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Of all the major sources surrounding the controversial decision of the United Sates declaring and waging war on Mexico, the diary of President James K. Polk, tends to be under utilize by scholars when examining the cause of the U.S.-Mexican War. Written between 1845 and 1849, the diary is essential to find out why Polk pushed for war, which caused a firestorm among congressional members and public alike. More importunity it puts in to play on how the war with Mexico should be remembered as the result of his ambitions of finishing the conquest of the continent, which sought to gain the remaining European holdings in the Pacific Northwest and any disputed land left after the Texas Revolution (1835-1836). Similar to how the works we read for the class over this semester expanded our notion of not looking a the big events or subjects like the Civil War or slavery as one solid identity, but rather a multilayered network of connections that link people, places, and ideals to each other.
In his earliest dairy entry dated August 26, 1845, Secretary of State James Buchanan suggested to Polk that the United States assert and enforce their authority in the whole Oregon Territory and settle on a comprise between the border of the U.S. and Canada on the 49th parallel of the north latitude. However, when the British government refused the comprise Polk became infuriated that he was dined access to the Pacific and that rejection to him meant he would no longer give Britain peace. When Buchanan told Polk that if he were to carry out such intentions the U.S. would have war; to which Polk replied, “If we do have war it will not be our fault.”[1] This makes it clear that if Polk wanted any land he would resort to declaring war fortunately the subsequent the acquisition of the Oregon Territory was bloodless and was resolved with the signing of the Oregon Treaty in 1846. However, when Polk turned his attention to the southwest his wanting for land pulled the United States into an actual war.[2]
From his diary, we can see that Polk had established his intentions on the possible acquisition of California seven months before war was officially declared against Mexico. During a cabinet meeting on Friday October 24, 1845, in which they discussed the dispute over the Oregon Territory, Polk recognized that California played a key role in the balance of power in the Pacific and argued that the United would not permit Britain or any other European monarchy to establish any new colony. Since he believed, the Monroe Doctrine gave him the justification to take California and its fine San Francisco Bay in addition to Oregon.[3] As such, he sent Lieutenant Archibald H. Gillespie of the Marine Corps on a secret mission to the American counsel in California Monterey where he was instructed to inform Thomas Larkin to persuade California to secede from Mexico but it did not work.[4] On February 13, 1846, a man by the name of A. J. Atocha visited Polk on behalf of the exiled Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Anna who was in favor of establishing a new treaty which adjusted the boundary between the US and Mexico. Atocha stated that Santa Anna was willing to adjust the boundary in the way that the Del Norte would be the western Texas line and the Colorado of the West down through the San Francisco Bay to the sea will be the Mexican line for the price of thirty million dollars.[5] However, from the diary we learn that Polk never trusted Atocha and disregarded the offer. Instead, the only terms Polk would ever accept were his own when the relations between the U.S. and Mexico began to deteriorate by April due the establishment of the new government in Mexico by General Mariano Paredes who rejected Polk’s offering of a multimillion-dollar payment to negotiate a new treaty. In addition, to receiving word that Senator John Slidell of Louisiana was denied entering Mexico in which Polk called for Congressional legislation to be adopted to remedy the injuries and wrongs they had suffered.[6]
This diary entry alone opens the door on how scholars can see how Polk looked at this situation as an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. With the refusal of Mexico to negotiate and the rejection Senator Slidell, Polk wanted war in order to finally claim California for the U.S. and insert American authority firmly on the continent. However, this is where the debate gets murky in regards to Polk’s involvement in the actual start of the war. Did he purposely send troops down to the disputed boarder lands to start the fighting or was it an actual attack by Mexican forces that lead to war? Although Polk never mentions having perpetuated any wrongdoing he does make it perfectly clear that the entire objective in going to war with Mexico was not for conquest however in actuality:
“It was clear that in making peace we would if practicable obtain California and such other portion of the Mexican territory as would be sufficient to indemnify our claimants on Mexico and defray the expense of the war which that power by her long continued wrongs and injuries had forced us to wage.”[7]
This passage completely changes the perceptive of the war that is either missing in history books or in other scholarly articles how we should remember the war itself. Yes, some do argue it was a means of spreading slavery but this idea was never an issue because the passage of an appropriation bill on August 10, 1846, which prohibited slaveholding in the newly acquired territory and even Polk, recognized that slavery would not work in the new provinces.[8] More importantly, it was not fought for the retribution for the soldiers killed near the border but for the long awaited ability for Polk to claim the land he wanted. The land he felt was rightfully his in the name of American progress and expansion. Especially when Polk remarked that when it came time to make a treaty with Mexico he found that he could obtain a boundary from the mouth of the Rio Grande west to the Pacific by paying a few million more.[9]
In conclusion, if one chooses to do any research or work on the U.S.-Mexican War they need to use Polk’s diary. It is an important tool to trace the foundation and the events that set into motion Polk’s desire to call for war, which surprisingly may not be entirely Mexico’s fault but rather by the impulsive actions of president that probably not too many Americans know today. As such, one can combine his diary with other scholarly works to break the traditional narrative of a justifiable war in which united the nation. However, in the case of this project the diary will be used to seek how the war itself is remembered today. Nevertheless, if one chose to do so it is strongly recommended that other sources such as letters from Zachery Taylor, Archibald H. Gillespie, or John C. Frémont are need to get a better understanding of the orders Polk gave them since he does not go into detail is dairy. Especially Gillespie’s special mission to California, which Polk briefly mentions it since it was a secret mission.
[1] James Polk and Allan Nevins, Polk: the Diary of a President, 1845-1849: Covering the Mexican War, the Acquisition of Oregon, and the Conquest of California and the Southwest (New York: Longmans, Green and Co, 1968), 2-3.
[2] James Polk and Allan Nevins, Polk, 116.
[3] James Polk and Allan Nevins, Polk: the Diary of a President, 1845-1849: Covering the Mexican War, the Acquisition of Oregon, and the Conquest of California and the Southwest (New York: Longmans, Green and Co, 1968), 19.
[4] BGen Edwin H. Simmons, “The Secret Mission Of Archibald Gillespie,” Marine Corps Association Foundation, November 1968, accessed December 1, 2016, https://www.mca-marines.org/gazette/secret-mission-archibald-gillespie; James Polk and Allan Nevins, Polk, 22.
[7] James Polk and Allan Nevins, Polk: the Diary of a President, 1845-1849: Covering the Mexican War, the Acquisition of Oregon, and the Conquest of California and the Southwest (New York: Longmans, Green and Co, 1968), 91.