Dr. Gene Smith - Texas Christian University

“AMERICANS ASPIRE TO SUPREMACY OVER THE FUTURE REPUBLICS OF THE NEW WORLD”: MANIFEST DESTINY AND THE ADAMS-ONÍS TREATY. Frenchman Arsène Lacarrière Latour, working on behalf of the Spanish government in the Southwest during 1816, reported that the “Americans aspire to supremacy over the future republics of the New World.” The American government works diligently “for this same end” and “the time will come, and unfortunately is not. . . far off, when the Americans . . . will pour in myriads into Mexico.” The author of this plan is Mr. Jefferson. The Jeffersonian presidents—Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe—wanted to acquire the Gulf region without waging war, and decaying Spanish power in the region made that possible. The turmoil in the region during the early-nineteenth century provided opportunities for ambitious Americans to exhibit an early form of “Manifest Destiny,” and the Adams-Onís Treaty did little to prevent Texas from ultimately falling under “Star and Stripes.” Save Texas History Symposium: New Directions in Texas and Borderlands History. September 14, 2019. Stephen F. Austin Hotel in Austin. For more information visit http://www.glo.texas.gov/save-texas-h...