Porter Broyles

“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

“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

“In fact, the Southern District of New York became—in the eyes of activists like Ruggles—synonymous with the interests of southern slaveholders.”
― Jonathan Daniel Wells, The Kidnapping Club: Wall Street, Slavery, and Resistance on the Eve of the Civil War

“In 1804, through intelligence reports obtained by Salcedo, Charles IV, the king of Spain learned that the US government planned to acquire parts of Texas.113 Spanish spies in New Orleans reported that US agents proposed to gain permission to enter Texas under the pretense of capturing runaway slaves. Their actual plan was to convince Caddo and Comanche groups to form military alliances and attack Spanish settlements.”
― Martha Menchaca, The Mexican American Experience in Texas: Citizenship, Segregation, and the Struggle for Equality