Page:Life of Henry Clay (Schurz; v. 2).djvu/283

Rh mously rejected the peace with Mexico, and two days later the resolution of annexation was adopted by both houses. On July 4 a convention of the people of Texas met and ratified annexation.

Thus Mexico and Texas were still at war; and Clay's prediction, that with the annexation of Texas the United States would inevitably annex that war, seemed to be verified. Indeed, upon the passage of the joint resolution to annex Texas, the Mexican Minister left Washington, and the American Minister the city of Mexico. Still, actual war might have been avoided had the United States been satisfied with Texas as then occupied by Texans, or sought to acquire the line of the Rio Grande as the boundary line by patient negotiation. The joint resolution annexing “the territory properly included within, and rightfully belonging to, the Republic of Texas,” and speaking of “an adjustment by this government of all questions of boundary that may arise with other governments,” evidently looked to such negotiation. The question of boundary was whether Texas extended only as far as the Texan settlements extended, to the Nueces River, or beyond the Texan settlements to the Rio Grande, the eastern bank of which was dotted with Mexican villages and military posts. The country between the Nueces and the Rio Grande had, indeed, been wildly “claimed” by the Texans, although really looked upon as, at most, disputed territory. But Polk's administration assumed to decide the boundary question by force.