doom and the gospel must now go to the house of Israel. The time has come that they will have to come after us for light instead of our going after them, and the only object of our writing to the governors is to give them the privilege of sealing their own damnation. We ask no favors of the general government nor will we have their favors. They have killed the prophets and they shall atone for it.
Coun. stated the action of the Senate in regard to the annexation of and the probability of a collision between the and foreign powers.
The said when we start we will move in a solid body untill we get beyond the limits of the so that we could protect ourselves after that we would divide off into companies of, say, twenty wagons in each company. We [p. [147]]
On 1 March 1845 President John Tyler signed a “Joint Resolution for Annexing Texas to the United States.” Leading up to that resolution, Congress and the national press vigorously debated the question of Texas annexation and whether such an action would lead to war with Mexico or England or both. By 10 March 1845 Mexican government officials viewed the U.S. decision to annex Texas as a declaration of war. According to the Washington DCDaily National Intelligencer, the Mexican minister to the United States, Juan Almonte, wrote to Secretary of State James Buchanan that he considered the resolution to annex Texas “an act of aggression” against Mexico. Early rumors of the annexation were reported in Nauvoo by 11 March. Confirmation likely reached Nauvoo shortly thereafter; the day following this 18 March council meeting, the Nauvoo Neighbor included a report of the annexation. (Joint Resolution for Annexing Texas to the United States [1 Mar. 1845], Public Statutes at Large, 28th Cong., 2nd Sess., res. 8, pp. 797–798; “The Texas and Oregon Questions,” New York Herald, 30 Jan. 1845, [2]; “Highly Important from Europe,” New York Herald, 17 Feb. 1845, [2]; “Proceedings in Congress,” Daily National Intelligencer [Washington DC], 1 Mar. 1845, [2]; Council of Fifty, “Record,” 11 Mar. 1845; “The United States and Mexico,” Daily National Intelligencer, 10 Mar. 1845, [3]; News Item, Nauvoo Neighbor, 19 Mar. 1845, [2].)
The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845. . . . Edited by Richard Peters. 8 vols. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1846–1867.
New York Herald. New York City. 1835–1924.
Daily National Intelligencer. Washington DC. 1800–1869.