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Van Dyke, John : Speech of Mr. J. Van Dyke, of New Jersey, on the Causes, Management, Objects, and Advantages of the War with Mexico. Delivered in the House of Representatives of the United States, April 12, 1848

J. & G. S. Gideon, Printers., Washington, D.C.

Original publisher's beige paper wrappers. Text printed in black ink. No date, circa 1848. 5 3/4" x 9." Eight pages, complete. Pages are clean and intact except for light age toning, occasional foxing or spots of discoloration, a small stain in center affecting Pages 1-6 (text still readable), and some chipping and splitting along spine. A Very Good copy. A speech about the Mexican-American War that was originally delivered before the United States House of Representatives on April 12, 1848 by John Van Dyke (1807-1878), an American lawyer and politician. He served as a U.S. Representative from New Jersey from 1847-1851 and the Mayor of New Brunswick, New Jersey. He was a Whig. In this speech, Van Dyke addresses the Mexican-American War and notes that while the Democrats and Whigs appear to be at relative peace, he still wishes to examine key topics about the war's inception including how the war began, the manner in which the war started and was carried out, the objects of President James K. Polk and his administration in prosecuting the war, and the benefits the U.S. has gained from the war. Van Dyke begins this discussion by arguing that the U.S. annexation of Texas was the main cause of the war and thus the U.S. is liable for causing it. He briefly summarizes the Battle of San Jacinto and the Texas Revolution and compares the Texas annexation to that revolution; Van Dyke views both the Texas Revolution and its later annexation as indefensible. He also argues that Zachary Taylor's movement of troops to the Rio Grande was an act of hostile provocation and that Mexico had not attacked U.S. troops on American soil as had often been argued by Democratic politicians who supported the war. Van Dyke summarizes that the Polk administration was incompetent in its management of the war. In addressing the object of the Polk administration, Van Dyke ardently contends that "this Government has had but a single object in view, and that was to obtain land! land! land!" Van Dyke also quotes Samuel Houston, who apparently said in a recent speech at Tammany Hall, "[T]here was no concealing the fact, that this people were fond of land." Van Dyke further states that U.S. Minister John Slidell had been instructed by Polk to acquire New Mexico, California, and land "down to the Rio Grande." He claims that the real reason Taylor was ordered to march into Mexico, given that Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna had been defeated, was because Slidell's land negotiations had failed and Polk still wanted those territories in question. Van Dyke summarizes the correspondence between diplomat Nicholas Trist and the Mexican Commissioners, and he argues that it shows that Trist and Polk had forced a defeated Mexico to sell California and New Mexico to the U.S. under the threat of continued war. Van Dyke acknowledges that Mexico had not paid the U.S. its past indemnities and criticizes the financial costs of the territorial purchases and the war, but toward the end of the speech, he describes how the unquantifiable tragedies of the war, including lives lost and the collective human suffering of both sides, could never be paid back.. Book. Book Condition: Very Good. Binding: Soft cover

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