Celeste Martinez
Assignment 4 During his term, U.S. President James K. Polk oversaw the greatest territorial expansion of the United States to date. Polk accomplished this through the annexation of Texas in 1845, the negotiation of the Oregon Treaty with Great Britain in 1846, and the conclusion of the Mexican-American War in 1848, which ended with the signing and ratiication of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in 1848.
The annexation of Texas to the United States became a topic of political and diplomatic discussion after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and became a matter of international concern between 1836 and 1845, when Texas was a republic. In September 1836 Texas voted overwhelmingly in favor of annexation, but when the Texas minister …show more content…
The British were against to annexation and even contemplated the use of force to prevent it. They did not wish to add Texas to the British Empire, but they did want to prevent the westward expansion of the United States, to reap commercial advantages from Texas trade, and to tamper with the American tarif system and the institution of slavery. President John Tyler, concluding that Texas must not become a satellite of Great Britain, proposed annexation. After some struggles, Houston consented to the negotiation of a treaty of annexation, which was rejected by the United States Senate in June 1844. Annexation then became an issue in the presidential election of 1844. James K. Polk, who favored annexation, was elected. Tyler suggested that annexation be accomplished by a joint resolution ofering Texas statehood on certain conditions, the acceptance of which by Texas would complete the merger. The United States Congress passed the annexation resolution on February 28, 1845. Texas is admitted as a state on December 29, 1845 under Polk (PowerPoint Ch.14 slide …show more content…
4th, 1845, wrote to the Secretary, "Mexico having as yet made no positive declaration of war, or committed any overt act of hostilities, I do not feel at liberty under my instructions, particularly those of July 8th, to make a forward movement to the Rio Grande without authority from the war department." As there was no invasion to repel, and as his march into the Mexican territory in time of peace would be an act of aggression, he prudently waited for further orders. January, 1846, the irst dispatch was received from Slidell in Mexico, from which it appeared probable that, although the Mexican Government had not yet refused to receive him, it would enter into no negotiation with him, except in reference to Texas. It had been hoped that Mexico would agree to sell California in exchange for the claims against Mexico .The very next day peremptory orders were sent to Taylor to advance to the Rio Grande to try to provoke the Mexican forces in Laredo or Matamoros. In late March, Taylor, without having met with the slightest opposition, planted his standard on the bank of the Rio Grande and placed a battery of eighteen pounders one the east bank of the Rio Grande. The New Mexican president Mariano Paredes y Arrillaga was not intimidated by this show of force. He expelled the U.S. envoy
Assignment 4 During his term, U.S. President James K. Polk oversaw the greatest territorial expansion of the United States to date. Polk accomplished this through the annexation of Texas in 1845, the negotiation of the Oregon Treaty with Great Britain in 1846, and the conclusion of the Mexican-American War in 1848, which ended with the signing and ratiication of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in 1848.
The annexation of Texas to the United States became a topic of political and diplomatic discussion after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and became a matter of international concern between 1836 and 1845, when Texas was a republic. In September 1836 Texas voted overwhelmingly in favor of annexation, but when the Texas minister …show more content…
The British were against to annexation and even contemplated the use of force to prevent it. They did not wish to add Texas to the British Empire, but they did want to prevent the westward expansion of the United States, to reap commercial advantages from Texas trade, and to tamper with the American tarif system and the institution of slavery. President John Tyler, concluding that Texas must not become a satellite of Great Britain, proposed annexation. After some struggles, Houston consented to the negotiation of a treaty of annexation, which was rejected by the United States Senate in June 1844. Annexation then became an issue in the presidential election of 1844. James K. Polk, who favored annexation, was elected. Tyler suggested that annexation be accomplished by a joint resolution ofering Texas statehood on certain conditions, the acceptance of which by Texas would complete the merger. The United States Congress passed the annexation resolution on February 28, 1845. Texas is admitted as a state on December 29, 1845 under Polk (PowerPoint Ch.14 slide …show more content…
4th, 1845, wrote to the Secretary, "Mexico having as yet made no positive declaration of war, or committed any overt act of hostilities, I do not feel at liberty under my instructions, particularly those of July 8th, to make a forward movement to the Rio Grande without authority from the war department." As there was no invasion to repel, and as his march into the Mexican territory in time of peace would be an act of aggression, he prudently waited for further orders. January, 1846, the irst dispatch was received from Slidell in Mexico, from which it appeared probable that, although the Mexican Government had not yet refused to receive him, it would enter into no negotiation with him, except in reference to Texas. It had been hoped that Mexico would agree to sell California in exchange for the claims against Mexico .The very next day peremptory orders were sent to Taylor to advance to the Rio Grande to try to provoke the Mexican forces in Laredo or Matamoros. In late March, Taylor, without having met with the slightest opposition, planted his standard on the bank of the Rio Grande and placed a battery of eighteen pounders one the east bank of the Rio Grande. The New Mexican president Mariano Paredes y Arrillaga was not intimidated by this show of force. He expelled the U.S. envoy