No arm
of force has been raised to produce the result. The sword has had no
part in the victory. We have not sought to extend our territorial
possessions by conquest, or our republican institutions over a reluctant
people. It was the deliberate homage of each people to the great
principle of our federative union. If we consider the extent of
territory involved in the annexation, its prospective influence on
America, the means by which it has been accomplished, springing purely
from the choice of the people themselves to share the blessings of our
union, the history of the world may be challenged to furnish a parallel.
The jurisdiction of the United States, which at the formation of the
Federal Constitution was bounded by the St. Marys on the Atlantic, has
passed the capes of Florida and been peacefully extended to the Del
Norte. In contemplating the grandeur of this event it is not to be
forgotten that the result was achieved in despite of the diplomatic
interference of European monarchies. Even France, the country which had
been our ancient ally, the country which has a common interest with us
in maintaining the freedom of the seas, the country which, by the
cession of Louisiana, first opened to us access to the Gulf of Mexico,
the country with which we have been every year drawing more and more
closely the bonds of successful commerce, most unexpectedly, and to our
unfeigned regret, took part in an effort to prevent annexation and to
impose on Texas, as a condition of the recognition of her independence
by Mexico, that she would never join herself to the United States.
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