CHAPTER V.
TRIUMPH OF SLAVERY IN THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS.
The boundaries of Louisiana were always vague and uncertain, and the treaty by which the United States acquired it left them still indefinite. The consequence was, as might have been expected, difficulties soon arose with Spain in regard to the eastern and western boundaries of this province. The French always alleged that Louisiana extended to the Rio Grande; whereas the Spaniards, with an equal show of reason, contended that it did not extend quite to the Sabine. According to the provisions of the treaty of St. Ildefonso, Spain ceded to France “the province with the same extent it now has in the hands of Spain, and that it had when France possessed it, and such as it should be after other treaties entered into between Spain and other States.” By the treaty of Paris, France ceded to the United States all the right and title she had thus acquired to Louisiana, leaving the question of boundaries to be settled with Spain.
Thus matters remained in statu quo, although Spain continued to hold both Floridas and claimed the Sabine as the western boundary of Louisiana, until 1819, when a treaty was effected between the two nations, after a protracted correspondence and negotiation. Through this treaty the United States acquired undisputed possession of all the territory west of the Mississippi by renouncing her claim to Texas.
This was a Southern move, and it was difficult at first to
