Robert Johannsen’s book titled To the Halls of the Montezumas, with a subtitle that reads The Mexican War in the American Imagination. This is an accurate description of what the book is about, due in part to how Johannsen decided to write his book. His account of the conflict shows that for many American’s the war was more about “flair” than “substance.” It was a war that sparked the imagination of all Americans from the busy city centers of the Atlantic coast to the rural towns of the West. Johannsen puts forward that the press had a very important role to play in the Mexican American war. The book focuses on the media coverage of the conflict, rather than the military strategies and tactics. To make the book unique and to offer to the reader …show more content…
The Mexican government was unstable and when the war did break out, was unprepared for conflict. The United States annex of Texas Territory led to war being officially declared by Congress on May 13, 1846.
The Jeffersonian ideal of “Manifest Destiny” began to spread throughout America. One of the main reasons for war, was that American citizens believed it was America’s destiny to spread its peoples and way of life across the frontier. This a was highly publicized headline, that the American press pushed on American citizen, to further fuel the call for war. When the offer to buy the disputed land by President Polk was refused, Zachary Taylor and his troops swept in and held the land in question.
Johannsen spend more time on how the war was portrayed in the press, instead of the tactical nature of the conflict. He mentions that “it was the first war that the American people could follow, like they were on the front themselves, because correspondents flocked to the front. Telegraph offices literally were constructed, it seemed overnight, so they could get the story to the
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Manifest Destiny had a major impact on most the conflict, which swelled the ranks of the state militias.
The authors choice to concentrate on the press more so than on the fighting is interesting and relevant to those who are not experts on the period. The book is a history of the American press and how it raises the American citizen-soldier to a higher level. The common soldier became a symbol of American democracy, Johannsen says “perhaps one of the foremost symbols of the Mexican War
Manifest Destiny represented a God given right to expand West, justifying any action to accomplish the sacred duty. However, such a grand quest could not have been left unscathed and the Mexican-American War was the inevitable action that left a mark on the Manifest Destiny of being motivated by nothing more than greed and extreme nationalism. The inevitability of the war and the claimed “injustices” that were done toward Mexico were justified because of the annexation of Texas, there was a legitimate national threat and the war being a last resort.
Manifest destiny was used as an excuse for America claiming land it had never had any right to. Americans wanted to extend slavery and saw taking land from Mexico as a way to do so. President Polk set the perfect opportunity to get Mexicans to attack US soldiers, so he would have grounds for war. None of these were justified reasons for war, and only caused a larger rift to form within the nation. The United States’ unjustified decision to go to war with Mexico was a driving force in dividing the nation, ultimately leading to the Civil
The belief in Manifest Destiny, that settlers were destined to expand across North America, was held by most Americans. At the same time the belief came about, debates in Washington were going on about the future of America. While many debates were held in Washington, there was also a lot of conflicts in states like Kansas and Nebraska. Both the debates in Washington regarding the westward expansion of the new nation and the laws by which it should govern itself, as well as the conflicts on the ground regarding those very same issues, set America on the path that could lead to only one destination; the Civil War.
The prelude to the war began in the 1830s when Mexico decided to open up their home to America. Due to the fact that Mexico was under populated, and had too much land they
Manifest Destiny is a term coined by John L. Sullivan in 1845 when talking about the annexation of Texas. He believed, along with other expansionists, that it’s inevitable that the US population would spread across North America because the land is given by Providence to the United States and that it’s natural that the land should be part of the country [Doc 1]. The idea of westward expansion and Manifest Destiny had positive and negative effects on the politics, society and the economics of the United States and
Up to the War, the American and Mexican armies were about as much the same as they were different. The American force, renamed the U.S. Army of Occupation, was led by General Taylor who had severed in the army since the War of 1812 and was known by his men as “Old Rough and Ready.” The American Army, organized based on European models, had a strength of 8,613 men and contained only regulars (Carney, 2005). These infantrymen enlisted for five years, and was made up of 42 percent foreign nationals, of which 50 percent were Irish. The U.S. Army
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
Manifest destiny was the idea that the US was destined to expand from sea to sea. This idea brought on a growing amount of land and a growing amount of freedoms. As seen in the picture, the angel is leading the way westward and shining the light of freedom. This idea of more land made the Americans hopeful that they would gain liberty and opportunity with the growing nation. The natives, slaves, and free blacks sought liberty themselves. Just like how the Americans sought freedoms William Apes stated that “ they want what I want” (Apes, GML 388). The idea of more liberty and freedom is what drove the Americans and the minorities during this time.
Manifest destiny and territorial expansion divided the United States from 1830 to 1860 through views on Texas, disagreements regarding whether or not it was justifiable to travel west for land, and how to handle the war that may have arisen as a result of territorial expansion.
This book is put together with documented evidence and interviews with key figures. Carroll explains the reason behind why Longoria’s incident ignited activism. There were more severe acts of discrimination against Mexican Americans that were not brought into the spot light. He clarifies why this particular incident became such a turning point in nationalism and emotion between the Mexican and American cultures. Felix Longoria was a first class private who earned many metals including: a Bronze Service Star, a
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
Manifest Destiny is a term that was first coined in 1845 by a journalist named John L. O’Sullivan, and was described as America’s destiny to expand, and that it was God’s will that America was to expand. According to Genovese, “The notion of westward expansion and domination of the white races struck a responsive chord in many Americans” (Genovese, 2017). The idea of expanding America’s territory was so popular that is was even later used in Congress to justify the claiming of Oregon’s territory. While the idea of expanding America seemed great to the Americans, it was not so great for those who were living on the land that the Americans would later claim. According to Hastedt, “The failure to assimilate and prosper was the fault of those receiving America’s goodness” (Hastedt, 2016). The Americans felt that they were superior to those whose lands they were trying to take, such as the Native Americans and Mexicans, and that they should be the ones to adopt American culture, even if they were there before the Americans claimed the land. The Americans even thought that those whose lands they were taking would be happy to convert to their way of living, as is stated by Hastedt, “The inherent superiority of American Values was sure to be recognized by those with whom they came in contact and would gladly be adopted” (Hastedt, 2016). This mindset would ultimately lead to the expansion of America, turning it into what we know today, but it would also ultimately result in conflict with those that the American’s were attempting to take the land from for the sake of expansion.
This is the most comprehensive collection of The Texas Rangers during the Mexican revolution that has been published. Charles Harris III and Louis Sadler share the details behind this unstable period by uncovering the views and actions of the Rangers during the highest point of border violence up until that time. The Rangers remain as one of the most recognized law enforcement agencies in the United States. In the ten year span of 1910-1920, Texas was involved in a lot of turmoil around the border of The United States and Mexico. These were the years of the
The author provides background into the events leading up to the war, particularly the collapse, imprisonment, and exile of Santa Anna. Events and key personnel on the American side are also outlined in detail. President Tyler is described as “seizing the initiative” to shift public opinion against Mexico by assigning a troublemaker, Wilson Shannon, as the minister to that country in 1844. Eisenhower provides a detailed description on the implementation of weaponry and tactics during all stages of warfare. He often refers to the performance of the main characters in other conflicts such as the war of 1812 and forward to the civil war. The cause of this war is summed up early in the text followed by