Senate Roll Call on the Declaration of War against Mexico

What it is

This is a scanned page, number 804, from the Congressional Globe, dated May 12, 1846. The page is printed in dense two-column text and records the Senate debate and the roll call on the bill declaring war against Mexico. It includes lists of yeas and nays and the names of senators such as Clayton and Dayton. The page is a printed record of the Senate's proceedings, not a handwritten original.

Why it matters

President Polk asked Congress to recognize that a state of war existed with Mexico, and this vote was the congressional step that followed his message. The roll call shows which senators supported the war and which opposed it, so it reveals the divisions within Congress at the time. Students can use this record to see how the decision to go to war was made by elected officials, not by the president alone.

Look closer

• Which senators are named on this page, and how did they vote according to the lists of yeas and nays?
• What does the printed debate suggest about the reasons different senators gave for or against the war?
• Who was not allowed to vote on this decision, and whose voices are missing from this record?