. Finally, the HUSS was graced by the opportunity to meet a US Army General, and they were lucky enough to be able to pose some questions to him.
Alternative Solutions to allow for the Annexation of Texas
By annexing Texas a slave state, it jeopardises Britain’s anti-slavery agenda. By crossing with such an imminent global power, it would have very serious consequences. - Senator Sidney Breese
One of the first alternatives was to annex Texas as a slave state alongside Iowa or Oregon as a free state. This would not upset the balance present in the Senate, allowing for there to be a level playing field for both free and slave states. To annex Iowa would be more favourable than annexing Oregon as the Territory of Iowa was an organized incorporated territory of the United States. Hence, it would be well within the United States' rights to annex this into our union. With that, one of the alternative solutions to allow for the annexation of Texas into the Union is to annex Iowa alongside it as a free state so as to prevent the compromise of the delicate balance between the representation of free and slave states in the union.
A second alternative solution that was introduced during council was to annex Texas as a territory instead of as a state as it would allow for the prevention of conflict between the governments of Mexico and The US. This is because “A state can be a government authority. This can be either the national government or regional government. A territory, on the other hand, is any area that is claimed by the government.” By annexing Texas as a territory of the US, the Mexican government would not be able to claim invasion of territory by the US. It also allows the US to stake a claim over the Texan territory, allowing it to be annexed later on after the annexation of safer territories such as Iowa and Oregon.
Progress is made in the council: Draft Resolutions
The council found itself making great progress in today's 3 council sessions, in the form of a motion to introduce a draft resolution. The draft resolution was sponsored by Senator Jabez W. Huntington, with many other senators coming in to co-sponsor the resolution. The Senate was able to pose questions to the sponsors of the draft resolution. Senator Albert C. Greene expressed his concerns about the resolution, asking about the sum of money that was stated in the resolution. She worried that the State does not have the USD$5 million on hand to be used in the aid of Texas. This issue was clarified by Senator Jabez W. Huntington, clarifying that the exact phrasing of the resolution was that “up to USD$5 million” would be used for the aid of Texas, thus clarifying that the amount stated simply meant that they wished for the State to spend a maximum of USD$5 million and nothing more.
References
Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Missouri compromise. Dictionary.com. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/missouri-compromise.
Wikimedia Foundation. (2021, March 30). Iowa Territory. Wikipedia.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa_Territory