Mexican American War Research Paper

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

Texas and the United States believed that the proper borderline between Texas and Mexico was the Rio Grande, but for Mexico it believed that the border between them and Texas is the Nueces River.”(Hook) As you can see the United States and Mexico had different beliefs. This evidence shows the US was justified in going to war with Mexico because the US believed that Mexico had a smaller amount of land they what they think they have. But Mexico believes that it has more land. Mexico and the United States were fighting over the disputed territory which was between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande, which made the tension between Mexico and the US more negative. “ on April 24th of April a party…..of sixty three men and officers, were… dispatched from the American camp up the Rio del Norte.(Doc B)” This evidence shows that Mexico had went against its boundary and fought with American men in the striped area where Mexico and the United states were already fighting for. This Made thing more difficult to handle because the Us and Mexico were already fighting for land and the probably made things worse between the two

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

The United States of America has been through many wars, wars concerning many things such as land oil, pride and respect. However, when the United States went to war with Mexico, it was planned over greed. The Mexican- American war was a war provoked by the United States, in efforts to expand the coasts of the country. Mexico was a small under privileged country who had previously to the war had already lost part of their country (Texas). Needless to say this war was cut throat and violent, it was however one of the smartest business decisions America has ever made.

The war with Mexico abruptly started with the annexation of Texas. Though the land was originally Mexico’s, the U.S had taken part of the territory in the belief of Manifest Destiny. America thought of it as god’s

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

They once were free, but now they're ours! The Mexican War had much to do with the Nueces River, the Rio Grande and the Annexation of Texas. Dates for the Mexican War were July 1845 - April 1846. In going to war with Mexico, was the US justified or unjustified? United States were unjustified in going to war with Mexico because we broke their laws, robbed land, and invaded their territory.

In 1846 throughout 1848, a war to conquer land from Mexico were orders held by James K. Polk. An unjust war is about to occur, In 1846 Texas becomes Independent from Mexico and the United States. To begin with, Mexico approves for the Americans to settle onto Texas with one condition to not bring slaves along with them. During this time period, slavery was one of the most important political concerns and they opposed slavery. The Americans didn’t hold the values of anti-slavery, during this time they valued Manifest Density strongly. Accepting some restrictions from Mexico placed was nothing compared to its own destiny to occur from preventing America to stretch outward towards the Pacific Ocean. The main conflict started with the annexation of Texas, a dispute on the nation’s border, the Mexicans consider the Nueces river to be the border of Texas as for Americans that wasn’t enough land so they consider, Rio Grande the border. A way to aim to

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

On April 25, 1846, 11 US soldiers were killed when they trespassed onto Mexican land. This was caused because of an order given by the Mexican government to protect their borders. Little did Americans & Mexicans know, but this simple order would start a war. The Mexican American War was about how the United States felt more worthy of owning Mexico’s land than Mexico. The Mexican American War was not justified because the USA annexed Texas without Mexico’s consent and they also trespassed the border, onto Mexico’s land.

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.

The Mexican-American War was a result of Manifest Destiny.  Manifest Destiny was a belief that Americans had a god given right to expand their border all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Not only did Americans believe that they also had a right to the land, but they also believed that they had a moral duty to civilize its occupants, which included Native Americans, Mexicans, and Spanish speaking Catholics. According to Britannica, the Mexican-American War originated from the United States annexation of Texas in 1845. Texas had been in a border dispute with Mexico at the time of the annexation  therefore, the conflict transferred to the U.S. Mexico claimed that the border ended at the Nueces River, and the United States claimed it ended at the Rio Grande River.

In 1845 Texas was annexed as a state, however disputes between America and Mexico remained concerning where the border would be located. President Polk at the time had no choice but to send troops due south to defend Texas and the Thornton affair, won by the Mexicans, would force congress to declare war on Mexico.

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, 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