HoweEnterprise.com
September 14, 2020
Learn about antiques and collectibles with Georgia Caraway In the interim between James K. Polk’s election and his inauguration, supporters of Texas’s annexation worked on Georgia new political tacCaraway tics to avoid a repeat of Tyler’s treaty debacle. One of their chief ideas was to balance the annexation of Texas with the admission of Oregon as a non-slave territory. The other was to engineer annexation via joint resolution of both houses of Congress, a strategy that required only a majority in both houses instead of the twothirds vote needed for a treaty.
sentative Milton Brown of Tennessee introduced the bill that became the final basis for the annexation of Texas. The Brown resolution eliminated the debt issue by stipulating that Texas would keep its public lands in order to eventually pay its own way out of its debt. In addition, Brown’s bill provided that Texas could be divided into several states as needed to deal with future “balance” between slave states and free states, and that no slavery would be allowed north of the old Missouri Compromise line. The Brown bill easily passed the House of Representatives on January 25, 1845. This slip of paper bears Brown’s signature:
Whigs were eager to leave the disappointment of the Henry Clay defeat behind and jump on the bandwagon of the popular Texas issue. There was less talk of the evils of slavery and war with Mexico and more talk about western expansion and economic opportunity.
“Yours respectfully Milton Brown.” The inked note under
Opponents of annexation were still busy keeping their objections before the public. Texas owed more than $10 million (almost $200 million in 2006 dollars). Supporters had proposed that Texas sell its public lands to pay off the debt, but opponents pointed to greed and corruption, demonstrating that land speculators who had already snapped up the worthless land now stood to make a killing. Others objected to the huge size of Texas, saying that if the state ever gained population in proportion to its size, it could dominate Congress. But with the election of Polk and the disintegrating unity in the Whig ranks, annexation now seemed a question of “how” and “when” rather than “if.” Several draft joint resolutions were put forth, but in January 1845, Repre-
the signature reads: ”This gentleman is famous as the originator of the Joint Resolution for the Annexation of Texas which passed both Houses of Congress. He is a Whig and hails from Tennessee.” This piece is from an autograph book owned (for a while) by Union Civil War Major General John Robinson. (I did NOT cut apart the autograph book.) Come see us at Howe Mercantile, located in beautiful downtown Howe, Texas. We have two great restaurants right across the street, Abby’s and Gabriela’s, famous for homecooked meals. And the newest addition to our eating establishments, a Chinese restaurant, Hana’s Café and Market, is located right behind them. Make a day of it, eating and shopping. Let Us Show You Howe.
"With a united effort we can make the place in which we live clean, wholesome, attractive. We can make the crowded city dweller homesick to come back to us and real living. We can bring new life, new business, new beauty, to the little towns." - Mame Roberts
The Howe Ex-Students Association met on Saturday morning to discuss the upcoming Howe All-School Reunion which takes place every five years. Due to the pandemic and the uncertainty of availability of school property use, the group decided to cancel the event and move it to homecoming 2021.
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