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.

Leading up the Mexican-American war, a multitude of events occurred that catalyzed the conflict. For starters, the idea of manifest destiny heavily played into the conflict within this region. Manifest destiny was the idea that the United States had a “divine right” to expand westwardly and would do so at any cost. Nearly all presidents of the time cited this idea as a justified means for illegally seizing land in hopes of using it to aid in U.S expansion. However in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson purchased a parcel of land from France, known as the Louisiana Purchase, that nearly doubled the size of the United States overnight. But with it, this land brought up many

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

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 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 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

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

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.

     The factors that started the Mexican War lay heavily on American shoulders. Whether if the factors were created by social, political or economical needs, they have all become the center of attention for the question of being a national interest or disgrace. However, the Americans felt that they existed for “…spreading the blessings of peace.” according to Andrew Jackson. There will always be controversy between the two sides of this matter, the Americans who feel that it had to be done, to the Mexicans who felt that it was an injustice done to their nation.

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.

Now Mexico had just won independence from Spain in the year of 1821, and gained tons of land. Mexico had so much land, it was equal in size to the United States, and the leaders of Mexico realized that the northern territories were not being put to use. To solve the issue Mexico invited U.S. settlers to come to Texas, however, Americans had to follow Mexico’s rules but everyone knows Americans would never do that. The Mexican-American War was justified because of the manifest destiny, the United States being attacked, and the land situation. Manifest Destiny…Manifest Destiny….Manifest

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 war was led by the disagreements between America and Mexico.The president at that time was James Knox Polk, who was the 11th president and he believed that God wanted America to take the western part of North America.So James Polk would either buy it or take it.[When James Polk asked if the western part of North America was for sale Mexico said no.Later, when Mexico and America were fighting on where the border was, James Polk sent troops to patrol the Rio Grande river to where he believed was the border between Mexico and America and while they were patrolling Mexican troops killed and injured the troops because the Mexican troops thought they were invading their country.]I believe the U.S. was not justified in going with Mexico.

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