Porter Broyles

“Wright rose to the challenge and defended himself and Ruggles against Morse’s attacks. In what would later be termed the “higher law” argument that justice and morality superseded the Constitution’s compromise over the return of runaways, Wright maintained that he would continue to call out Boudinot and other members of the New York Kidnapping Club. With God and Christian faith on his side, Wright declared, he would continue to speak out against the kidnapping of free Blacks as well as the return of runaways. “It was enough for me,” Wright responded to Morse, “to know that in the City of New York men, women and children had been arrested and thrown into miserable dungeons, for no offense—but merely because they were claimed as PROPERTY.” Wright reminded Morse and other conservatives that neither the Constitution nor Wall Street’s business ties with southern cotton would trump the immorality of slavery and kidnapping.”
― Jonathan Daniel Wells, The Kidnapping Club: Wall Street, Slavery, and Resistance on the Eve of the Civil War

“If the US claim was correct, it would mean the loss of over 84,000 acres for Texas. Associated with the border dispute were grievances raised against Nemesio de Salcedo y Salcedo, the commander general of the Internal Provinces, who refused to allow US agents to enter Texas in search of runaway slaves. US officials charged that the commander’s interpretation of international-border policy was wrong. Salcedo had informed them that upon entering Texas, slaves gained their freedom and that this policy did not violate international law or the property rights of US slave owners. US official disagreed because Spain’s laws were encouraging slaves from Louisiana and the Carolinas to run away and seek refuge in Texas.”
― Martha Menchaca, The Mexican American Experience in Texas: Citizenship, Segregation, and the Struggle for Equality

“Over May 5–7, 1824, when the states and territories of the republic were constituted, the delegates voted to merge Texas and Coahuila into one state.18 The Texas delegation, including Stephen Austin, vigorously opposed the union because Coahuila was an older, extensively populated region and would be apportioned more representatives than Texas.19 At that time Texas had 3,334 inhabitants, and Coahuila, 42,937.20 It was likely that slavery would be abolished in Texas because Congress authorized each state to draft its constitution and establish state laws, including those regarding slavery.”
― Martha Menchaca, The Mexican American Experience in Texas: Citizenship, Segregation, and the Struggle for Equality

“Complicating matters, American spies, with the aid of Canary Islanders, were expected to enter Texas and instigate revolts. Canary Islanders had the right to obtain a license to enter Texas as Spanish subjects seeking to relocate to New Spain. Twenty years earlier, when Louisiana belonged to Spain, Canary Islanders were brought in to populate the region. Over 2,000 of them settled in Louisiana. Spanish officials now feared that these settlers’ loyalties lay with the United States.”
― Martha Menchaca, The Mexican American Experience in Texas: Citizenship, Segregation, and the Struggle for Equality