Going To War With Mexico Dbq Research Paper

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Confucius once said, “Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.” What this means is it is better to have something valuable, even if there is something wrong with it, rather than nothing. Similarly, it was better for America to take land from Mexico immorally than to have no land at all. So I ask you, is it right for the United States to go to war with Mexico? The U.S. was justified in going to war with Mexico for three major reasons: Mexico had a weak government, Manifest Destiny, and Mexico fired first. To begin with, the U.S. was justified in going to war with Mexico because they had a weak government. According to John L O’Sullivan, “Imbecile and distracted, Mexico can never exert any real government authority over such a country.” (Doc. …show more content…

Furthermore, America could get more land by going to war with Mexico. Second, the U.S. was justified in going to war with Mexico because America believed in Manifest Destiny. John L O’Sullivan wrote, “(O)ther nations have been undertaken. hostile interference against us,. hampering with our power, limiting our greatness and checking the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence (God) for the tree development of our yearly, multiplying millions.” (Doc. A) In other words, other nations were interfering with America’s destiny to spread to the Pacific. Rather than allowing this, they were going to expand their territory by annexing Texas. Finally, the U.S. was justified in going to war with Mexico because Mexico fired first. President James Polk stated, “But now,. Mexico has passed the boundary of the United States, has invaded our territory and shed American blood upon the American soil.” What this means is Mexico had attacked American troops on their territory. As a result, Polk wanted to declare war on Mexico’s

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