The Mexican-American War I think that the start of the Mexican-American War was influenced by many political factors at the time, as well as disputes over land ownership. A primary factor in the cause of the war was that of the annexation of Texas. Texas was considered to be a province by Mexico, but the United States wanted it to become a state. Texas also wished to become a state, as they hoped it would solve some of their financial and military problems. In March of 1845, the United States Congress approved annexation, and the Texas Congress approved it in June. Texas became a state in December, thus angering the Mexican government, who considered it to be stolen. Mexico also had claims in what is now California, Nevada and Arizona. In …show more content…
California, there was a great distance between settlers and the central government in Mexico, and the settlers there, called “Californios”, felt very little connection to Mexican rule. A small amount of Americans, called “Anglos” by Californios, settled arrived in California. They began to call for independence from Mexico. Despite the small number of Anglo settlers in California, their cry for independence further strained tensions between the United States and Mexico. The United States was now involved in both California and Texas, causing a great deal of diplomatic tension with Mexico. A border dispute was the final spark of the Mexican-American War. Mexico had said for a long time that its border to the north was along the Nueces River; the US insisted that it was along the Rio Grande, further south. In June of 1845, President James K. Polk sent an army led by General Zachary Taylor into the disputed region. He also sent the diplomat John Slidell to Mexico City to attempt to settle the dispute, but Mexican officials refused to speak to him nor acknowledge his offer to buy both New Mexico and California for $30 million dollars. Zachary Taylor led his troops to the Rio Grande in March of 1846, camping across from Mexican forces near the town of Matamoros, Mexico.
The Mexican commander warned Taylor to withdraw, but he refused; they clashed, killing several United States soldiers. Congress declared war on Mexico two days after President Polk responded to the attack. I think that the Mexican American War could have been avoided. Both the United States and Mexico were being very stubborn and uncooperative when it came to land claims. The border dispute could have been solved had Mexican officials at least agreed to speak with the diplomat sent to buy New Mexico and California, John Slidell. Mexico by no means had to accept the offer, but peaceful negotiating and rational discussion could have prevented the clashing at Matamoros, Mexico and possibly the entire war. The underlying tension before the skirmish was also a land issue and I think that Mexico was being unreasonable when it came to the annexation of Texas, as Texas had declared its own independence. Mexico had signed a peace treaty with Texas in 1844, and there was no reason not to consider Texas an independent nation. Overall, I think that the war could have been avoided had both countries been more willing to
compromise. In the US, the Mexican-American War had an impact on the relationship between the Northern and Southern states by creating tension over the issue of slavery. When the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, there was an argument over whether or not the possibly new states would become slave states or free states. The North wanted to keep the balance of slavery and anti-slavery in Congress equal and keep their own power as anti-slavery, so they proposed that slavery should be outlawed in the new territories. The Compromise of 1850, proposed by Henry Clay, succeeded in attempting to diffuse some tension between the North and South by declaring California a free state and allowing the other territories in the West to vote for themselves on slavery. In general, the tension between the North and South was affected by the Mexican-American War in that both regions wanted to keep their power in Congress.
The Mexican-American War of the 1840s, precipitated by border disputes and the U.S. annexation of Texas, ended with the military occupation of Mexico City by General Winfield Scott. In the subsequent treaty, the United States gained territory that would become California, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and parts of Wyoming and Colorado.
was not justified to declare war with Mexico because of the ignorance of Mexican authority, the robbery of disputed/Mexican-owned land, and the order from Polk which provoked the war. The U.S. were allowed by Mexican government to settle into the provenance of Texas. After settling in the nutritious and fertile farmland, the U.S. settlers rebelled against Mexican law and established slavery in Texas. The U.S. robbed disputed/Mexican-owned land, which led to confusion spreading into Mexico and the U.S. because of unofficial borders. Polk provoked a Mexican attack by ordering soldiers onto Mexican borders, which led to the Mexicans attacking out of pressure.
Later they wanted to annex it but Mexico said that any attempts to annex Texas would be an act of war. The Mexican War started in 1846, when Mexicans attacked a group of United States soldiers, under the command of Zachary Taylor, in a disputed zone on the border of United States and Mexico, killing about a dozen American soldiers. President Polk told the U.S. Congress that the “cup of forbearance has been exhausted” which means the Mexicans hit the last straw and it is time for war. President Polk sent General Zachary Taylor to Nueces River vs. Rio Grande to poke the Mexicans to shoot and they did. The Mexicans have shed “American blood upon American soil.” The United States wanted war with Mexico now they have a reason to declare war ( History.com
The war between Mexico and the United States started in 1846, should the United States go to war with Mexico? The United States was indeed justified in going to war with Mexico, because 16 Americans lost their lives in a battle with Mexico. Second, Mexicans were mad about the revolution, and Mexico treated U.S. diplomats poorly. Many mini-huge and impactful battles took place to unite the country and to fulfill God’s will to take all the land. While trying to execute Manifest Destiny, 16 Americans killed for the right but made a sacrifice to take dominance over Mexico.
