Mexico's War: The Mexican War

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

Did you know that in the Mexican-American War, the US took half of Mexico 's land? After Mexico 's independence from Spain in 1821, the northern lands of Mexico were rarely used. America saw this as an opportunity to expand by seizing Mexico’s northern lands, and took it. They accepted Mexico 's offer to live in Texas, and soon Texas became overrun with Americans. They influenced Texas to go against Mexico, and eventually Texas was won by the US in battle. After that, Mexico and America began having disputes. However, the Mexican-American War officially started when Mexican troops shot American soldiers in the disputed territory. In modern-day, many people take sides about whether it was right or not for America to declare war upon Mexico. In various forms, one of the most controversial questions is, "Did the US have good reasons for starting war with Mexico?". The United States were not justified because they were greedy for land, broke Mexican laws that they agreed to while in Mexico, and created faulty reasons for their actions.

The Mexican-American war was a process of years of battles between the Mexicans and Americans but I think after this informational paper, you’ll seem to know a little bit more knowledge about it. How it all started, well in the beginning, the Americans and Mexicans both wanted to control Texas, but at the time it was a part of the Mexican territory, well soon enough Americans wanted control over it so badly that they started to travel into Texas’s land. Part of the reason why Americans wanted it so badly was because it was a big land and had lots of resources and just did not want the Mexicans to have any control over it. (“Social Studies for kids” The Mexican American war) As more Americans moved to the land,

The Mexican American War began on May 13th, 1846, when Congress declared war on Mexico, and finally came to an end on May 26th, 1848, when both sides of the war agreed on a peace treaty (Bomboy, 2012). While this war was over, 14 years later, another one began, based on what many feel transpired as a result of the Mexican American War (Bomboy, 2012). The War began when the independent republic of Texas decided to join the United States, which Mexico considered an act of war (Bomboy, 2012). By the end of the war, 10 states had joined the Union and the size of Mexico was cut in half, including California, Texas, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming (Bomboy, 2012). This war was important for both nations, but in America, it was exacerbated with the ongoing issue of slavery and the political climate of the country. Thousands were killed, and millions of dollars were spent, it was America’s first foreign war that was fought nearly completely on foreign soil, and forever changed the borders of both countries (Miller, 2006). Since Mexico was South, the states added to the Union were in slavery territory, and the balance between the slave states and the free states of the North was thrown off by the additional states (Miller, 2006). With 10 new states added to the United States in the South, the constant uncertainty of whether or not they should be free or slave states, and what it would mean for the previous Southern and

The Mexican American War was one of the most vicious wars in U.S. history. This war left many fatalities and there’s many reasons on why this war occured. The Mexican American War took place in many states an the was plenty of battles to go along with this war. Over 20 battles happened during this era. There was many reasons why this war occurred, one of the main reasons is the U.S.wanted more land and expand west, in other words the great words said by President James K. Polk, James Polk believed in “Manifest destiny”, “The belief that the U.S. had a god-given right to occupy and civilize the whole continent”.

The Mexican American war did indeed allow us to complete Manifest Destiny, because off all the states that was annexed when Mexico lost the war. The Mexican American war was the final little push to help us achieve that move west. The move west and south was not an easy one, since there were a lot of people opposing it, and different debates that were held on slavery which grew much tension. Onto the move to the west and the annexation of the Mexican land the President Polk had much backlash for much that he did involving Mexico.

