DBQ Essay: The Mexican War

Leading up the Mexican-American war, a multitude of events occurred that catalyzed the conflict. For starters, the idea of manifest destiny heavily played into the conflict within this region. Manifest destiny was the idea that the United States had a “divine right” to expand westwardly and would do so at any cost. Nearly all presidents of the time cited this idea as a justified means for illegally seizing land in hopes of using it to aid in U.S expansion. However in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson purchased a parcel of land from France, known as the Louisiana Purchase, that nearly doubled the size of the United States overnight. But with it, this land brought up many

Some Mexican leaders thought of the idea of convince American colonists to come live on the land, because of the process of emptiness in the Northern lands of Mexico. Mexican leaders had discovered that it was a bad idea, but on the other hand, the colonists knew exactly what they were going to do. "California will, probably, next fall away from [Mexico].... Imbecile and distracted, Mexico never can exert any real governmental authority over such a country,” O’Sullivan stated. This means that the Americans already knew that they had taken the land and knew that there was no way for Mexico to get it back. “All this [will happen] in the natural flow of events,” O’Sullivan stated. Americans knew what would happen because of knowing that they could eventually do something to win over the rest of the land for the United States. Mexico couldn’t even stop a disgraceful robbery, (Roden 329). They couldn’t even stop robbery’s so how could they run a country. In the Alamo, the American colonists were able to get more people to go to war against Santa Ana, (Roden 269). So basically the American colonists were able to get more people to fight for Texas, while Santa Ana wasn’t able to retrieve the people that actually lived in Texas to help him. This evidence shows the US was justified in going to war because Mexico isn’t a strong enough country to own half of the United States. If Mexico wants to be strong they need to work it

The Mexican-American War was driven by the idea of "Manifest Destiny" (Which is the belief that America had a God-given right to expand the country's borders from sea to sea) This belief would eventually cause a great deal of suffering for many Mexicans, Native Americans and United States citizens. Following the earlier Texas War of Independence from Mexico, tensions between the two largest independent nations on the North American continent grew as Texas eventually became a U.S. state. Disputes over the border lines sparked military confrontation, helped by the fact that President Polk eagerly sought a war in order to seize large tracts of land from Mexico.

“At this period, citizens of the United States had already begun to into Texas... That deal was... That this extensive prevent to become a part of the United States…” (Doc D ,Charles Sumner This evidence Demonstrate that America was not justified in going to war with Mexico because all they wanted to do was to get their lands. “A current of emigration soon followed from the United States favorite. Slaveholders cross the Sabine with their slaves, In defiance of the Mexican ordinance of freedom” Doc D,Charles Sumner. This mean that America was All About Us Us expanding slavery into stole a land and was not justified into going in with

The war the war was intense, but some of the soldiers wondered if the this war was justified to start. Many lives were lost during this terrible war. United Mexican States lost lots of it’s land and many soldiers died. This most likely weakened Mexico even more. The big question is was the United States justified in going to war with Mexico? There are many reasons going both ways, but there are some big reasons the us shouldn’t have gone to war. Some of the reasons are Mexico was still weak from winning their independence, Mexico never declared Texas entirely free, and the U.S. could try to work out a deal with Mexico to buy the land.

In Document C, it states that Americans called this war the “Mexican American War”, but in Mexico’s eyes, it was called “The American Invasion”. This was because Americans thought that that land belonged to them, and that Mexicans were the ones who were invading. For Mexicans, the Americans were invading their territory. This entire thing was a big misunderstanding, leading to the war. This shows that America was not justified because that incident was a large misunderstanding for both Mexico and

While often thought of as a small and insignificant war fought by the Americans, the Mexican-American War serves a lot of importance to the foundation and history of our country. This war determined whether or not the United States would become a dominant power on the continent and it, more importantly, established the size of the nation. The Mexican-American War lasted from 1846-1848, but by the time President James Polk took office in 1845, United States-Mexico relations were already off to a bad start. While the Mexican-American War was mainly caused by the idea of ‘Manifest Destiny’ and the Texas War for Independence/Annexation, it was also a major turning point in the debate over slavery in the United States because of the Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1850, and the Wilmot Proviso.

