In 1846 Americans stepped foot on undisputed land, leading to war. The war itself happened on April 25, 1846, north of the Rio Grande River. Americans and Mexicans (after the annexation of Texas) both thought that they had the right of land between the Rio Grande and the Nueces River. With that information, was it right for America to go to war with Mexico? My answer is no, it was not justified because before that war, Americans had already taken land from Mexico, invaded land owned by Mexico, and that there was a misunderstanding with the land disputes.
One reason that the Mexican-American war was not justified is that the Americans took land from Mexico. The annexation of Texas is an example of America taking land, stated in Document C. That was very wrong of the U.S to do at the time due to security and legal reasons for Mexico. Then Americans tried to take more land from Mexico by sending troops to near the Rio Grande River. As a security measure, the Mexicans decided to attack the American soldiers, killing 16 of the Americans. This shows that Americans were not justified for going to war with Mexico because Americans decided to send soldiers to invade the undisputed part of land between Texas and Mexico.
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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
“In the eyes of the (Mexican) government, the mobilization of the US army was an outright attack on Mexico.” (Velasco-Marquez 327) This quote show that the US didn’t attack Mexico. “This had become necessary, to meet a threatened invasion of Texas by the Mexican forces….” (Polk 325) Mexican troops had planned to attack the United States on a specific date. The United States had never gone into Mexico and stayed in the boundaries of Texas. (Velasco-Marquez 327) This information shows that Mexico was the cause of the battle. On May 9, 1846, Mexican soldiers fired on Americans on the Texas side of the boundaries. (Roden 317) The United States was never trying to invade Mexico and were only wanting to extend their country by annexing Texas. This all shows that the US was justified in going to war because Mexico was attacking them so they needed to defend themselves and others. Through all of the confusion, the United States were brave and kept defending the land they
First reason of why America was not justified in going to war with Mexico because was because of America's invasion. “ the troops commanded by General Zachary Taylor arrived at the Rio Grande across from the city of Matamoros, increasing the possibility of a confrontation”. In other word this this evidence shows that Americans were not justified in going to war with Mexico because it was an invasion crossing the mexican border and claiming land without any approval from the mexican government . “...Mexico has passed the boundary of the United States, has invaded our territory and shed American blood upon
America was justified in going to war as Mexico invaded the country,American troops were killed by the Mexicans,and Mexico decided to strike first.When Texas declared its independence from Mexico in 1836 and stated that the Rio Grande was the border boundary.However in 1846,Mexican forces decided to cross the border line as it was known as an invasion against the US.On Document B President Polk stated, “The Congress of Texas,by its act of December 19,1836, had declared the Rio del Norte to be the boundary of that Republic.”(Doc B)On April 24th,1846,an American force of 70 men were dispatched to camp north of the Rio Grande. However,a larger Mexican force,decided to attack the American force where 16 American soldiers were killed.On Document
Mexico argued the border was the Nueces River, while the United States argued the Rio Grande River was the border. The United States was not justified to go to war with Mexico because when Zachary Taylor and his army entered the Rio Grande River, this was an intrusion on Mexico, and the United States provoked the war by taking more land for an unjust practice Mexico had rid of. The United States was not justified in going to war with Mexico
If you looked at a map of North America in the 1820's the countries would look a lot different. Mexico was as large as the United States, stretching from Guatemala in the south to Oregon in the north. The US was much smaller, but not for long. The Mexican War, or the "U.S. Invasion" (according to the Mexicans) started in 1846 and ended in 1848. In that short time the US gained a large chunk of territory including Texas and California and Mexico lost more than half of their land. Many Americans and Mexicans died fighting in the war but was this war justified ? I think that the Mexican war was not justified but provoked by the United States. The reasons why I think this is that Americans living in Texas violated the rules that Mexico had
One reason the Mexican War was unjustified was that America had no respect for Mexican Government. U.S. didn’t follow the laws (Doc D). They brought in slaves when Mexico made it illegal for slavery.America ignored Mexico's rules(Paragraph 4 Background Essay). It quotes,” the American government acted like a bandit who came upon a traveler”. Which means that America stole things from Mexico(Doc C). This evidence shows that the U.S. was unjustified in going to war because they didn’t have any respect for Mexico. By not listening to people whom they were owned by. So in that case America was unjustified.
