After rejecting the annexation of Texas in the 1830s, the United States stood by as the people of the Republic of Texas sought to create favorable foreign relations on their own. Texas signed treaties with France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Great Britain and was able to secure loans for commercial development. Mexico continued to threaten the Lone Star Republic, and in 1843 President Santa Anna declared that any attempt to annex Texas to the United States would be considered an "equivalent to a declaration of war against the Mexican Republic." Despite its good relations and favorable treatment from Great Britain, Houston still desired annexation, but only on the condition that the United States would provide military protection in case of a Mexican attack. President Tyler submitted an annexation Treaty to the Senate, but it was rejected; President Tyler nevertheless kept his promise to provide protection and sent ships to the Gulf of Mexico and troops to the Texas border.
Congressmen John Quincy Adams, by now an open advocate of the abolition of slavery, and others maintained that no one had the power to annex a foreign nation to the United States. The issue was slavery—a free Texas would hem in slavery in the South and prevent expansion to territories west of Texas; a slave Texas would expand the scope of slavery enormously because of the size of the state. There was even talk of dividing Texas into several slave states. Great Britain was interested in Texas and was considering an offer to buy out all the slaves in exchange for other concessions.
The 1844 Election. The presidential campaign of 1844 turned on the issue of expansion, both in Texas and in the Oregon territory. The Whigs nominated Henry Clay for president and the Democrats James K. Polk of Tennessee along with George M. Dallas of Pennsylvania as the vice presidential candidate. A third party, the Liberty Party, whose chief issue was anti-slavery, nominated James Birney. Henry Clay took a stance against the annexation of Texas, and his anti-expansion position cost him the election, although it was very close. In fact, the outcome in the electoral college turned on the results in New York State, where Birney took enough votes away from Clay to throw the election to James K. Polk, Tennessee's "Young Hickory."
With the election results clearly favoring the annexation of Texas, President Tyler recommended that Texas be annexed to the United States by a joint resolution of Congress. He cited the election results as one reason and possible intervention by Great Britain as an additional justification. The joint resolution was used to get around the necessity of a two thirds vote in the Senate required for treaty ratification, a ploy which was later used in other similar cases.57 The resolution was eventually passed. It provided that Texas would immediately become a state, bypassing territorial status, as soon as its boundary was officially settled and its constitution submitted to the President of the United States. The act also provided that the new state might be divided into as many as four additional states and that all its defense works and property be transferred to the United States.
President Polk and Mexico. When Congress passed a joint resolution for the annexation of Texas, Mexico severed diplomatic relations with the United States. Furthermore, Mexico claimed the legitimate boundary between Texas and Mexico was at the Nueces River, over one hundred miles north of the Rio Grande. In May 1845 President Polk ordered the commander of United States forces in the Southwest, General Zachary Taylor, known as "Old Rough and Ready," to move his troops into Texas and position himself "on or near the Rio Grande River." General Taylor initially positioned himself just south of the Nueces River near
Corpus Christi. In early 1846 he built Fort Texas across the Rio Grande from the Mexican city of Matamoros and blockaded the river.
President Polk had a goal upon taking office of the acquisition of California and New Mexico. He sent John Slidell on a secret mission to Mexico with an offer to purchase the territories. Polk was prepared to offer up to $50 million for the area. Although the Mexican government had initially agreed to meet with Slidell, when they found out that his mission was not only about the Texas boundary but also about the western territories, the Mexican government refused to receive him.58
By April 1846 a Mexican force had positioned itself opposite Taylor's troops on the Rio Grande. General Mariano Arista, who had several thousand troops in Matamoros, sent a cavalry force across the Rio Grande upriver from Matamoros. This move precipitated a clash with American troops, resulting in eleven American deaths. President Polk then sent a message to Congress, stating that the United States had a "strong desire to establish peace with Mexico on liberal and honorable terms." He added, "Mexico has passed the boundary of the United States, has invaded our territory, and shed American blood upon the American soil." After reviewing the events leading to the crisis, including the rejection of the Slidell mission, he stated:
The grievous wrongs perpetrated by Mexico upon our citizens throughout a long period of years remain unredressed, and solemn treaties pledging her public faith for this redress have been disregarded. A government either unable or unwilling to enforce the execution of such treaties fails to perform one of its plainest duties.
Abolitionists claimed that Polk's provocative action in sending Taylor to the Rio Grande was in itself an act of war; an anti-war movement grew, especially in the Northeast. Henry David Thoreau wrote an essay on "Civil Disobedience" and refused to pay his taxes, and Congressman John Quincy Adams opposed the war in the House of Representatives. The new Whig Congressman from Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, introduced a set of "Spot Resolutions," demanding that the president reveal the exact spot on which blood had been shed, meaning on Mexican or American soil. This very unpopular war became known as "Mr. Polk's War" primarily because of the fear of the extension of slavery. The vote for war was 174-14 in the House and 40-2 in the Senate, but antiwar sentiment ran deep, especially among Northern Whigs and abolitionists. Once President Polk put soldiers in harm's way, it was difficult for opponents to muster votes against the war.
World History
