James Polk, Part 1

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VOICE ONE:

THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English.

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As we reported in our last program of THE MAKING OF A NATION,
Texas in the eighteen-forties had become a major issue in American
politics. Congress in eighteen-hundred-forty-five passed a
resolution inviting Texas to join the Union as a state.

President Tyler signed the bill on
March first, just three days before he stepped down as president and
James K. Polk moved into the White House. Britain and France tried
to prevent Texas from becoming a state. They got Mexico to agree to
recognize Texas independence, but only if Texas would not join the
United States. Texas thus had two choices. It could become a state
in the United States. Or it could continue as a republic, with its
independence recognized by Mexico. The Texas Congress chose
statehood.

VOICE TWO:

James Polk had campaigned for the presidency on two promises. He
declared that he would make all of Texas and all of Oregon part of
the United States. The people had elected Polk because they shared
his belief that the United States should extend from sea to sea --
from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans. They felt it was God's
will, and their duty, to spread American democracy and freedom
across the continent. In the words of poet Walt Whitman:

"It is for the interest of mankind that America's power and
territory should be extended...the farther, the better."

VOICE ONE:

Traders from New England were the first Americans to visit
Oregon. They stopped on the Oregon coast to trade for animal skins.

Later, American explorers Lewis and Clark crossed the Louisiana
territory to reach Oregon. And in eighteen-hundred-eleven, John
Jacob Astor built a fur trading center at the mouth of Oregon's
Columbia River.

British explorers had given Britain claims to the same territory.
The British Hudson's Bay Company also built a trading center on the
Columbia and claimed a large area north of it. The two countries
could not agree on how to divide Oregon between them. Since there
were few settlers in Oregon, Britain and the United States agreed to
occupy the territory jointly.

This system worked well until the eighteen-forties. Then,
thousands of Americans began moving west to Oregon. The new settlers
were not satisfied with the joint occupation agreement. They wanted
all of Oregon to belong to the United States.

VOICE TWO:

President Polk said he thought the
United States had strong claims to all of the territory. But he said
he would compromise. He offered to divide Oregon at the forty-ninth
parallel of latitude. All north of this line would belong to
Britain. All south of it -- including the Columbia River -- would
belong to the United States.

The offer was given to Britain's minister in Washington. He
rejected it, refusing even to send it to London. He said Britain
would accept nothing but the Columbia River as the southern border
of British Oregon. President Polk withdrew the offer. He said
America had no choice but to claim all of Oregon. He used strong
language and seemed to say that the United States would fight, if
necessary, to defend its claim.

VOICE ONE:

Polk really did not want war. But he thought a strong position
was necessary in negotiating with Britain. He said softer treatment
only led to stronger demands from Britain. Polk asked Congress to
give him permission to end the joint occupation agreement. It did so
in the spring of eighteen-hundred-forty-six.

In London, the British government decided that Oregon was not
worth a war with the United States. It had demanded the Columbia
River border because of the Hudson's Bay trading center on the
river. The center had been moved farther north to Vancouver Island.
So there was no real reason to continue this demand. The British
foreign minister proposed a treaty that would make the forty-ninth
parallel of latitude the border between the United States and
British Oregon. The proposal was almost the same that President Polk
had made earlier.

VOICE TWO:

Leaders in the western United States demanded that Polk reject
the British offer. They wanted all of Oregon. Polk decided to let
the Senate vote on the British proposal. The Senate accepted the
treaty, and Polk signed it.

The treaty made the forty-ninth parallel the border from the
Rocky mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The southern border of the
Oregon territory was the forty-second parallel. South of this was
California. The United States, for some time, had wanted to buy
California from Mexico.

Former President Tyler had asked his minister to Mexico to try to
buy California. The minister, Waddy Thompson, had been to
California. He described it as the richest, the most beautiful, the
healthiest country in the world. Thompson said the port of San
Francisco was big enough to hold all the navies of the world. He
said San Francisco, some day, would control the trade of all of the
Pacific Ocean.

VOICE ONE:

There was little chance that Thompson could get California from
Mexico. But then something happened that destroyed any chance of
getting California peacefully. The commander of a United States navy
force in the Pacific, Thomas Jones, received news that led him to
believe the United States was at war with Mexico.

He sailed to Monterey, the capital of California. The navy force
arrived there in October, eighteen-hundred-forty-two. Jones and his
men seized Monterey and held it for two days. He found he had made a
mistake and returned the town to Mexican officials. Jones
apologized. But his actions greatly angered Mexican leaders. They
refused even to talk about selling California to the United States.

VOICE TWO:

Mexico broke relations with the United States when Congress
approved statehood for Texas. Mexican officials had warned that
Texas statehood would lead to war. After Polk became president, he
sent a representative to Mexico to try to establish diplomatic
relations again. A weak government was in power in Mexico, headed by
President Jose Joaquin Herrera.

Herrera at first agreed to meet with the American, John Slidell,
to discuss four offers from President Polk. Earlier, Mexico had
agreed to pay more than two-million dollars for damages claimed by
Americans. But it did not have the money. Slidell was to offer to
pay these claims if Mexico would accept the Rio Grande River as the
border between Texas and Mexico. And America would pay Mexico
five-million dollars for New Mexico and twenty-five-million more for
California. If these offers were rejected, Slidell was to try to buy
part of California for five-million dollars.

VOICE ONE:

Slidell arrived in Mexico city in December,
eighteen-hundred-forty-five. The Mexican government had grown even
weaker. And Herrera was afraid he would be forced from power if he
met with the American diplomat. The Herrera government fell anyway.
And the new Mexican government refused to talk with the American
representative. Slidell returned to the United States, firm in the
belief that only force could win the Mexican territories the United
States wanted.

President Polk shared Slidell's belief. He learned in January,
eighteen-hundred-forty-six, that Mexico had refused to negotiate
with his representative. Polk had wanted a peaceful settlement of
the differences with Mexico. This now seemed impossible. Perhaps, he
thought, a more forceful policy would Make Mexico negotiate.

VOICE TWO:

President Polk had sent several thousand American soldiers to
Texas six months before, when Texas accepted statehood. This force,
led by General Zachary Taylor, had camped near the town of Corpus
Christi at the mouth of the Nueces River. Polk now ordered Taylor's
soldiers to the Rio Grande River. He told them to stay on the north
side of the river. Should Mexico attack, Taylor and his men were to
strike back as hard as possible. General Taylor was glad to get his
orders. For months, his men had been training at Corpus Christi.
They were ready for action.

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VOICE ONE:

You have been listening to the Special English program, THE
MAKING OF A NATION. Your narrators were Jack Weitzel and Lew Roland.
Our program was written by Frank Beardsley. THE MAKING OF A NATION
can be heard Thursdays.