Slidell's Mission to Mexico

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SLIDELL'S MISSION TO MEXICO

SLIDELL'S MISSION TO MEXICO. John Slidell, a Democratic congressman from Louisiana, was sent to Mexico by President James K. Polk in November 1845 to secure a boundary adjustment between the United States and Mexico. Polk authorized Slidell to offer Mexico up to $50 million for its vast northern territories. Unwilling to part with its territory, the Mexican government formally rejected Slidell's proposal in December 1845. Determined to take the territories one way or another, the Polk administration turned to a military option. After a two-year war, the United States won by force all the territory it had originally sought to purchase through Slidell's mission.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bauer, K. Jack. The Mexican War, 1846–48. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1992.

Pletcher, David M. The Diplomacy of Annexation: Texas, Oregon and the Mexican War. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1973.

Louis MartinSears/a. g.

See alsoMexican-American War ; Mexico City, Capture of ; Mexico, Relations with ; Westward Migration .