...The Mexican-American War Samuel Lebron HIST/110CA June 18, 2015 Dr. J. Randall III Introduction The Mexican-American war according to many has a lot of controversy behind it. Many believe that the war was really initiated and provoked by the United States, and President at the time, James K. Polk. Polk envisioned a much larger America (territory) that would one day reach from the east all the way to the west (Pacific Ocean). Amid the controversy of whether it was Mexico or the United States that started this conflict, one thing is for certain, the end result of this war would help shape the U.S. in more than one ways than one. It is believed by many that newspaper editor John O’ Sullivan came up with the term Manifest Destiny, which really was a time when American families started looking west in search of new lands and opportunity, and while many were motivated by religious beliefs and the movement of the second awakening, thinking they could reach the natives and convert them to Christianity, others were simply motivated by the economic potential (e.g. fur trade) the west had. Unfortunately many Americans, mostly from the south also sought new lands but for the wrong reasons, reasons such as acquiring more lands for the expansion of cotton cultivation, thus also spreading more slavery. One of the main events that lead to the war was the dispute of boundaries between Mexico and the United States and the union of Texas with the U.S. Mexico did not...
Words: 1022 - Pages: 5
...2009 Mexican American War “ As war exist, and, notwithstanding all our efforts to avoid it, exists by the act of Mexico herself, we are called upon by every consideration of duty and patriotism to vindicate with decision the honor, the rights, and the interest of our country.” - Special message of President James Polk asking Congress to declare war with Mexico on May 11, 1846.( Carey 26) Mexico was furious when Texas became part of the United States in 1845. A formal complaint was made by a Mexican ambassador to Washington, D.C. and returned to Mexico city. In turn, the American ambassador withdrew from Mexico. The two nations poised for war.( ---) Trying to avoid any conflict, the United States tried to obtain the territory that now makes up California and New Mexico peacefully. President James Polk sent an envoy to Mexico City of $30 million or more to buy the territory for California and New Mexico. Mexico refused to consider the offer. (-----) By May of 1846, many people in the United States wanted to declare war on Mexico and grab as much territory, but the U.S. Secretaries of state and of war argued that it would be illegal. (-----) They insisted that they would not allow the country to go to war unless Mexico attacked first. (-----) At just that time, President James Polk had already ordered General Zachary Taylor to lead a detachment of American troops into western Texas, between the Nueces and the Rio Grande, to patrol the boarder.(-----) The Mexican commander...
Words: 1215 - Pages: 5
...the acts of violence against the Mexican government after being teased by Mexico through conflicts, which further created turmoil and provoked the initiation of the Mexican-American War. Although the leadership of President Polk over the United States was one reason Mexico had to provoke the war, in the end, the beliefs of Manifest Destiny, the Texas annexation, and the weakness of the Mexican government during this time period were some of the factors which led the United States to provoke the Mexican-American War. These factors are considerably important because they show how the United States was focused on Westward expansion seeking to claim the territories of...
Words: 800 - Pages: 4
...The war against Mexico began with the annexation and American claims of Oregon. Mexico wanted Texas to remain independent from the United States. Mexico's response to Polk annexing Texas was to suspend alliances and relations with the US. President Polk sent troops that would encroach on land that was occupied by both the United States and Mexico. President Polk first sent john Slidell to Mexico but the Mexicans refused to accept him due to the suspended relations and growing tensions. The Veracruz campaign is the military campaign that led General Winfield Scott to victory. The Veracruz campaign may have been time consuming but was well worth it. The Veracruz campaign allowed General Winfield Scott to overtake the Mexicans in 18 days. The Veracruz resulted in a truce with the Mexicans....
Words: 261 - Pages: 2
...To start of with, in 1821, Spain accepts Mexican independence. Following that date, Texas was begging to be annexed from Mexico, and it finally happened in 1845. During the following years of 1846-1848, the Mexican-American war took place which clearly disputable. The controversial war between Mexico and the United States can be seen in multiple perspectives however, the the war was just due to Mexico having the wrong idea of Manifest Destiny, Mexico was not fit to govern , and Mexico showed inhumane violence towards Americans. Due to repeated failing actions made by the Mexican government, the United States was forced to insist war upon Mexico. John L. O’Sullivan, columnist and editor, promoted the annexation of Texas stated in a magazine...
Words: 693 - Pages: 3
...The Mexican-American War Many wars are started for a fake reason, but the world leaders never reveal the real reason. The United States started war over some land. They also started war because according to them Mexico killed some of their people on U.S. land. The United States was not justified in going to war with Mexico because Polk provoked Mexico for the land, the Mexican Army never crossed a border, and the U.S. did not respect Mexican laws. In 1846 the war with Mexico started over the disputed territory between Mexico and the U.S, The U.S. wanted more land that they started to revolt against Mexico so that they could get land. Before this happened the Texans got their independence. Protestants are people who were pro slavery. Annexation...
Words: 769 - Pages: 4
...In following of the War of 1812 and Madison, President James Polk thirty-four years later, found himself in a conflict involving the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). The Mexican-American war marked the first U.S. armed conflict chiefly fought on foreign soil. It pitted a politically divided and militarily unprepared Mexico against the expansionist-minded administration of U.S. President James K. Polk, who believed the United States had a “manifest destiny” to spread across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. Soon after gaining its independence in 1836 from Mexico, the United States rejected annexing the newly freed Texas, due to the political interests of the north who were against the addition of a new slave state. The Mexican government...
