James Polk Dbq Analysis

Polk had said that Mexico were planning on an invasion and declared war on Mexico. This didn’t show that we show not be afraid or fear military ambition. It showed how selfish man can be just to gain more territory because they believed that it was their right to expand the country. Mexico only wanted what was theirs after claiming independence from Spain, and not have it taken away. Texas was under Mexico law, and Mexico banned slavery. Many Americans settlers did live in Texas at the time and knew it was against Mexico’s law but still had slaves anyways. The war lasted for three years, but soon Mexico decided to sign a peace treaty that gave territories to America. America paid Mexico 15 billion for lands that are known today as California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and

The United States became further united due to the continuous desire and procurement of new territories. In President James Polk’s 1845 Inaugural Address, he shared his opinion of the “danger to [the nation’s] safety and future peace” if Texas remained an independent

When Lincoln was a Congressman in the House of Representatives, during his short term, he loudly opposed the Mexican war held in 1846. His main argument was that the war was unconstitutional and unnecessary and was based on a lie. He faced severe criticism from fellow Whigs including other congressmen for raising voice against the USA intervention in the Mexican territory and promotion of slavery there. This was against the popular President James Polk’s moves to acquire lands under USA control. Lincoln thought it was unjust and tyrannous.

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.

The election of 1844 pitted James Polk, a Democrat expansionist, against Whig leader Henry Clay. One of Polk’s slogan was called, 54°40 or Flight, which supported pushing foreign troops past that latitude and out of the Oregon Territory. Fundamentally, that was jointly administered by the United States and British in Canada. Polk’s supporters also wanted the immediate annexation of Texas as well as expansion into the Mexican-claimed territories of New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Clay, too, favored expansion, but at a slower rate. He also hoped to avoid war by negotiating with Mexico and Britain for the land America wanted. The election was close, but in the end Polk won. In the last days of his administration, President Tyler proposed the annexation of Texas, arguing that Polk’s victory amounted to a mandate for annexation. The annexation vote was passed, the United States annexed Texas, and Mexico broke off diplomatic relations. Under these circumstances, war with Mexico seemed likely.

James Polk felt that it was his duty to take it by force and took the matter under his control. Since John Tyler’s decision to hold off the war until Mexico made the initial attack, Polk took it upon himself to provoke the Mexicans. To accomplish this, he sent troops to the Rio Grande and marched them along the border until the Mexicans made their attack. After the report of the attack was delivered, Abraham Lincoln proposed the “Spot Resolutions” to find the exact location of the American bloodshed on “American soil”. However, the Spot Resolutions were built upon false statements; the Mexicans’ attack was premeditated and actually took place on Mexican land. Polk was successful in starting the desired Mexican War which ultimately led to the defeat of the weaker adversary Mexico and the attainment of California.

that President Polk had no right to do what he did. It is said that

In 1844, James Polk won the presidential election by campaigning on the idea of expanding the American border to the Pacific Ocean. David A. Clary, author of Eagles and Empires, asserts that Polk's "territorial

Finally, the social issues in the United States brought about by westward expansion really contributed to start of the Civil War. Proposed in 1846 by David Wilmot, The Wilmot Proviso was a proposition by abolitionists that proposed that there should be no slavery in any of the land included in the Mexican Secession. This was a bold move by the northern abolitionists, and though this wasn’t passed, it showed that the slavery issue was at the forefront of social issues on the western frontier. It was a

In addition to Polk’s scheme to pull Mexico into war with the United States, he was also hatching a plan in the west. With the help of John C. Freemont and a group of American frontiersmen, known as the “Bear Flaggers”, he organized a revolt against Mexican rule and liberated most of California before the U.S. invasion began. Likewise, Both California and New Mexico were occupied by American forces prior to the assault on northern Mexico. (Tindall & Shi 2010). Securing the territories of Texas, New Mexico, and California ignited widespread support for the war and re-established the national America’s sentiment of manifest destiny. (Tindall & Shi 2010).

It is worth noting here that the Americans were concerned about appearances, and that they did their best to provoke Mexico into a war, without having to bear the responsibility of actually starting the war. In his Personal Memoirs, Grant explained the mission of the U.S. Army in south Texas, "We were sent to provoke a fight, but it was essential that Mexico should commence it." The plan worked. The U.S. annexed Texas in February of 1846, and Polk immediately ordered Taylor to proceed to the Rio Grande. One of Taylor's patrols skirmished with a Mexican detachment and lost over twenty soldiers, including eleven dead, five wounded, and several captured. Polk immediately called for war. In his bellicose message to the U.S. Congress, the President announced that, "American blood had been shed upon American soil." He got his declaration of war.

Following the ratification of the treaty, some politicians felt the manifest destiny of the United States was to annex all of Mexico. The territory gains between 1845 and 1848 were enough to satisfy all but the most zealous advocates of manifest destiny. John O'Sullivan criticized the opponents of Texas annexation. He went beyond the immediate issue of Texas to argue that it is the fate of America to grow to encompass much, if not all of the North American continent. O'Sullivan is credited with inventing the term "manifest destiny" to describe his expansionist views for America. This phrase was coined in a New York Morning News editorial. (Wexler,153).

Following through on his agenda, Polk offered to purchase California and New Mexico from Mexico. Mexico refused to meet with the ambassador sent by President Polk and this was seen as an affront and provocation. Manifest Destiny (the belief that Americans were destined to expand west) was a doctrine followed, and Polk sent troops to the Nueces River and Rio Grande, an area of disputed western territory

The underlying conflicts between North and South were finally fully exposed as a result of failure of compromise in the political arena. The failure of American leadership in 1846-1861was epitomised by key events such as; Douglas's Kansas Nebraska act of 1854 and the dread Scott case pronouncement of 1857. Both of these events overturned the previous Missouri compromise and thus once again brought the two opposing nations head to head. The Wilmot proviso bill which proposed to eliminate slavery in the territories was a clear signal to the South that the North was plotting against her way of life. Thus the southern mind set became increasingly locked in a persecution complex which they justified by evidence of a ‘Northern conspiracy' to destroy their economic institution, the Wilmot proviso was one such piece of evidence even though it was not passed. The election of Lincoln was the final straw with which the south believed the northern conspirators would gain the upper hand and bring about the destruction of the Southern institutions. "Most irresponsible, wanton, and disastrous of all was the decision of those southern leaders who in 1858-1860 turned to the provocative demand for Congressional protection of slavery in all the territories of the Republic." Allan Nevins. Nevins in the previous quote demonstrates the reckless extent

A Congressman named David Wilmot, proposed that slavery should not be allowed in any new territory acquired from the victory over Mexico. Every northerner supported what would be called the Wilmot Proviso, but every southerner opposed it. The party lines began to dissolve and the two party system that were the strongest forces for national unity were starting to crumble.