One reason the Mexican War was justified was the United States Manifest Destiny beliefs. Evidence supporting this reason is that, according to Document A, John O'Sullivan said it was God’s choice if the United States will grow by taking or buying territory. Also, the annexation of Texas helped grow the United States which gave the
The United States was unjustified to go to war with Mexico because the U.S provokes the war and starts the war, the only reason they had the Mexican war was to gain land and lastly Texas was stolen from Mexico by southern slave owners. The U.S. definitely had an advantage, they were stronger and better. So they could easily go to war with Mexico and
the land and yet it had such a weak economy and could use the money
The Mexican-American war began in 1846, but reasons for the war began much earlier when Mexico made the crucial decision to entice settlers to Texas, with the promise of affordable land grants, actions which eventually led to the annexation of Texas by the United States. All they had to do was accept Mexico 's requirements of becoming citizens, speaking Spanish and converting to Catholicism, this to people who were use to a government that people had rights and freedoms, not experienced in Mexico. Mexico wanted them to develop these long uninhibited lands of Texas, in hopes that it would promote development in the area.(Nardo, 1991, p. 16). The selling of land grants started in the 1820s and the Mexican-American
On 1821, after attaining Independence from Spain, Mexico became conflicted with the U.S. A dispute over the boundary separating Mexico and the newly annexed Republic Texas was the main issue that drove Mexico and the United States to engage in a two-year long war from 1846-1848 (Vargas 79). The Mexican American War resulted in the defeat of Mexico and the loss of Mexico’s northern territories. The Treaty of Guadalupe was later negotiated which guaranteed Mexican the full rights of U.S. citizenship and the inviolable protection of their property rights. However, the United States failed to honor this latter part of the agreement by omitting Article 10 allowing the U.S. government to deny the explicit legitimacy of all Mexican land grants, creating
From the early days of pioneers and settlers, thousands of Americans began to move into what would become Texas. The Mexican government was wanting to populate the Texas area to increase the economy. For a long period of time the Mexican government had placed many laws on the territory, but none that were deeply inforced. Finally when a new dictatorship came into power, they began to enforce the laws. Slavery among other issues
War is inevitable, but the Mexican-American War could have been avoided when determining borders. The controversial Mexican-American war is often talked and argued about. The big question about the war that everyone argues about is, Was America justified in going to war with Mexico? Well, were they? The United States was not justified in going to war with Mexico because Americans invaded Mexican land, The United States already has lots of land, and the Americans ignored Mexican laws and regulations. In 1821, Mexico declares independence from Spain. Texas won its independence from Mexico in 1836 to join America. This War (1846-1848) marked the first U.S. armed conflict chiefly fought on foreign soil.
The United States was not justified in going to war with Mexico because America came in and broke the laws, there were no borders for Texas, and America stole Mexico's land. Tejanos(Mexicans) invited Americans in to settle in Texas. Americans also known as Anglos Broke most of the few laws Mexico made. There was a war for the independence of Texas. A couple years later, President Polk went to go ask Mexico for some of their land because of their belief called Manifest destiny.
In 1845 the U.S attempted to Annex Texas. Basically America wanted Texas to become one of the states rather then and independent nation by itself. At this time Texas was an independent nation that was not a part of America or Mexico. Mexico wanted to keep Texas neutral if not a part of its own country. When the U.S attempted to annex Texas Mexico became outraged, " In November 1843 Mexico had warned that if the United States should commit the 'unheard-of aggression' of seizing an integral part of 'Mexican territory' Mexico would declare war " (Bound for the Rio Grande, 62). Despite the warning the U.S attempted to annex Texas. In doing so Mexico retaliated by breaking off all diplomatic relations with the U.S. Mexico felt that the U.S was insulting them by not taking them seriously when they threatened with war. So at this point America showed a very large interest in possessing Texas. America was very close to actually acquiring Texas when they made their first mistake in the war.
Some americans say that nations hinge on each other, while others say they also compete with one another. This gives rise to rivalry, which sometimes leads to war. Some wars emerge from differentiation in race, religion and culture. Due to the evolution of technology in an accelerated pace, highly sophisticated weapons are now available for use in wars. Wars also bring about widespread destruction, disrupt communication and hamper commerce. Thus, they cause heavy financial loss and great suffering to people. The effects of wars often affect countries that are not involved in the conflict. The threat of war can pressure a nation to waste immense amounts of money on defense instead of spending on developmental works like creating roads, hospitals, schools, and much more. War can halt a countries development. Some countries try to achieve political desires by using terrorism as a weapon against other countries. Terrorism spreads fear in civilians through acts of violence like killings and hostages. This intimidation has transformed into worldwide threat.
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 claimed by both the United States and Mexico. Hostilities started on April 24th, 1846, 2000 Mexican cavalry crossed the Rio Grande and attacked an American troop of 63 men.