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Journal of the Senate of the United States of America, 1789-1873
SATURDAY, June 8, 1844.
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The Senate resumed the consideration of the resolutions submitted by Mr. Benton the 13th May; and

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After debate,
On motion by Mr. Woodbridge,
Ordered, That the resolutions submitted by Mr. Benton the 13th May lie on the table.
On motion, by Mr. Woodbury, the Senate proceeded to consider the treaty of annexation concluded between the United States of America and the Republic of Texas, at Washington, the 12th day of April, 1844.
Mr. Rives submitted the following resolution:
Resolved, That the treaty for the annexation of Texas be ordered to lie on the table, and that the President be advised to cause an additional article to be negotiated, extending the period within which the treaty is to be ratified and the ratifications exchanged, so as to give further time for a full and deliberate expression of the opinion of the people of the United States on the subject, and also for a reasonable and amicable effort to obtain the concurrence of Mexico in a conventional arrangement for ascertaining and establishing the boundaries which shall separate her adjacent territories,to the west and the north, from those of Texas.
On motion, by Mr. Tallmadge, to amend the resolution by adding the following:
Resolved, That, in adjusting such boundaries, the President be advised to endeavor to obtain the assent of Mexico to the cession of the territory lying west of Texas, and north of the thirty-seventh degree of north latitude, and extending to the Pacific ocean, upon such terms as shall be consistent with the honor and dignity of Mexico and the United States, and the friendly relations subsisting between the two Governments--
On motion by Mr. Woodbridge,
Ordered, That the resolution, with the proposed amendment, lie on the table.
Mr. Henderson submitted the following resolutions: 
•	1. Resolved, That to accomplish the annexation of Texas, as proposed by the pending treaty, is less consonant with the spirit and genius of the Governments of the United States and Texas, respectively, than if more directly deferred to the popular or representative will to attain the object. 
•	2. Resolved, That such annexation on the part of the United States would be properly achieved by an act of Congress admitting the people of Texas with an assigned territorial boundary as a new State into the Union on an equal footing with the other States, with the right of property to be retained by such new State in all the public lands now comprised in the territorial domain of Texas, subjecting such territory as might lie without the State of Texas to the civil and political jurisdiction of the United States. 
•	3. Resolved, That, as part of said act of union, and in form of stipulation, to be acceded to by the people of Texas, a boundary of limits should be fixed and agreed on, beyond which the institution of slavery should not extend. 
•	4. Resolved, That, by such act of annexation, the people and State of Texas should continue responsible for the subsisting debt of Texas, and for the security and discharge thereof her public lands should be first pledged; and that all private titles and claims to land within the present territory of Texas should be adjusted and decided on by the tribunals of the State of Texas.

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On motion by Mr. Woodbridge,
Ordered, That these resolutions lie on the table.
No amendment having been proposed to the treaty, it was reported to the Senate.
Mr. Walker submitted the following resolution:
Resolved, (two-thirds of the Senators present concurring therein,) That the Senate advise and consent to the ratification of the treaty of annexation concluded between the United States of America and the Republic of Texas, at Washington, the 12th day of April, 1844.
The Senate, by unanimous consent, proceeded to consider the resolution.
On the question, to agree thereto,
•	It was determined in the negative, 
•	Yeas, ... 16, 
•	Nays, ... 35.
Those who voted in the affirmative, are,
Messrs. Atchison, Bagby, Breese, Buchanan, Colquitt, Fulton, Haywood, Henderson, Huger, Lewis, McDuffie, Semple, Sevier, Sturgeon, Walker, Woodbury.
Those who voted in the negative, are,
Messrs. Allen, Archer, Atherton, Barrow, Bates, Bayard, Benton, Berrien, Choate, Clayton, Crittenden, Dayton, Evans, Fairfield, Foster, Francis, Huntington, Jarnagin, Johnson, Mangum, Merrick, Miller, Morehead, Niles, Pearce, Phelps, Porter, Rives, Simmons, Tallmadge, Tappan, Upham, White, Woodbridge, Wright.
So, two-thirds of the Senators present not having voted in the affirmative, it was
Resolved, That the Senate do not advise and consent to the ratification of the treaty of annexation concluded between the United States of America and the Republic of Texas, at Washington, the 12th day of April, 1844.
Ordered, That the Secretary lay this resolution before the President of the United States.
On motion, by Mr. Crittenden, that the injunction of secrecy be removed from the proceedings of the Senate on the treaty of annexation with Texas--
On motion, by Mr. Sevier, to amend the same by adding thereto the following words: and from all communications received from the Executive upon the subject--
It was determined in the negative.
On the question, to agree to the motion of Mr. Crittenden,
It was determined in the affirmative.
So it was
Ordered, That the injunction of secrecy be removed from the proceedings of the Senate on the treaty of annexation with Texas.