Brazil, Slavery, and The Daily Union

Article by The Daily Union: Summary

The primary source being analyzed is a newspaper article by The Daily Union written in September of 1845. The article is titled “Will Mexico Declare War?” and begins discussing the war between Mexico and Texas. At this time, Texas had been annexed under the United States, but it was still questioned whether Mexico would accept a peace treaty. The article then begins discussing tensions between England and the United States over the issue of slavery. The tension originated from England’s desire to be economically superior and wanting to end the monopoly the United States and Brazil had over trade and agriculture by using slave labor. In July of that year, England declared to emancipate the slaves in Brazil using force. Brazil and England had previously made agreements surrounding the slave trade, but Brazil failed to follow such agreements and some members of the English government wished to punish Brazil by seizing their ships and confiscating Brazilian goods. However, this was not a universal view in the English government as some worried it may be seen as an act of war. The article ends with no clear prediction for what will happen between these countries and ends with the question of “And who can close his eyes to the fact, that, whether Mexico will declare war of accept peace, depends upon England?” (The Daily Union, 415).

Author Information

The author of this article is unknown but the newspaper company that published the work was an American owned company located in Washington D.C. This American perspective creates a bias towards other countries and with slavery still being legal at the time, there will also be a different perspective towards countries that abolished slavery. While the article is fairly unbiased and objective, it offers little details on the multiple sides of the story, thus leaving out vital information.

Works Cited

The Daily Union. (Washington, DC), Sep. 2 1845. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn82003410/1845-09-02/ed-1/.