John C. Calhoun: “On His Resolutions in Reference to the War with Mexico”

From the moment he entered public life, John C. Calhoun was an impressive figure. When young members took control of the House of Representatives, Calhoun quickly became Speaker Henry Clay’s floor leader and ably carried out his duties of persuasion among representatives in order to get legislation moved through committees and to votes. To Americans of his day, Calhoun was one of the most important politicians in the nation and a key interpreter of the Constitution. Calhoun’s speech “On His Resolutions in Reference to the War with Mexico,” delivered in January 1848, addressed President James Polk’s ambitions for westward expansion. Polk’s view of Manifest Destiny extended all the way to the Pacific. The Mexican-American War was coming to a close and would soon grant the United States control of Texas, establish the U.S.-Mexican border at the Rio Grande, and cede to the United States a huge swath of the present-day southwestern United States. In December 1847, Calhoun had offered two resolutions to the Senate debate on how to terminate a war that the majority believed to have been unconstitutionally begun by Polk. In his January speech, he spoke on these resolutions, voicing concerns about Polk’s plans to essentially overthrow the government of Mexico in an effort to bring it to terms in negotiating a treaty.