Texas, And Her Relations With Mexico - 1845

This copy of "Texas, And Her Relations With Mexico" - Speech of Robert Dale Owen, of Indiana, Delivered in the House of Representatives of the United States on Jan. 8, 1845 is an eight page document, without covers, measuring approximately 6 x 9 inches, that records Mr. Owen's presentation to the House's Committee of the Whole on the State of the Union. The committee was in the process of considering Joint Resolution No. 46 – for annexing Texas to the United States. Mr. Owen's concern with the resolution was apparently in the legal status of Texas at the time – was it an independent country or a territory or part of Mexico or what – and, depending upon its legal identification, was "annexation" the proper mode for incorporating Texas into the Union, or should it be a Treaty or some other type of legal procedure. Mr. Dale's conclusions are "...it is both wise and lawful to accede to the wishes of Texas, and incorporate that country into our Union...Let us annex Texas at once. The liberal part of the world will approve, the rest will acquiesce; and, in ten years, the wonder will be, not that Texas has settled quietly down into an integral part of our confederacy; but that men should ever have been found, so blind to the interests of their country, to oppose her annexation."

The pages of the speech are detached, tanned with occasional foxing, and showing staining and wear on the outer edges. There is an embossed stamp on the front page attesting to the prior ownership by the Western Reserve Historical Society of Cleveland, OH. The text, printed in a small font in a double column format, is clear and easily read. Considering the age of the document, it can currently be considered as being in a fair to good condition.

The illustration accompanying this description is of the first page of the speech.

Robert Dale Owen (1801 – 1877) was a Scottish-born Welsh social reformer who immigrated to the United States in 1825, became a U. S. citizen, and was active in Indiana politics as a member of the Democratic Party in the Indiana House of Representatives (1835-39 and 1851-53) and represented Indiana in the U.S. House of Representatives (1843-47). As a member of Congress, Owen successfully pushed through the bill that established the Smithsonian Institution and served on the Institution's first Board of Regents. Owen also served as a delegate to the Indiana Constitutional Convention in 1850 and was appointed a U. S. charge d'affaires (1853-58) to Naples. [Wikipedia]