Note 29 — VI THE AMERICAN ATTITUDE ON THE EVE OF WAR 1845

56W. S. Parrott to Buchanan, June 29, 1845. The correspondence between Buchanan and Slidell contains, to be sure, expressions indicating a design to influence public opinion in the United States. January 20, 1846, the minister was directed to conduct himself “with such wisdom and firmness in the crisis” that the voice of the American people would be “unanimous in favor of redressing the wrongs of our much injured and long suffering claimants” (Buchanan, no. 5). But as Herrera had now refused to receive Slidell and a peaceful settlement had become extremely improbable, this was obviously a wise and proper injunction, and by no means implied that a rupture had been desired. No one who goes open-mindedly through the documents can accept the fine-spun theory that Polk knew Slidell would not be received, and sent him in order to make a show of pacific intentions and obtain a pretext for war. He already had better grounds for war; and had he been determined to fight, he would have been extremely foolish to offer his intended victim an opportunity to restore friendly relations, for undeniably it was quite possible—from the American point of view, considering the comparative weakness of Mexico, far more than possible—that she would seize upon it. Polk, Diary, Mar. 28–30; Apr. 3. American (Whig) Review, 1847, p. 325. Slidell, no. 13, Apr. 2. Id., Apr. 9 (Curtis, Buchanan, i, 599).