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Mexican American War Dbq Analysis

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The Controversial Conflict From the American Revolution to more modern wars like Vietnam and Iraq; wars have always been controversial subjects for Americans. One American war that had very apparent sides with strong opinions was the Mexican-American war. This war was started after James Polk was elected president in 1844. He wished to extend the American territory to the pacific ocean; congress also voted to annex Texas. Because of this, he decided to send troops to Texas and an envoy into Mexico, but this angered the Mexicans, so the envoy was asked to leave Mexico. Polk was angered by this treatment so on May 9, 1846, the war began. The united states were not justified in going to war with Mexico for multiple reasons, including that the …show more content…

Joshua Giddings believed the war was one of the many Americans who believed the war was unjust. He stated in his speech given to the House of Representatives that,”This war was waged against an unoffending people, with ought just or adequate cause; for the purposes of conquest”(Doc E). This citation shows the unfairness of the cause of the Mexican-American war. It shows that the war was caused by the need to conquer Mexico. Giddings believed that the war had the unjust purpose of expanding American territory by conquering Mexico. Many Americans like Joshua Giddings believed that starting a war to expand America’s territory was unfair to Mexicans and not a justified cause for going to …show more content…

Another American who felt strongly about the war was Ulysses Grant, a war general and 18th U.S. President. He believed that the Mexican American war was unjust because of how the American government acted. Famously, in response to an interview question, he stated that ” The wickedness was not in the way our soldiers conducted it, but in the conduct of our government in declaring war”(Doc C). Grant and many Americans believe that the war was provoked by the government, specifically president Polk and his decision to send troops into Texas and start fighting at the Rio Grande. These decisions made by Polk and the American government unjustly provoked Mexico and its decision in fighting in the war. The unjust decisions made by the American government ultimately started the Mexican-American

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