Speech of Mr. Benton, of Missouri, Delivered in the Senate of the United States, May 16, 18, and 20, 1844, in secret session on the treaty for the annexation of Texas

Washington DC: J. and G.S. Gideon, 1844. First Edition. Octavo (22cm.); removed; 28pp. Stock rather extensively foxed, brief contemporary doodles to title page and note to rear blank verso (serving as upper and rear covers), faint shallow tide mark along bottom margin of textblock; still, Good to Very Good overall. Speech delivered by long-time Senator from Missouri Thomas Hart Benton (1782-1858) in response to Vice President Calhoun's treaty to annex Texas. Benton, who opposed the extension of slavery in hopes of preserving the Union, claims here that the Treaty, though popular in Missouri, would lead to war with Mexico and sectional riffs within the United States. "Instead he proposed annexing Texas only after winning Mexican concurrence, making a new slave state of Texas no larger than the largest existing state, and dividing the remainder of Texas equally into slave and free territories" (anb.org). This did not pan out. Missed by Sabin.