History: Good or bad if Texas annexed CZM in 1838?

[Johnoly]

..If the annexation had stuck, how different would Cozumel be?

There would be a fudge store every 100 feet downtown.

 

[ggunn]

There would be a fudge store every 100 feet downtown.

Fudge store? I live in Texas and I have never seen a fudge store. Is "fudge store" a euphemism for something else?

 

[El Graduado]

DandyDon, in the anemone thread (I am moving it here) said:

"Those Texicans in those days couldn't even manage their lands north of El Paso. President Lamar sent an expedition to establish claims as far west as the Rio Grande (which turns north from El Paso, thru Albuquerque, to Colorado), but they got lost and wintered below the Caprock in the Panhandle. The older half then returned to south Texas while the younger half were arrested when they reached Santa Fe, were captured by Mexican soldiers, then marched to Mexico City with some surviving the trip. Lamar made a number of errors in those days."

I agree with you, DandyDon, M.B. Lamar made some bad decisions, but this wasn't one of them. Sam Houston was president when the Brutus and Invencible claimed Cozumel for Texas. He cancelled the claim because Texas and Yucatan (another independent republic at the time) were allies against General Santa Anna's Mexico and he didn't want to piss them off.

Even so, Sam Houston was later involved as a partner in a Galveston, Texas company that was formed in 1841 for the purpose of purchasing Cozumel from the Yucatan government. A deposit was put down, sections of the island surveyed, and the deal was all set to be finalized when the US bank holding the balance of the 100,000usd purchase amount went insolvent. The partners lost their funds and the project was abandoned.

There was a second effort to buy Cozumel in 1862, when US President Abraham Lincoln tried to convince Benito Juarez to sell him the island so he could dump freed black slaves there. Juarez refused to sell, so Lincoln found another island off the coast of Haiti and started shipping freed slaves there. Read more about that in my book!

 

[DandyDon]

I agree with you, DandyDon, M.B. Lamar made some bad decisions, but this wasn't one of them.

Oh, I know. The Brutus and the Invincible Yucatan campaign was in the summer of 1837, and they both wrecked in Galveston on return in August, ending the Texas Navy for the time. President Lamar wasn't inaugurated until December 1, 1938 - with Sam Houston's 3 hour farewell speech.

It was the early days of the Republic and they all had much to learn. I doubt that Texas would have forfeited eastern New Mexico on joining the US if the Republic hadn't been in such financial problems.

 

[El Graduado]

But really, the US has never really been 'Colonial'.

For a country not really looking to collect colonies, the US still manage to collect quite a few islands along the way. Many have been granted their independence (like Palau), but the following list are those islands still owned by the US. I guess one could look at those islands to see how US administration has affected their cost of vacations, the condition of the reefs, and the number of fudge shops!

American Samoa
Bajo Nuevo Bank
Baker Island
Guam
Guantanamo (perpetual lease)
Howland Island
Jarvis Island
Johnston Atoll
Kingman Reef
Midway Islands
Navassa Island
Northern Mariana Islands
Palmyra Atoll
Puerto Rico
Serranilla Bank
U.S. Virgin Islands

 

[Manatee Diver]

Having the Northern Mariana Islands on the list isn't really fair, as unlike all the rest of the trust islands they voted to stay with the United States.

 

[Johnoly]

Fudge store??

In most every tiny tourist spot on the east coast you'll almost always find several storefronts that make melted fudge in their window to pour into molds and sell. The kids go wild tugging their parents sleeve to go inside for the smells and sweets.

 

[El Graduado]

Having the Northern Mariana Islands on the list isn't really fair, as unlike all the rest of the trust islands they voted to stay with the United States.

What I was trying to do with the list was to show a bunch of islands that are controlled by the US, so they could be used as examples to look at to see how US administration of an island affects the reef quality, cost of vacations, and number of fudge stores(!). I didn't think that whether an island was voluntarily, or involuntarily, under US control had much to do with it.

If it makes a difference, the Texans said Cozumel's inhabitants cheered the Texas flag-raising ceremony. I guess that means the were in favor of it!

 

[Manatee Diver]

What I was trying to do with the list was to show a bunch of islands that are controlled by the US, so they could be used as examples to look at to see how US administration of an island affects the reef quality, cost of vacations, and number of fudge stores(!). I didn't think that whether an island was voluntarily, or involuntarily, under US control had much to do with it.

I am not sure you can really make a good comparison as each location has had different administration, and some were more at the forefront than others. For example due to the heavy military presence Guam is basically a little bit of American in the middle of the Pacific, as the soldiers, airmen, marines, and sailors stationed there will want a taste of home. And as such gets such a large tourist population from Asia that it has different visa requirements compared to the US. Compared to say Midway Atoll where no one lives there at all, and they only allow a couple hundred tourists a year on special programs.

If it makes a difference, the Texans said Cozumel's inhabitants cheered the Texas flag-raising ceremony. I guess that means the were in favor of it!

As a Texan I always cheer when a Texas flag is being raised.

 

[D_Fresh]

I am not sure you can really make a good comparison as each location has had different administration, and some were more at the forefront than others. For example due to the heavy military presence Guam is basically a little bit of American in the middle of the Pacific, as the soldiers, airmen, marines, and sailors stationed there will want a taste of home. And as such gets such a large tourist population from Asia that it has different visa requirements compared to the US. Compared to say Midway Atoll where no one lives there at all, and they only allow a couple hundred tourists a year on special programs.

I totally agree with you. The special Guam visa program no longer exists however. Currently, a regular tourist Visa to the US is required. I know this because my Filipino girlfriend can no longer visit Guam as it's extremely difficult for unmarried women to get a tourist visa to the US. I really wish they would reinstate the special Guam and Northern Mariana Islands visa.
_

Regarding the list of US Territory islands, some of those are, as said, desired by the people of the islands, the rest are of strategic military importance. But yes, the reason is irrelevant to the discussion of how has it (or not) affected the areas. While even that is pure speculation, it is entertaining speculation nonetheless.