The United States believed that it was their God given right to spread from coast to coast. The people of the young nation set out to do just that on a journey unofficially called the Manifest Destiny. President James. K. Polk offered Mexico twenty-five million dollars for the area of Texas and told Mexican leaders to name their price on California. The United States needed the land to fulfill their destiny to spread across the continent. Although the offer was a very generous Mexico declined. Thereby, American troops were sent down past the Nueces River to “poke” or cause enough tension for Mexicans to fire upon American troops to start the first battle. The Mexicans believed the Nueces River was the border of America and Mexico, but

There were several factors that lead to the beginning of the war, some of which were political and others were violent. One of the political factors involved the relations between the United States and Mexico in the years leading up to the war. These relations were becoming increasingly strained as time went on. This was due to the fact that Texas, which was still independent at this time, rejected Mexico’s offer of recognition and instead accepted the U.S.’s offer

The Mexican American war was a war that involved Mexico and America and Texas. The Mexican thought that Texas was a part of their territory and America thought different creating conflict and that’s when the war begun. The war lasted for almost 2 years and America won ad claimed Texas. The Mexican government encouraged border raids and warning that any attempt at annexation would lead to war. I think that the War was justified because Texas did not belong to Mexico but Mexico kept doing things that just created so much more conflict that there was.

When Texas gained independence from Mexico in 1836, the United States had decided not to annex Texas after Mexico had threatened war. However, despite Mexico’s threats, in 1844 President James K. Polk decided to re-annex Texas. During this time he had also wanted to purchase California, New Mexico, and the rest of the U.S. Southwest, but was rejected. In 1846, after the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, Congress declared war on Mexico. This was the beginning of the Mexican-American war. The war continued for two years, until finally it ended on February 2nd, 1848 when the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed. Through this, the U.S. gained 525,000 square miles of land from Mexico in exchange for 15 million dollars. The Mexican Cession

The Mexican-American War is one of the deadliest wars in U.S. History. This war was a Battle driven by Manifest Destiny for the Americans to acquire the territory of Texas that they felt belonged to them. But Mexico refused to give up the territory to the United States. The war consisted of several issues between the United States and Mexico that couldn’t be negotiated or resolved without the use of force. After a border incident between Mexican and American troops. President Polk declared war on April 25, 1846 against the Republic of Mexico.

The war with Mexico is long remembered as an episode, and by no means is it an unimportant one. With the events that led up to its happening, from the Manifest Destiny to the disputes on territory, it has severely marked the United States. American historians regard the Mexican-American war as “the foulest blot on our national honor”. (sfmuseum.org) Unethical actions were taken gain Mexican territory. Polk and his hunger for land drove him to find some devious way to fight a war with Mexico. His belligerent attitude in regard to this war was the “foulest blot on our national honor.” However, as one studies the events that led to it, was it an unprovoked act of aggression? Or did the US unjustifiably lure Mexico into one of the bloodiest wars on American soil?

The Mexican citizen did not leave their land or country to go to the United States, the American citizens invaded their land through the American-Mexican war and took control of part of the Mexican territory. Mexicans were forced to became citizens of the U.S., the abolitionist Frederick Douglass stated : "They have succeeded in robbing Mexico of her territory, and are rejoicing over their success under the hypocritical pretense if a regard for peace." (Fraser 320). As a result of the American conquest in the Mexico City, New Mexico, and California, many of them lost their land and lives fighting against the Americans in the war, approximately 90,000 Mexican became a new citizens in the U.S.

The general argument made by Rodolfo Acuña in Legacy of Hate: The Conquest of Mexico’s Northwest is that the Mexican-American War was an exercise in American Imperialism. More specifically, Acuña argues that the Anglos took advantage of Mexico and started the war in order to make a profit. The general argument made by Norman A. Graebner in The Mexican War: A Study In Causation is that the Mexican-American War was not an exercise in American Imperialism. More specifically, Graebner argues that the United States did not want to go to war. Instead, they wanted to Mexico to recognize the annexation of Texas and buy New Mexico and California from them.

By 1850 Congress had failed to provide any kind of government to the territories the U.S won from Mexico during the Mexican American war. But the gold rush as well as border disputes between Texas and U.S troops over how much land they owned called for Congress to finally take action in the area. In addition, Congress was also facing many other important issues such as southerners wanting a more effective federal fugitive slave law, and northerners wanting the public sale of slaves in the District of Columbia to be outlawed.