Overall, the United States was not justified in going to war with Mexico because they believed in and used slavery while it was against Mexico’s authority. America was extremely rude toward Mexico even though America started it. “Imbecile and distracted, Mexico never can exert any real government authority over such a country” (Document A).This quote shows how great America’s rudeness toward Mexico was. America was not only rude but also not sensible for saying that about Mexico. “The Anglo-Saxon foot is already on [California’s] borders.
The United States was not justified in going to war with mexico because of the disobedience of Mexico’s freedom ordinance, an international belief of manifest destiny, and a dispute of territorial borders.
The Mexican-American War was a huge event in American history, yet it is not talked about very often. It all started back when Texas was annexed to be an American state. Mexico saw this as a declaration of war. The war officially began on May 9, 1846 when Mexico fired upon the U.S. from their side of the Rio Grande. Though this is not a very popular topic, the questions still stands. Did the U.S. have a valid reason for declaring war on Mexico? The United States was not justified in going to war with Mexico because the U.S. attacked first, they stole Mexico’s land, and it meant an expansion of slavery.
How would you feel if someone didn’t tell you the whole truth, but because of that lives were lost. This is what happens in the American- Mexican War. It started in 1846 and took place in Mexico because the American believed in Manifest Destiny. The United States was not justified in going to war with Mexico because Polk didn’t say the whole story, going to war with Mexico meant taking more land, and the war was racially motivated.
The Mexican-American War was a huge turning point for the future United States. The Mexican-American War was about United States wanting to fulfill their manifest destiny by having their land stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. So was it justified to take Mexico lands? The United states was justified in going to war with Mexico because we had rights and We would gain more land. Mexico might have been ‘dumb and distracted’, but they still should have some land for themselves.
The Mexican-American War was incorrectly named; it was not simply Americans vs Mexicans, but a war between opinions. America’s war with Mexico: a war for land, for the sake of Manifest Destiny, or perhaps, a war to be started and ended in victory by… a thief. This war was supported and criticized by Americans and Mexicans alike. Manifest Destiny was a belief that it was God’s Plan to for America to expand to the Pacific Ocean, and a very controversial belief, at that. Before this war of opinions, the US already created a tense relationship with its neighbor by providing aid to the Texas Rebellion, and later annexing Texas. The United States was not Justified in going to war with Mexico because Texas was signed over, with no extra land, America was obviously itching to go to war, and settlers agreed to become Mexican citizens in the first place
Those that see the war as justified, will argue that the U.S and Mexico war was justified. However, it was unjustifiable because of all the actions Mexico pulled like, coming to their land, shedding the blood of the Americans on to their soil, etc. Also, they discouraged many people because with how they treated the U.S, which was something they did not
How the United States stretched from sea to shining sea by being fair and unfair sometimes. The Mexican war started on April 25, 1846 when Captain Seth Thornton of the United States Army and his 70 sailors were attacked by greater Mexican force. This happened in the disputed territory north of the Rio grande, reports say that 16 Americans were killed and the number of Mexican soldiers that were killed it unknown. Was the United States justified in going to war with Mexico? The United States was justified in going to war with Mexico because of manifest destiny, border distributes, and annexation of Texas.
The Mexican War was viewed as one of the most controversial wars in United States history. Originating from the annexation of Texas, or the lack thereof in Mexico’s eyes, the final spark to cause the war was an incident between soldiers of both countries in disputed land. Both Mexico and the US claimed to have been provoked by the other, and that they were only protecting their country. Many US citizens argued the war, as it appeared President Polk was using it for reasons other than self defense. By going to war with Mexico, the US faced the possibility of gaining much more of Mexico’s land and extending slavery in the country. The United States' decision to go to war with Mexico was based on a desire to extend slavery, to gain land they had