American Diplomacy
under
Tyler and Polk
THE ALBERT SHAW LECTURES
ON DIPLOMATIC HISTORY
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By the liberality of Albert Shaw, Ph. D., of New York City, the Johns Hopkins University has been enabled to provide an annual course of lectures on Diplomatic History. The courses are included in the regular work of the Department of History and are published under the direction of Professor John M. Vincent.
page: [][View Page []]THE ALBERT SHAW LECTURES ON
DIPLOMATIC HISTORY,
1906American Diplomacy
under
Tyler and Polk
By JESSE S. REEVES, Ph. D.
Assistant Professor of Political Science in Dartmouth CollegeBALTIMORE THE JOHNS HOPKINS PRESS 1907
COPYRIGHT, 1907
THE JOHNS HOPKINS PRESS
PRESS OF
KOHN & POLLOCK, INC.
BALTIMORE
CONTENTS
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- Introduction
-
CHAPTER I
The Northeastern Boundary Controversy 1 -
CHAPTER II
The Ashburton Treaty 28 -
CHAPTER III
The Relations between Mexico and the United States concerning Texas, 1825-1840 58 -
CHAPTER IV
The Relations between the United States and Mexico during the Secretaryship of Daniel Webster, 1841-1843 89 -
CHAPTER V
The Negotiations for Texas under Upshur 114 -
CHAPTER VI
Calhoun and the attempted Annexation of Texas by Treaty 138 -
CHAPTER VII
The Annexation of Texas by Joint Resolution 162 -
CHAPTER VIII
The Northwestern Boundary Controversy 190 - page: [][View Page []]
-
CHAPTER IX
The Joint Occupation of Oregon 224 -
CHAPTER X
The Oregon Treaty 243 -
CHAPTER XI
Polk's attempted Negotiation for California 265 -
CHAPTER XII
The Outbreak of the Mexican War 288 -
CHAPTER XIII
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1848 309 - Index 331
TO MY BROTHER,
WILLIAM PETERS REEVES, PH. D.
INTRODUCTION
The selection of the administrations of Tyler and Polk for treatment in a course of lectures upon American diplomatic history may seem somewhat arbitrary. Upon closer view, however, one sees that there is so much of continuity in the foreign relations of the United States during the terms of these two Presidents, both of whom have been called "accidental," that the years 1841 to 1849 may fairly be said to constitute an epoch quite distinct from the Jacksonian era, which preceded them, and the ante-bellum period proper, which followed. Yet it would be misleading to state that this epoch presented for solution problems altogether novel. The problems for the most part were as old as the nation. It was the method of their solution which was new. The questions which dominated the foreign policy of Tyler's and Polk's time were mainly those of boundary, dating from the first treaty of peace with England. The administrations of these two Presidents accomplished the settlement of three boundary questions: the northeastern and northwestern through negotiation, the southwestern by conquest.
These chapters in the history of American diplomacy deal principally with the questions of boundary. To have considered all of the diplomatic events during the years 1841 to 1849 would have exceeded the limits of the present volume. The relations with China, Hawaii, New Granada, and Yucatan, to name page: [][View Page []] only a few matters of importance, have been omitted in order to give space for sketches of the development of the three boundary problems. These preliminary outlines were necessary for the purpose of showing the diplomatic issues as they existed in 1841.
With the exceptions of Chapters XII and XIII the text is printed substantially as delivered in the form of lectures at the Johns Hopkins University. Chapter XIII appeared in the American Historical Review for January, 1905; Chapter XII is largely taken up with the report of Mackenzie upon his visit to Santa Anna, which, I believe, has never before been printed. Perhaps it should be stated that the book was written wholly from materials accessible in the United States.
I take this opportunity of expressing my obligations to the authorities of the Lenox Library, New York, of the Chicago Historical Society, of the Library of Congress, and of the Department of State for courtesies had at their hands. To Mr. Worthington C. Ford, of the Library of Congress, and to Messrs. Andrew H. Allen and Pendleton King, formerly chiefs respectively of the Bureau of Rolls and Library and of the Bureau of Indexes and Archives of the Department of State, I desire to express my thanks for their unfailing kindness and ready assistance. I am under many obligations to Professor Vincent, of the Johns Hopkins University, for valuable suggestions, and to Miss Mabel M. Reese, of Baltimore, Maryland, for her assistance in seeing the book through the press.
JESSE S. REEVES.
Richmond, Indiana,
August 12, 1907.
