Free Republic

On July 7, 1846, a contingent of Marines raised the American flag over Monterey, California, to mark a proclamation by U.S. consul Thomas Larkin that the territory was being annexed as a consequence of the war with Mexico. Much of the future state had already been taken from Mexico's nominal control by an uprising of American settlers under the Bear Flag. Victory in the Mexican War meant that the country gained Texas, California, and everything in between, comprising most of what is now New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming. Next to the War of Independence and the Civil...

GIDDINGS, Texas (KXAN) — The Texas Rangers are now involved in an investigation in Giddings after multiple stabbings, which then led to an officer-involved shooting. The Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed four people were stabbed Monday morning, and the suspect was shot dead by a Giddings officer. Local and state law enforcement officials had three different areas blocked off with crime scene tapes — one at a pest control business on U.S. Highway 77, one at a gas station up the street and a third location around the corner from the gas station on Independence Street. “Stuff like this...

Third Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Jonesboro, Illinois September 15, 1858 MR. DOUGLAS' SPEECH. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: I appear before you today in pursuance of a previous notice, and have made arrangements with Mr. Lincoln to divide time, and discuss with him the leading political topics that now agitate the country. Prior to 1854 this country was divided into two great political parties known as Whig and Democratic. These parties differed from each other on certain questions which were then deemed to be important to the best interests of the Republic. Whig and Democrats differed about a bank, the...