The Mexican-American War

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.

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the former President of India, once famously said, “War is never a lasting solution for any problem”. Every single country has had some sort of conflict with another country, and often the solution is war. However, many do not realize that most wars (including the Mexican-American War) permanently damage the diplomatic relations of countries. Because of the damage of the Mexican-American War, it is unlikely that the bond between America and Mexico will ever be the same. The events leading up to the war began when Mexico won its independence from Spain, and in an effort to increase the population of the country, Mexican leaders welcomed American settlers to colonize the Mexican territory of Texas. However, conflict arose

The Mexican American war was started in 1845; the main cause of the war then was whether the border of Texas would be at Nueces River the claim of Mexico or at the Rio Grande that was being claimed by United States. U.S. forces emerged victorious and as a result they were able to acquire more than 500,000 square miles of the Mexican territory and it extended westward all the way from Rio Grande to Pacific Ocean. However, tension between America and Mexico had been building for so long since when the Mexican government gave an invitation to the Anglo settlers back in the 1820.

“The United States had emerged as a modern capitalist nation, and the spirit of nationalism in the country was strong and growing” (Henderson 71). As tensions grew between the Unites States and Mexico, there was a thirst for war. The Unites States declared war with Mexico, because they owned land that Americans desired, resulting in America’s fulfillment of achieving their philosophy of “Manifest Destiny”. The blood boil of both countries caused a lot of bloodshed. The dispute lasted for a long two year battle which was for huge amounts of land. The Americans were victorious and claimed new territories from the conflict.

The southern desire to expand slavery was a major cause of the Mexican-American War, but there were other causes as well. The war started on April 25, 1846, and ended on February 2, 1848, with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. In that treaty, Mexico ceded Texas with the Rio Grande boundary, New Mexico, and California to the United States. The desire to expand slavery in the south was perhaps the largest cause of the Mexican-American War, because southerners were in favor of Manifest Destiny and believed that the expansion of slavery was necessary to keep the slave trade alive in the U.S. Internal political conflicts were another cause of the Mexican-American War. Also, the fear that Texas could be claimed by Britain or France or that it would be uncontrollable if independent was another cause of the war. The

The Mexican War, Spanish Guerra de 1847, or Guerra do Estados Unidos a Mexico, are different names for the Mexican-American War. Many incidents happened even before the war officially began. Eisenhower simply and bluntly stated: “The fact is that Mexico stood in the way of the American dream of Manifest Destiny.” Manifest Destiny was just one of the causes that pushed us to war with Mexico. The first battle was at Palo Alto, a fort that was in the disputed zone. There were many battles in 2 years. The war finally grasped an end when Mexico signed a treaty in Mexico City. With the treaty, U.S and Mexico were able to reach terms. Each proceedings that happened, brought on the war that lasted from 1846-1848 and then ended with the U.S as victors.

It’s 1846 and a war has begun, thousands dead, and only half of Mexico is left. This war took place on the “Texas side” of the Rio Grande. The war ended in 1848 after mass destruction took place. The war was called the ‘Mexican War” or the ‘US Invasion” depending on what side you were on. Many things led to the Mexican War. One event was that John Sidell was asked to leave Mexico City because he angered the Mexican government. Also, James K. Polk became president of the United States in late 1844. The last major event that led to the Mexican War was that Congress voted to annex Texas (Background Essay, par 6-7). Other previous events that led up to this war was the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, Texas

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.

Throughout American History, started from Jamestown Americans started to settle upon Native American land by wiping them out or forcing them to move west. By 1846 throughout 1848, Americans approach Mexican territory’s land which they were eager to conquer and Manifest Density that was unstoppable and a goal for the United States. The conflict was the Mexicans weren 't going to give up their land because of a selfish belief and were provoked to go to war against a stronger nation. A war broke out known as the Mexican-American War.

They have taken the land away from the people of the United States, oh wait that’s not right. Of course people know about the Mexican- American War, but people haven’t heard both sides of the story. This conflict happened in the 1840’s starting with Americans migrating to the west. Mexico shouldn’t have allowed us to move into their territory because the people of the United Sates stole land that belonged to Mexico. When the two countries started to argue over the land, it would eventually lead to war. The United States was not vindicated in going to war with Mexico because, it was Mexico’s land, slavery, and border disputes.

The Mexicans started the Mexican-American War in 1846 because of three main reasons. One reason was that Santa Anna, a general and president of Mexico during 1836, signed the Treaty of Velasco, which stated that Texas was a free and independent nation, and is not a part of Mexico. When Santa Anna returned to the capital of Mexico, he completely disregarded this treaty and claimed to have never signed it with General Houston, even though the Texans had the papers, and claimed that Texas was in rebellion, so he got his army ready and went after the Texans. Because of this, General Zachary Taylor was told by the War Department to be ready to move his men from Louisiana to a site near or on the Rio Grande river in order to protect and/or repel

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 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

According to Howard Zinn, Chapter 8 discusses how the Mexican American War was caused by President Polk, and how he pushed an expansionist plan to conquest Mexico. It is believed that Americans motivated the Mexicans to fight with them so they had a reason to fight over land. The Whig Party (Polk’s political group) was against the war but wanted to expand the nation; and many civilians did not support the war, because they thought it was a war of aggression.

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?