The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 20, July 1916 - April, 1917 Page: 194

The Southwestern Historical Quarterly

BOOKS REVIEWS AND NOTICES
Early Diplomatic Relations Between the United States and Mexico.
By William R. Manning. (Baltimore: The Johns Hop-
kins Press. 1916. Pp. ix, 406.)1
This valuable volume, published as one of the series of Albert
Shaw Lectures on Diplomatic History, covers the period of Mexi-
can-American relations from 1821 to 1830, which has never be-
fore been adequately done-a period which might have been used
to establish friendly relations, but which was wasted in quibblings
and misunderstandings. In the latter the author finds the origin
and largely the explanation of the growing and apparently irrec-
oncilable differences of the next two decades, and the discord of
half a century.
Parts of four or five chapters have previously appeared in vari-
ous standard periodical publications. .Chapter I supplements the
detailed treatment of the policy of the United States found in
Paxson, and the chapter on Cuba supplements the earlier accounts
of Callahan and Chadwick.
The history is presented in ten chapters: Beginnings and early
Mexican representatives at Washington; Tardy appointment and
cool reception of the first United States Minister to Mexico; Brit-
ish influence in Mexico and Poinsett's struggle against it; Cuba
saved to Spain; Diplomacy concerning the opening of the Santa
Fe trail; Denunciation of Poinsett because of his relations with
the York Masons; Obstacles in the way of concluding a commer-
cial treaty; Commercial controversies; Texas and the boundary
issue; Public attacks on Poinsett and his recall. The chapters
on Cuba (77 pages) and the boundary issue (72 pages) are dis-
proportionately long.
An addititonal chapter presents comments on authorities. The
author has obtained his materials largely from official manuscript
sources of the State Department at Washington and of the Min-
istry of Foreign Relations in Mexico. lie has also drawn from
the Van Buren manuscripts in the Library of Congress at Wash-
ington much material on the beginnings of Jackson's and Van
Buren's plan for the purchase of Texas in 1829. He has also
'Reprinted from American Journal of International Law, July, 1916.

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