He
advocated means of communication across the Rocky Mountains. He thought
of his own unprotected youth. He would have the young men from Peoria
and from every place feel confident in the knowledge that as builders of
the nation's greatness they had the friendship and the strong arm of the
government around them.
What was Great Britain doing? Reaching for California, hungering for
Texas, eyeing Cuba. She hated republican institutions. She would gird
them with her own monarchist principles, bodied forth in fortifications
and military posts. It should not be. Douglas had said: "I would blot
out the lines of the map which now mark our national boundaries on this
continent and make the area of liberty as broad as the continent itself.
I would not suffer petty rival republics to grow up here, engendering
jealousy of each other, and interfering with each other's domestic
affairs, and continually endangering their peace. I do not wish to go
beyond the great ocean--beyond those boundaries which the God of nature
has marked out. I would limit myself only by that boundary which is so
clearly defined by nature."
Meanwhile President Polk was saying: "Our title to Oregon is clear and
unquestionable." He was urging the termination of the treaty for joint
occupation with Great Britain of Oregon.
Pages:
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236