Note 17 — IX THE UNITED STATES MEETS THE CRISIS May—July, 1846

Polk, Diary, May 13, 1846. Wash. Union, May 21. 65Gen. orders 12. 59Circular. With the freedom that has commonly marked authors dealing with the unpopular Polk Von Holst says (U. S., iii, 339) that his profession of seeking only a peace was a “falsehood.” But Polk meant of course a peace satisfactory to the American government, for a peace satisfactory to Mexico would not have had to be “conquered,” and this implied in general about the terms that we actually imposed.