The Mexican war was unjustified because they were way too obsessed in expanding the United States because of manifest destiny. In document D it stated that the United States was way over obsessed about expanding the U.S because they thought that it was gods will, but they did not pay any attention to where they were trying to expand the United States. This evidence shows that the U.S was unjustified in going to war with mexico because they were over obsessed in gods will, manifest destiny. Deciding to go to war with Mexico was unjustified because of them bringing slaves into the Mexican territory. Document D states that, “Certainly [Mexico] … might justly charge our citizens with disgraceful robbery,while, in seeking extension of slavery [our own citizens denied] the great truths of American freedom…” This quote means that the citizens wanted slavery but the Mexicans did not want the Americans to bring slaves into their

The Mexican war was justifiable to an extent, and not simply an excuse perpetrated upon both the american and mexican people in order to seize land from the weak neighborhood. Manifest destiny and treaties helped seized land from mexico. One way america supported the mexican war was through show fate ( manifest destiny ). This state of mind filled western settlement, Native American expulsion and war with Mexico. American trusted this development would include not only regional tribute but rather, the advance of freedom and individual monetary open door, all through the drift.

Although it might not seem like the Mexican-American was a significant event in history, it was actually extremely important and has helped shape the United States into what it is today. This war between the two countries was started because Mexicans believed the border was the Nueces River, while Texans and Americans believed it was the Rio Grande, which caused confusion and anger in both countries. To make things worse, Texas decided to annex itself to the United States at a time when Mexico believed Texas still belonged to them. On April 25, 1846, the United States declared war on Mexico, and the Mexican-American War lasted all the way until February 2, 1848. However, many question whether or not the United States was justified in going

One reason that the U.S. was not justified in going to war with Mexico is that slavery may expand into more states. According to Charles Sumner, “Objections to the Mexican-American War,” “Slaveholders crossed the Sabine (river between Louisiana and Texas) with their slaves” (Doc D). This source is reliable because slaveholders were coming between Louisiana and Texas with slaves. On the other hand more slaves were coming to the United States. In addition according to Charles Sumner “Objections to the Mexican-American War,”

The Mexican-American war determined the destiny of the United States of America, it determined whether or not it would become a world power and it established the size of the United States of America. Perhaps the war was inevitable due to the idea of Manifest Destiny - Americans thought they had the divine right to extend their territory. The Mexican-American War started mainly because of the annexation of the Republic of Texas (established in 1836 after breaking away from Mexico). The United States and Mexico still had conflicts on what the borders of Texas was, the United States claimed that the Texas border with Mexico was the Rio Grande, but the Mexicans said that it was the Nueces River, so the land in between were disputed and

This was the war that changed all of humanity because without it, we wouldn’t be able to have the free American lives that we have today. In 1821, Mexico declared itself free from Spain. Mexico’s population was decreasing so they started welcoming settlers from the United States. The Mexicans thought that this was a bad idea though because they had differences and it may cause fights and maybe even war between the two. The Mexicans were catholic, anti-slavery, and wanted to keep Texans under control, while the Americans were Protestant, pro-slavery, and largely ignored the Mexican authority. Things changed in 1844 when James K. Polk was elected as president. He believed that it was God's plan to expand their land all the way to the Pacific Ocean. After the election but before he took office, Congress reversed itself and voted to annex Texas. In July of 1845 he sent troops under General Zachary Taylor into the disputed area of the southern part of Texas, and also sent John Slidell (who

The Mexican war was led by the disagreements between America and Mexico.The president at that time was James Knox Polk, who was the 11th president and he believed that God wanted America to take the western part of North America.So James Polk would either buy it or take it.[When James Polk asked if the western part of North America was for sale Mexico said no.Later, when Mexico and America were fighting on where the border was, James Polk sent troops to patrol the Rio Grande river to where he believed was the border between Mexico and America and while they were patrolling Mexican troops killed and injured the troops because the Mexican troops thought they were invading their country.]I believe the U.S. was not justified in going with Mexico.

The United States war with Mexico continues to be a divisive topic as it ended in the United States favor, but had many unethical actions that made it inexcusable. The American Invasion on Mexico was a two year unpardonable attack on Mexico. Although the United States war against Mexico resulted in the gaining of America’s most valuable land, the war itself was unjust because the reasons of Manifest Destiny/ Slavery, Texas, and the United States Government.