Words: 525 - Pages: 3
...The Mexican American War also known by many Mexicans as the War of the Northern Invasion lasted from 1846-1848. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed on February 2, 1848. This Treaty gave the United States well over 500,000 square miles of territory. That was more than half of Mexico’s national territory. The war happened due to U.S. wanting to expand further into western territories and Texas wanting to succeed from Mexico. However, the struggle of Latino (Mexicans) descent is much more important to the history of Latino Americans. Tens of thousands of Mexicans became foreigners of a land they once owned and were indigenous to. The treaty protected these now foreigners or at least they were supposed to be. The land the Mexicans had...
Words: 385 - Pages: 2
...From an economic and political perspective, it benefited the U.S. greatly. From a moral perspective, probably not. The start of the Mexican and American war the American volunteers held the advantage. Some Mexicans lived in sparse areas of the territory which they were, but most of the people that lived there were Americans. A few years later Mexico was in a bad position with really bad debt, after their government fell. The Americans always had a stronger army, more resources, and had money to fight in war. The American President Polk ordered a barricade of the Mexican coast. President Polk sent Zackary Taylor’s forces across the Rio Grande to a city called Monterrey, which they took control of in September 1846. It began as a dispute over...
Words: 332 - Pages: 2
...Mexican-American War Just or Unjust The territory that started a war. “Two times over the next nine years, Texas applied to the United States Congress for annexation.” Was the United States justified by going to war? Where the Mexican-American War could be viewed as just by some, and unjust by others, the war was ultimately just. The U.S. was just, in going to war with Mexico, because Texas wanted to be in the United States territory and their leader did not care. “The treaty signed between Texas and the United States” (Document C). Which means Texas wanted to be part of the U.S. Also, Manifest Destiny “Polk was a strong supporter of Manifest Destiny. He believed it was God’s plan, that America extent its territory all the way to the pacific...
Words: 527 - Pages: 3
...The US has influenced the history of Mexico more than any other country in the world. There is no other Latin American country that lost so much in one fell swoop against a power hungry neighbor from the north. In one single act the US took all the land making up the areas we call home. California, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada were taken from Mexico, in one of the largest land seizures of the century. This act was one of the results of the Mexican-American war of 1846, and will remain to be a topic of hostility between Mexican American relations till the end of time. The war is a historical event that has a shadow of suspicion cast over it. It seems to be misunderstood by all sides and it seems like the more that one looks into and researches...
Words: 639 - Pages: 3
...The Mexican-American War was from 1846 to1848; it marked the first U.S. armed conflict. Mexico’s militarily was unprepared against the expansionist-minded administration of U.S. President James K. Polk, who believed the United States, had a manifest destiny to expand United States territory, but also was destined for westward expansion. United States declined to unite as one country because Texas political interests were against slavery states. Texas gained its independence from Mexico in 1836. When James K. Polk offered to purchase California and New Mexico was rejected, he instigated a fight by ordering General Taylor and his forces south into a borderline zone between the Rio Grande and Nueces River that both countries previously recognized as part of the Mexican...
Words: 753 - Pages: 4
...The issue of slavery in the post American-Mexican war goes way back to the very beginning of the conflict between the two nations. It started in 1846 up to 1848 under the leadership of President K. Polk, the U.S head of state who ran an expansionist-minded administration. He held the belief that the U.S needed to spread a ‘manifest destiny’ across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. A slight board skirmish along Rio Grande sparked off war between the two countries. Mexico was politically divided and ill-prepared in terms of their military. Therefore, the U.S leveraged on the supremacy of its military and capitalized on the weaknesses of Mexico. When the war ceded, Mexico had lost a third of its territory-Almost the entire California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Utah....
Words: 589 - Pages: 3
...going to war?” This was the question that many Americans asked themselves in the year of 1846. The Mexican American War began in April of 1846, the cause being disputed territory. Mexico claimed the Nueces River as its northeastern border, while the United States claimed the Rio Grande River. The disputed territory, which is now Texas, was originally a part of Mexico, but Texas was annexed into the United States in 1845. Mexico deemed this annexation as illegal and ignored it, causing the territory dispute to begin. This caused a lot of trouble with the two countries, including many battles and the start to a new war. The United States was not justified in going to war with Mexico because Polk provoked it, the United States...
Words: 543 - Pages: 3
...The Mexican-American War The Mexican-American war last for two years from 1846 to 1848. They were fighting for the land near the coast as well as Texas. The land was west of the Louisiana Territory and America wanted access to both coasts. With access to both coast of the country and expanding to the west Americans wouldn’t have to ask for the permission of Mexico. Train tracks were also expanding all across the country making it easy transportation. When the Americans traveled to the west they would walk or go on a wagon carrying everything they would need for a new beginning. Not only did they need things but the horses pulling the wagons did as well like food and water. In the wagon they would take as long as six to nine months to travel...
Words: 312 - Pages: 2
