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Antislavery Activism in Lowell
Document 32: “Anti-Texas Meeting at Lowell,” The Liberator, November 28, 1845
Document 32: “Anti-Texas Meeting at Lowell,” The Liberator, November 28, 1845
Texas’s journey to becoming part of the United States was long and difficult. After gaining independence from Mexico in 1836, Texas became a republic and then entered statehood discussions with the United States. Slavery was legal in the Republic of Texas, and the possibility of another slave-holding state angered many northern antislavery activists. Historians estimate there were 125,000 people in Texas at this time, and about 30,000 were enslaved.
A constitutional convention in Texas ratified its new constitution in July of 1845, which was accepted by the U.S. Congress on December 29, 1845, making Texas the 28th state. Many antislavery activists worried that adding another slave-holding state would throw off the political balance of Congress. This was temporarily remedied by the Compromise of 1850, in which California was admitted as a free state.
Massachusetts’ Senator Rufus Choate, the state’s only sitting senator at that time, voted “no” on Texas statehood along with eight of the state’s ten representatives. Representatives William Parmenter and Benjamin Thomas voted “yes” to admit Texas into the union as a slave state.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
Annexation: The addition of an area or region to a country, state, etc.
Inst.: Abbreviation for the word “instant,” referring to the current calendar month
Latter: Referring to the last of a group of more than two people mentioned
National Legislature: Referring to the U.S. House of Representatives
Transcript
Transcript
ANTI-TEXAS MEETING AT LOWELL
An adjourned meeting of the opponents to the Annexation of Texas came off at Lowell, Mass, on Friday, the 14th inst. Hon. Elisha Huntington, Mayor of the City, in the Chair. Rev. William H. Channing and Hon. J.G. Palfrey, Secretary of the State, addressed the meeting – in the course of which the following resolutions were introduced by the latter gentleman, which we publish entire for the liberal and enlightened sentiments therein expressed:
Resolved, That the question of the Annexation of Texas as a slave State to these United States, is still an open question, dependent on the future action of the National Legislature, which as yet has only permitted Texas to offer a Constitution for its acceptance or rejection : and that, while that question remains among the contingencies of the future, we see not reasons for remitting the exertions of righteousness, patriotism, and humanity, and we DO NOT DISPAIR OF THEIR SUCCESS.
Resolved, That as, in the National House of Representatives, there can only be eighty-eight votes from slave states to determine this issue ; while there are a hundred and thirty-five votes from the free States, so that there must be twenty-four Representatives false to their highest obligations, before the measure can be carried, and as we are not ready to believe that twenty-four such traitors to freedom and justice can be found, therefore, WE DO NOT DISPAIR. …
Text-Dependent Questions
Text-Dependent Questions
What is the event being reported on? What happened during the event?
Are those who are making resolutions in favor of or against the annexation of Texas? and why do they feel hope instead of despair?
Discussion Questions
Discussion Questions
Based on the evidence in this document, describe what you think the tone of the meeting would have been. What might participants have said or argued for/against?
The Texas Constitution (Document 2) was written in the summer of 1845, several months before this meeting in November. What does this document (“Anti-Texas Meeting at Lowell”) tell you about the power of political representation?
Citation
“Anti-Texas Meeting at Lowell,” The Liberator, November 28, 1845.https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:gb19h424h
“Anti-Texas Meeting at Lowell,” The Liberator, November 28, 1845.https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:gb19h424h
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