A History of the American People

The people of this continent alone have the right to decide their own destiny.' He said:The only
way to treat John Bull is to look him straight in the eye.' But the last thing on earth he intended
was to get into a scrap with Britain at a time when war with Mexico loomed. Moreover, it was
unnecessary. The fur trade had declined in relative and absolute importance, and the Hudson Bay
trapping areas south of the 49th were no longer of great consequence. Sir Robert Peel, the British
Prime Minister, was enmeshed in his crowning struggle to repeal the Corn Laws and had no
intention of wasting his energies on a strip of largely uninhabited territory in western Canada.
The British public did not give a damn. By June 1846 Peel had split his party over Corn Law
Repeal and was on his way out of office. One of his last acts was to settle for the 49th parallel
and send a draft treaty to this effect to Washington. On June 15 Buchanan signed it for America
and three days later it was ratified by the Senate after perfunctory debate. Ignored, the raucous
Fifty-Four-Fortiers subsided. Thus are disputes involving vast territories settled, calmly and
swiftly, when the two parties are both civilized states with a common language, fundamental
common interests, and common sense.
By this time America was at war with Mexico. Looking back on it, it is easy to reach the
conclusion that the Mexicans were foolish and the Americans hypocritical. Polk wanted war
because he wanted California. But he did not want to start it. The Mexicans played straight into
his hands by allowing their pride to overcome their prudence. Two days after Polk got to the
White House the Mexican ambassador broke off relations and went home in protest at the
annexation of Texas. That was silly, since Texas was a lost cause and, if the Mexicans wanted to
retain California, or some of it, it was vital for them to keep up negotiations. Meanwhile Polk
made his preparations. As early as June 1845 he got his Navy Secretary to send secret orders to
Commodore Sloat, commanding the Pacific Station, that he was to seize San Francisco
immediately he could ascertain with certainty' that Mexico was at war. In October, the War Secretary was instructed by Polk to write to Thomas O. Larkin, US consul in Monterey:Whilst
the President will make no effort and use no influence to induce California to become one of the
free and independent states of the Union, yet if the people should desire to unite their destiny
with ours, they would be received as brethren, whenever this can be done without affording
Mexico just cause for complaint.' At this time the numbers of American settlers and Mexican
inhabitants were about equal, and the message was calculated to incite the Americans to take
over, as they had in Texas.
However, in Polk's favor it has to be said that Mexico was a tiresome neighbor, always asking
for trouble. It borrowed huge sums of money and then repudiated its debts. It had periodic civil
wars in which the property of foreigners was pillaged. France had taken a much higher line with
Mexico in 1839, sending a naval squadron to bombard San Juan de Ulua, in revenge for
outrages. America had submitted its claims for compensation to an independent commission,
which had awarded it $3 million. In 1843 Mexico had agreed to pay this, plus accrued interest, in
twenty installments, quarterly. But only three deadlines were met. In November 1845 Polk said
he would put the whole series of issues on a businesslike basis:' America would assume responsibility for the debt if Mexico recognized the Rio Grande as the new border between the two countries; it would pay $ 5 million for New Mexico; andmoney would be no object' if
Mexico ceded California. On January 12, 1846, after another brief civil war, the new Mexican
military government, which was violently anti-American, refused even to see the US minister
plenipotentiary. The following day Polk ordered General Zachary Taylor (1784-1850), `Old
Rough-and-Ready,' to take up station with his army on the Rio Grande. By May Polk had
concluded that war was inevitable and got his Cabinet to approve a war message to Congress. As