public domain to British subjects" may have been an impetus for Polk's decision to declare war. The president's knowledge of British intent is an explicit example of the relative power theory. Walter LaFeber points out that Polk suspected British influence in California prior to his 1845 inaugural address. Thus, "he [Polk] and his cabinet decided to settle the claims against Mexico and block British influence by declaring war." The US and President Polk were able to preserve the delicate economic and political balance with the strongest nation in the middle of the 19th century. It is extremely difficult to estimate the extent to which these relative power theories affected Polk's decision to provoke war. It is clear, though, that President Polk was well informed on the issues involving California vis-a-vis Thomas O. Larkin's (Consul in California) regular reports. Polk, with this knowledge, understood that California would be receptive to US demands following the conflict; thus, the US could push the British out of the profitable Pacific coast. This theory certainly seems logical and convincing; in hindsight however, acquiring California was one of the only positive outcomes of the war from the US perspective. Polk states in his diary, after his position on California is questioned by Buchanan, that "the war with Mexico was an affair with which neither England, France nor any other power had any concern". Polk continued by reassuring Buchanan that no power would interfere with the US-Mexican war and that the territories of California and New Mexico were certainly an important part of the decision to begin the war. The president's remarks convey that the Mexican conflict was not a war to ensure stability of relative power, but an imperialistic war whose chief purpose was territorial conquest of a weak Mexican nation. As the war developed, General Taylor and Winfield Scott continued the military assault on Mexico. Unexpectedly, and despi...
