Polk's war message is addressed to Congress, and begins by saying that conflicts between the United States of America and Mexico have to be addressed soon . He wants to see diplomacy take place between the two countries, which is the reason that John Slidell, an American diplomat, was sent to Mexican territories, in order to talk about the killing of United States citizens on American land and the Texas boundary. The Mexican government did not listen to Slidell at all. The Mexican General that Slidell was suppose to meet with did not end up meeting with him because before Slidell arrived, this government was overthrown. The leader of this revolution that overthrew the government was unwilling to listen to Slidell or negotiate with him. Polk put military forces near the southern border between Texas an Mexico in order to avoid invasion by the Mexicans. The Mexicans ordered American forces to retreat and when they did not comply, Mexican military attacked- resulting in 16 American casualties. Polk the realized that the Mexicans did not want peace with America and that all commerce between the countries had been ruined. If the USA had been more aggressive, they could have avoided conflict. The reason that the USA had to go to war was because Mexico declared war to regain Texas which killed Americans and violated their rights.
The XYZ Affair can be related to this topic because this was another failed attempt at diplomacy by the United States, with a foreign country, that ultimately led to war with the other country. The other country in both circumstances refused to negotiate with the American diplomats entering their country, which resulted in war. The XYZ Affair led to a Quasi-war between the French and the United States
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