This Jackdaw describes the course of the Mexican-American War and helps to put it in proper perspective. It discusses the role of the slavery issue, the influence of Manifest Destiny, the boundary disputes, and the important precedent set by James Polk in the use of presidential power to start and conduct a war. The atmosphere of the times is recreated by an array of hands-on documents — letters, newspapers, broadsides, prints, cartoons and photographs. Historian: Milton Meltzer. The contents of this Jackdaw feature:

• Heading West
• Manifest Destiny
• Inside Mexico
• Our Country, Right or Wrong?
• War Abroad, Dissent at Home
• Victory and a Divided Nation

• Chronology & map of the Mexican-American War, 1945-1848
• The first page of the New York Daily Tribune, May 13, 1846, containing President Polk’s war message.
• The second page of the New York Daily Tribune, May 12, 1846, with a Horace Greeley editorial.
• The second page of the New York Daily Tribune, May 28, 1846, with a report from the battlefield.
• A recruiting poster.
• Page of an antiwar speech by Congressman Severance from the Appendix to the Congressional Globe, February 4, 1847.
• A sheet of battle art.
• A letter from an American soldier in the field and transcript.
• Lincoln’s “spot” resolutions from The Congressional Globe, December 22, 1847.
• The first page of The American Star, October 20, 1847.
• A political caricature sheet.