History Of Relations Between Mexico And The United States

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.

As stated in President James Polk’s war message of 1846, “...I had ordered an efficient military force to take a position ‘between the Nueces and the Del Norte [Rio Grande].’ This had become necessary, to meet a threatened invasion of Texas by the Mexican forces” (Document B). From the perspective of the United States, the people of Mexico were not authorized to cross the Rio Grande into American territory. However, since the Treaties of Velasco that Santa Ana signed were invalid, Texas still belonged to Mexico. Mexican troops were not “invading” Texas; they were trying to retain the land that had been stolen from them. Therefore, President Polk had no right to send American troops to Mexican territory. Some may argue that the war was justified because Mexican troops attacked American soldiers on American territory. For example, they contend that, “Mexico has passed the boundary of the United States, has invaded our territory and shed American blood upon American soil” (Document B). The United States declared war against Mexico because they believed American soldiers had been attacked by Mexican troops in American territory. However, since the annexation of Texas was illegitimate, that territory still belonged to Mexico. The American soldiers were not killed on American land; they were killed on Mexican land. Thus, America’s reasoning for declaring war was inaccurate, and the Mexican-American war was

“Mexico was a catholic anti-slavery and they couldn’t keep the texans under control”(Roden 317). This quote shows that Texans were not following the Mexican’s rules. “I did not take long for these differences and didn’t want to revault”(Roden 325). This quote shows that the Mexicans did not want to go to war with Texas. The Texans wanted slaves but didn’t want to be Catholic. This information shows the Texans ignored the laws given by Mexico. The mexicans were being generous but the Texans revolted. This Information shows that the texans didn’t care about the rules. This evidence shows the US was not justified into going to war with Mexico. The first Texans ignored the laws angering the Mexican government and rebelled against the laws given. The Mexican government was generous and offered free land but the Texans ignored their laws and rebelled against the Mexican

As Texans began demanding freedom, they deciding to away from Mexico, causing tensions between the United States and Mexico. In 1845, tensions began to lead to threats between the two countries when the United States decided to annex Texas into their country and ultimately led to the Mexican-American war. The U.S. was not justified in going to war with Mexico. A reason is that James K. Polk, president at the time, decided to send American soldiers onto disputed territory which Mexico thought was theirs. Doc C is an article written by Jesus Velasco-Marquez discussing the Mexicans viewpoint on the war with the United States in 1846. According to Doc C,¨In the eyes of the Mexican government, the mobilization of the US army was an outright attack

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.

During the 1800s the phrase “Manifest Destiny,” meaning obvious fate, was the belief that it was America’s right and duty to spread across the North American continent. This was a cause for Americans to start expanding their land ownership throughout the continent by settling in areas which they knew had many valuable resources. During the time that America had decided to annex Texas, many problems started to rise between Mexico and the United States. In the eyes of Mexico, the annexation of Texas was an act of war. Furthermore, both countries were having a hard time trying to agree on a border, because both wanted control of the Rio Grande, but it was unfortunate that only one of them would be able to claim the river. So, in 1846, Mexican soldiers started firing at American troops who were patrolling along the Rio Grande, which lead to sixteen Americans being killed and wounded. Polk used this as a cause for war, and stated that Mexico, “has invaded our territory and shed American blood on American soil.” All in all, the United states was clearly justified in going to war with Mexico, because Mexico had invaded American territory, shed American blood upon American soil, had come within American power, and the United states was able to offer them a position above any that they have previously occupied.

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.

One reason the Mexican War was justified was that Texas was independent when wanting to become one with American. “Texas won their independence from Mexico in 1836”(Roden 317). Texas was detached from Mexico before 1884, when president Polk had decided to invest in Texas

Majority of wars in the United States were controversial, and the war with Mexico was no exception. After Mexico became a free nation, The Mexican leaders wanted to grow their populations. To do so they invited Americans to Texas. This did not turn out well for Mexico since Mexico was against slavery and the Americans that immigrated to Texas were from the south and proslavery. Later when Texas wanted to annex into the united states, but the Congress did not want this because they knew it would cause problems with Mexico and they did not want to risk a War with them. Also, they did not want to add another pro-slavery state to the union. After John K Polk was elected he wanted Texas and California into the union because he was a strong believer in manifest destiny. He believed that if Texas was admitted as a state then it would support manifest destiny. Then

The United States was not justified in going to war with Mexico due to the impatience of our nation's leaders, an unrealistic vision of Manifest Destiny, and Polk's ignorance. U.S. leaders had no right to respond to the Mexican government with violence. The war with Mexico was also a product of the United States’ unrealistic idea of Manifest Destiny. We believed we deserved to take as much land as we wanted. Polk's bad temper and impatience led him to making rash decisions when Mexico refused to give up their land for compensation from the U.S.

DBQ: Was The United States Justified In Going To War With Mexico? When Congress voted to annex Texas, the U.S. and Mexico had different perceptions on what the border of Texas was; the Americans thought it was at the Rio Grande, and Mexicans believed it was at the Nueces River. After Mexicans killed 16 Americans north of the Rio del Norte, the states decided it was an act of war. Because this was the perfect excuse for him to ask for war, on May 11, 1846, President James Polk asked Congress to go to war with Mexico, and Congress made “The Mexican War” official.

The second reason why America was justified in going to war with Mexico was that Mexico didn’t have a very good government. In document A paragraph 3 John L. O’Sullivan said,”Mexico never can exert any real government authority over such a country.” America took Texas, because Mexico can’t govern very well. If Mexico was still owning Texas it would probably be chaos. America had a stronger government than Mexico. Some people thought it was America’s duty to make Texas part of the United States. John L. O’Sullivan said,” California will, probably, next fall away from Mexico… Imbecile and distracted” (Doc A paragraph

For years the Mexicans and Americans fought over the western territory of North America. Many historians believe that the U.S. was justified and had the right motive for going to war with Mexico. Other historians oppose and believe that the U.S. made an inhuman decision by going to war with Mexico. Yet there is an abundance of evidence to support both sides of the debate. In my opinion I believe that the U.S. was justified in going to war with Mexico.

The Mexican American War began on April 25, 1846. This placed the first U.S. armed conflict chiefly fought on foreign soil. It marked politically dividend and militarily unprepared Mexico against its expansionists-minded administration of U.S. President James K. Polk. Polk strongly believed the United States had an evident future to go across the continent in the Pacific Ocean. The border encountered along the Rio Grande, which began with a fight, followed by a series of numerous victories the United States. When the dust cleared, Mexico had lost roughly one-third of its region. The regions included all the states such as Arizona, New Mexico, California, and Utah. At the end of the U.S. Mexican War, historians have divided into their explanations. Some historians hold United States accountable while others put the blame on Mexico. The studies of the literature show majority of writers have taken into consideration that neither country entirely unimpeachable.

I know that they were justified to got to war with mexico. According to the source the War Message of the President James Polk, Washington, May 11, 1846 it states that In the US Senate That 40 out of 2 people wanted to go to war with mexico. That is a lot of people in the US Senate and they had more votes to go to war with mexico. So that means the US Senate would let them go to war with mexico. According to the source the War Message of the President James Polk, Washington, May 11, 1846 it states that in the house of representatives it says that 174 people said yes to go to war with mexico but 14 people said not to go to war with mexico.That is a bunch of people that said not so that means they are going to war with mexico because the House of representatives gave them approval to go to war with mexico.So that is one of my reasons that is why the United states were justifiled to go to war with