GOD & TEXAS: Neutral Ground

“Neutrality is my superpower. It allows me to avoid all arguments and take a nap.” This anonymous quote certainly reflects the thinking of many people today. While partisan zealots loudly state their views, a vast group of neutral bystanders remains silent. 

And yet, some government representatives determined that the best course of action was to declare a large strip of disputed land between Louisiana and Spanish Texas a Neutral Ground! In 1806, following the Louisiana Purchase, U.S. Gen. James Wilkinson and Spanish Lt. Col. Simón de Herrera declared that a portion of land along the Sabine River was to be Neutral Ground. Neither country could claim or patrol it.

Their misguided thinking assumed that this Neutral Ground would be a peaceful respite between the two countries. The land was to remain vacant and left to nature. Settlers and industry were prohibited. What could possibly go wrong?

Almost immediately, settlers from the United States moved into the ungoverned area establishing homes, churches, and businesses. The indigenous tribes that were already living there grew more hostile. The conflict intensified when remnants of the Shawnee, Delaware, and Cherokee tribes immigrated there from eastern states.  

Worse yet, escaped convicts, counterfeiters, and horse thieves joined with runaway slaves, political refugees, and fortune hunters to create civil chaos. With no supervising government, anarchy ruled. Very quickly, the Neutral Ground fulfilled Judges 21:25, “In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.”

When gangs of robbers organized attacks on travelers on El Camino Real, angry merchants took matters into their own hands. They formed vigilante groups hoping to rid their Neutral Ground of unsavory characters. Unfortunately, the vigilantes became one more uncontrolled nuisance in the already strained society. 

Finally, the United States and Spanish governments sent joint military units into the Neutral Ground. Though they provided limited relief, the two governments finally agreed to the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1821, that ceded the Neutral Ground to the United States. Order was finally restored, and the failed experiment became an historical oddity.

“Neutral men are the devil’s allies!” This old adage by American poet Edwin Hubbel Chapin certainly applies to the Neutral Ground. Declaring land impartial almost usually ends in failure. The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in Korea and the German neutral zone in Rhineland created by the Treaty of Versailles produced no good result. 

Though Jesus is seen as a man of peace, He also brought an end to neutrality. Jesus said in Matthew 12:30 ESV, “Whoever is not with me is against me!” In the walk of Christianity, there is no place for neutrality. Jesus chastised the Church of Laodicea for being “neither hot or cold,…I will spew you out of my mouth!” (Revelation 3:15,16 ESV.)

In these Last Days before Christ returns, we must stand up for truth and proclaim it boldly. May we say with the Apostle Paul, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ” (Romans 1:16).

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