Based on all four documents I think that the Texans were not justified in declaring independence. I believe this for many reasons. Some reasons were that, the documents that we read were mostly biased towards their own country. Another reason is that they were all stubborn and tried to use conflict and cheating to get their way, for America it was to gain more land for expansion and for Mexico it was to get the Americans to leave them alone.
One potential reason is that there is only one document that did not show any sign of a bias towards one group or side, and they were supporting the Americans. Benjamin Lundy had a very strong opinion about the conflict and said that this was just a chance for the Americans to bring slavery over into Mexico and then spread it into America even further. I agree with Lundy, that was a very good
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Like Lundy, I am also against slavery and can show a kind of bias against Americans when they were involved and trying to encourage slavery on the United States. I could also show a bias towards the Americans since I am one myself. With or without bias though, I do believe that the Texans were not justified, although I am not on the side of the Mexicans. I do not believe that either side was right in their ways in this conflict. The Americans tried to use the times to their advantage and get the Mexicans to give up land. The Mexicans tried to cause conflict so that the Americans would leave their land alone and stop invading. This conflict did not cause the Americans to leave, but instead to engage in this conflict and take it further. As quoted in Document C it says, “Yes, my friends, they preferred to die a thousand times rather than submit themselves to the tyrant’s yoke.” This shows how stubborn they were in this conflict and that neither side was giving in. In Document D it states, “It has been to grab the large and valuable territory of
Have you ever worked really hard to obtain something, but have had it taken away from you as soon as you get it? How did you feel? You probably weren’t happy about it. This is basically how the Mexicans felt when the U.S declared war on them. In 1821 Mexico had declared its independance from Spain. As soon as Mexico declared independance they invited American settlers into the province of Texas so that Mexico could boost economy and population. For Mexico, it turned out horrible because the Americans believed in basically everything opposite to what the Mexicans believed in. In 1836 after a few battles at places such as the Alamo, the people of Texas won their independance from Mexico. Then when James Polk was elected president of the United
The U.S was not justified in going to war with Mexico. One reason is because the United States was demonstrating imperialism, and was greedy for land. In document A it says “ Mexico never can exert any real government over such a country….The Anglo-Saxon foot is already on [California's] borders....armed with the plough and the rifle.”This shows how the U.S is power hungry. They just won Texas and now they already they want to take even more from Mexico. They are even talking bad about Mexico saying “Mexico never can exert any real government authority over such a country.” This is trying to make the United States look good, and Mexico looks like they cannot govern.
America was justified in going to war as Mexico invaded the country,American troops were killed by the Mexicans,and Mexico decided to strike first.When Texas declared its independence from Mexico in 1836 and stated that the Rio Grande was the border boundary.However in 1846,Mexican forces decided to cross the border line as it was known as an invasion against the US.On Document B President Polk stated, “The Congress of Texas,by its act of December 19,1836, had declared the Rio del Norte to be the boundary of that Republic.”(Doc B)On April 24th,1846,an American force of 70 men were dispatched to camp north of the Rio Grande. However,a larger Mexican force,decided to attack the American force where 16 American soldiers were killed.On Document
Texas and the U.S. did not follow the rules which later started the war. The war was not justified because slaveholders wanted to expand on land that was not theirs. The quote from Document D says “Mexico on achieving her independence of the Spanish Crown decreed the abolition of human slavery within her dominions, embracing the province of Texas. A current emigration soon followed when the US slaveholders crossed the river between Louisiana and Texas with their slaves “In defiance of the Mexicans ordinance of freedom”.
In Document C, it states that Americans called this war the “Mexican American War”, but in Mexico’s eyes, it was called “The American Invasion”. This was because Americans thought that that land belonged to them, and that Mexicans were the ones who were invading. For Mexicans, the Americans were invading their territory. This entire thing was a big misunderstanding, leading to the war. This shows that America was not justified because that incident was a large misunderstanding for both Mexico and
With the widespread confusion and battles throughout the Nueces River and the Rio Grande, the U.S had offered a treaty to Texas, and shown in Document C “It would consider such an act ‘A declaration of War.’” Today Texans and American citizens believe that Mexico had attacked first, when in reality they were just defending their land. The U.S took Mexico’s land and had blamed them for attacking for the start of several battles and casualties when Mexico didn’t give up the land in the first place. Explained in Document D “Citizens of the United States had already begun to move
The United States is arguing that Texas belongs to them, while Mexico is arguing the same thing. Even though Mexico doesn’t own the land, they did have the right to protect the land that once belonged to them. The US fighting over undisputed territory doesn’t seem like the right reason to start a war. The final reason why this war was unwarranted is because of how it would expand slavery in the US. Document D states, “Certainly Mexico.
United Mexican States was weak and was just forming Mexico’s government, and the only people that Mexico could not control was the Americans. The Americans even got special treatment and the Americans still rebelled. “One way to increase the population was to welcome settlers from the United States.” (Background Essay Paragraph 3) With Mexico being weak, anti-slave, and just getting formed the Americans were not happy with how it was being run when they showed up. Congress also stated “...Did not want a large slave territory to be added to the United States.” (Background Essay Paragraph
“Mexico was a catholic anti-slavery and they couldn’t keep the texans under control”(Roden 317). This quote shows that Texans were not following the Mexican’s rules. “I did not take long for these differences and didn’t want to revault”(Roden 325). This quote shows that the Mexicans did not want to go to war with Texas. The Texans wanted slaves but didn’t want to be Catholic. This information shows the Texans ignored the laws given by Mexico. The mexicans were being generous but the Texans revolted. This Information shows that the texans didn’t care about the rules. This evidence shows the US was not justified into going to war with Mexico. The first Texans ignored the laws angering the Mexican government and rebelled against the laws given. The Mexican government was generous and offered free land but the Texans ignored their laws and rebelled against the Mexican
America was unjustified because of the disputed of the territory. (Hook) Texas and Mexicans aren't being far to each other, or not letting one another have an equal part in the territories because Texas and the US believe their border was on Rio but the Mexicans thought theirs was the Nueces River they both want more land than the other causing a fight or a war. (Doc D) They are rude and disrespectful to the Mexicans when they lived in the Mexican territory, Because they think that since they live in mexico and we aren't Mexican we don't have to obey the laws/rules that they have made.Texas and Mexico both want big land masses so they fight over who gets what causing war between the two of them.
Most importantly, Texas disobeyed Mexico for many reasons, like their greedy actions. The U.S wanted to expand slavery in Mexico for a main purpose.
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
Another speculated cause was that the Anglo-Americans that lived there refused to conform to the Mexican rules and laws. Most were protestant and therefore refused to convert to Catholicism. They also refused to pay their duties to the government and did not support troop
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.
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