The Mexican-American War

The Mexican American War was a very controversial event. The Americans believed in their “Manifest Destiny” which prompted them to annex the territory of Texas which, in turn, initiated the war on April 25, 1846. Texas was annexed to the Union as a slave state on December 29, 1845. This upset all of the Free states along with the Mexicans but the Southerners were in favor of the war because it gave them more strength when fighting for slavery. While there were many different beliefs about the Mexican-American War throughout the United States, these beliefs generally were the same within a region.

“The United States had emerged as a modern capitalist nation, and the spirit of nationalism in the country was strong and growing” (Henderson 71). As tensions grew between the Unites States and Mexico, there was a thirst for war. The Unites States declared war with Mexico, because they owned land that Americans desired, resulting in America’s fulfillment of achieving their philosophy of “Manifest Destiny”. The blood boil of both countries caused a lot of bloodshed. The dispute lasted for a long two year battle which was for huge amounts of land. The Americans were victorious and claimed new territories from the conflict.

Mexico also had a system of railways which connected to the United States at key points which made invading the Mississippi valley, to in essence cut the nation in two plausible with a Mexican ally. Mexico also faced the nationalistic advantage and the Yankee hatred which fueled much of the war talk of murdering the gringos. The Mexicans had justified reasons to hate the gringos. During the latter stages of their civil war the US bombarded the city of Veracruz in order to destroy munitions supplying Huerta's forces. The US also launched an invasion involving twenty thousand men or two thirds of the regular forces to invade Mexico and capture Mexican generalismo Poncho Villa. These forces were led by Gen. Pershing and were ultimately unsuccessful on their 3 month trek in the deserts of Mexico. This sense of nationalism would be essential if Mexico were to launch an offensive campaign against the US, but without strong leadership they would fail miserabliy. Mexico lacked a strong central figure for over twenty years. Mexico had been going on an on going struggle with a three prong civil war between Huerta, Villa and Caranza. Forces from former governments were still lingering about and occasionally one leader would seize power for a short time just to be ousted. Because of Mexico's geographical advantages it would be perfect for fighting a war with the US but because of what it lacked in stability it could never fight any war. The situation is best described in some

Manifest Destiny is a term for the American expansion that the united States not only could, but was destined to, stretch from coast to coast.

The Mexican American war was a war between America and Mexico forces that took place in 1846 and ending in 1847. The mexican american war took place in Mexico,the war was that America thought that they were justified in going into war with mexico. The Mexican American war started when arrived that Mexican soldiers had fired upon American troops the mexican border of the Rio Grande, this War is so significant because of America winning the war and gaining even more land to America. America was not justified into going to war with mexico.

United Mexican States was weak and was just forming Mexico’s government, and the only people that Mexico could not control was the Americans. The Americans even got special treatment and the Americans still rebelled. “One way to increase the population was to welcome settlers from the United States.” (Background Essay Paragraph 3) With Mexico being weak, anti-slave, and just getting formed the Americans were not happy with how it was being run when they showed up. Congress also stated “...Did not want a large slave territory to be added to the United States.” (Background Essay Paragraph

There are many controversial thoughts about the American war with Mexico. Many people have too much doubts about this war, that later finished with the appropriation of a very large part of Mexico. There are many arguments that justified and make people believe that the war with Mexico in 1846 was the best option to do. Obviously, there are many reasons that maybe make us believe that having a war with Mexico was not a good idea. This war between Mexicans and Americans bring to many outcomes later.

The Mexican and American war was a very controversial war. Some think it was just and others think it was unjust. The war started after the Texas wanted to annex on to the united states. Mexico and Texas both thought they owned a strip of land in between But the Texans thought it was there. The undisputed territory both sides wanted and the U.S even was willing to pay for it, but Mexico turned it down! One event that sparked that was the president of the United States J. K. Polk wanting the war to happen. As so he sent troops to build a fort on the disputed territory in hopes of the Mexicans attacking. This plan worked and they attacked. So Polk got congress to declare war.

Expanding through Texas was a good thing for the United States we got our second biggest state in the US. When president James Polk went into office he set a boundary line between the United states and Canada. He never set one between the United States and Mexico. Each country had there own idea of where there own border was. The United States thought there border was at the Rio Grande river which expands into where Mexico thought there border was at the Nueces River. Polk used that as his excuse to get the Mexicans confused so they would shoot first. That lead to Congress declaring war. The United States attacked in three fronts, the north, south and west. Zachary Taylor was incharge of the north and he would defeat the Mexican army under control of Santa Anna. Winfield Scott was incharge of the south, his job was to attack Mexico City where Mexico's capital was. For the west Stephen Kearny was to try and control California. The United States got Mexico's capital to fall so that means that the Mexican government moved to make peace. Mexico signed The Treaty of Guadalupe- Hidalgo. Then they were forced to give up California and New Mexico for 15 million dollars but

The southern desire to expand slavery was a major cause of the Mexican-American War, but there were other causes as well. The war started on April 25, 1846, and ended on February 2, 1848, with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. In that treaty, Mexico ceded Texas with the Rio Grande boundary, New Mexico, and California to the United States. The desire to expand slavery in the south was perhaps the largest cause of the Mexican-American War, because southerners were in favor of Manifest Destiny and believed that the expansion of slavery was necessary to keep the slave trade alive in the U.S. Internal political conflicts were another cause of the Mexican-American War. Also, the fear that Texas could be claimed by Britain or France or that it would be uncontrollable if independent was another cause of the war. The

Many historians consider the Mexican-American war to be an important part of United States’ history. It allowed the young nation to uncover what their true values were and come into its potential as a world power. The Mexican-American war cemented the United States’ role as a world power as the people banded together and put aside differences to secure the supremacy of their way of life. It expanded the values of the American society beyond parochial lives and improved the overall quality of life, it brought about greater nationalism, and ultimately the belief that they the people had the right and might to expand their territory as they saw fit.

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

The Mexican-American War was the first war Americans fought on foreign soil. (Staff H. C., 2015) James K. Polk, president at the time, thought the United States had a “Manifest Destiny.” The only problem with his philosophy was that Mexico could not disagree more with America. With battles like Monterrey, Sacramento, and the Siege of Veracruz America was able to advance further in the war. The war lasted for 2

The war with Mexico is long remembered as an episode, and by no means is it an unimportant one. With the events that led up to its happening, from the Manifest Destiny to the disputes on territory, it has severely marked the United States. American historians regard the Mexican-American war as “the foulest blot on our national honor”. (sfmuseum.org) Unethical actions were taken gain Mexican territory. Polk and his hunger for land drove him to find some devious way to fight a war with Mexico. His belligerent attitude in regard to this war was the “foulest blot on our national honor.” However, as one studies the events that led to it, was it an unprovoked act of aggression? Or did the US unjustifiably lure Mexico into one of the bloodiest wars on American soil?

The Mexican-American war, also known as the Mexican war happened between 1846 and 1848 with the participants being United States of America and Mexico. Texas, previously a Mexican state, was the primary cause of the war. A series of disagreements had occurred between Texans and the Mexican government leading to Texas declaration of its independence in 1836. Later, Texas decided to join the United States as the 28th state and this infuriated Mexico. Additionally, border disagreements came up with Mexico claiming the border was at Nueces River while Texas claimed it was at Rio Grande River. James K. Polk, the president, sent his army to protect the border which ended up in shooting between Mexican and American troops. It is after this that