Correspondence of James K. Polk, Volume IV, 1837-1838 (review)

BOOK REVIEWS185 The author attributes the successful negotiation to several factors: Ashburton's willingness to back down on Madawaska when he realized that Maine would not yield the southern portion; John C. Calhoun 's crucial support in the Senate; fear of war with Great Britain; Webster's editorials; ignorance of iron ore deposits in the Mesabi and Vermilion Ranges of present Minnesota; adoit newspaper campaigns by both governments; and nimble usage of seemingly limitless varieties of eighteenth-century maps purporting to prove how the other side had been outfoxed (Jones's thorough discussion of the "red line" map controversy should quicken the pulse of any cartophile ). Although a vociferous minority in Britain and the United States denounced the treaty and its negotiators, their awkward opposition was overcome. Believing that the treaty not only "possibly prevented an Anglo-American conflict" (p. 138) but also improved the prospects of better Franco-British relations, a point which needs fuller exposition, Jones sees the negotiation as proof that "the strength of personal diplomacy still can override the seemingly irreversible elements of discord" (p. 180). But, he might have added, only when all parties desire peace and have grown weary of the subject . Gordon H. Warren Central Washington University Correspondence of James K. Polk, Volume IV, 1837-1838. Edited by Herbert Weaver and Wayne Cutler. (Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1977. Pp. xxxvi, 692. $25.00.) It is always good to be able to report that a long-term venture in publishing the papers of an individual maintains, as it reaches midpoint , the high standards with which it began, in spite of changes in editorial direction and staff. Such is the case with the correspondence of James K. Polk. This volume marks the retirement of Herbert Weaver as editor and the elevation of Wayne Cutler, the third successive associate editor, to the post of chief responsibility. Scholars can be assured, however, that future volumes will be as carefully and usefully prepared as the previous ones. The present volume covers a period of particular chaos both in national and state politics. The Democratic party had to weather the full force of the Panic of 1837, and Polk, continuing for a second term as Speaker of the House, had to weather the constant acrimony of debate and parliamentary maneuvering, punctuated sometimes by a physical set-to between members, during a fruitless legislative session . In Tennessee, Polk took the lead in repairing the party after the rebellion of 1836 in which the state supported favorite son Hugh Lawson White for the presidency rather than Martin Van Buren. 186CIVIL WAR HISTORY Just over 600 letters appear in this volume, of which Polk wrote roughly 15 per cent. Even with so few of his own letters, however, Polk comes through as Jackson's chief lieutenant in Tennessee, equally able to examine overall principles and strategy with the Elder Statesman, and personalities and tactics with the county faithful in Murfreesboro, Pulaski, or Bolivar. Shrewd management of his own career is evident, too, as Polk, expecting defeat at the hands of newly-elected Whigs if he sought a third term as Speaker, agrees well in advance to run for governor in 1839. The correspondence with Jackson, totalling 25 pieces, shows a variety of dimensions to their relationship: knight doing battle for the king's cause; collaborators of equal status sharing information; cool master chiding impetuous student. An example of the last occurs when Polk rambles on about a rumored upheaval in Van Buren's cabinet; next day Jackson replies that it's all a passel of Whiggish gossip: "I am astonished that you should have believed such an absurd tale." In addition to Jackson, other prominent political figures are Andrew Jackson Donelson (24), John Catron (14), Cave Johnson (14), A.O.P. Nicholson (7), Mahlon Dickerson (7), Martin Van Buren (6), and Felix Grundy (4). The Catron letters are particularly interesting for the political doings of a newly-appointed Supreme Court justice. Polk's increasingly important role apparently did not seriously curtail his attention to the routine concerns of private citizens. His lifelong attention to detail, mixed with a typical desire to be helpful and a canny protection of the interests of his...