THE "BARGAIN OF 1844" AND THE WILMOT PROVISO 141
the Texan portion of the "bargain." Texas, they said, was "an issue which had been made by the Baltimore convention
- * * it had been submitted to the intelligent freemen
of the United States * * * who had decided in favor of it," and now "the friends of that measure from the South called upon their representatives from the North * * * to come forward and respond." "They did," said McDowell, of Ohio, in reviewing the record of that session, "come for- ward and respond." 1 In doing so, it is true, some of them "conjured" the Southern Democrats "most earnestly" to "yield to the spirit of compromise, and give us a small portion of that territory," claiming it had been "held out to the North, that two of the five States to be formed out of Texas would be free" ; 2 and all demanded the carrying out of the remainder of the "bargain" by the passage of Oregon "notice" and ter- ritorial bills. But as to Texas the Southern Democracy would "yield to no division" beyond the illusive "extension" of the Missouri compromise line through it ; 3 and as for Oregon, so long as the Northwestern Democrats "held Texas in their hands," enough Southern Democrats voted for Oregon measures to nurse them along until Texas was out of danger, and then refused further to discuss such important questions so near the close of the session.* A few of the Northwestern Democrats, interpreting this as a repudiation of their portion of the "bargain," refused to vote for Texas ;s but the majority, evidently hoping more from the future than they were ob- taining at the moment, helped to bring Texas in.
When Congress assembled again in the winter of 1845, Northwestern Democrats were prepared to insist on the prompt and decisive carrying out of the Oregon portion of the "bargain." Following the suggestion of the President, whose election had resulted from the "bargain" campaign, they introduced a series of measures looking to the final oc- cupation of Oregon ; the most important, of course, being that
1 Cong. Globe, ag Cong., i sess., 140.
2 Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, ibid., 16, app., 315.
3 Brinkerhoff, of Ohio, ibid., 378.
4 Hannegan, of Indiana, ibid., 15, 460.
5 Ibid., 15, 388-
