Mexico was unable to conquer the southern part of the United States due to its political instability, lack of resources, and the economic and social injustices on Anglo Americans views on Mexican presence in the area. Although Mexico did not conquer the area that is both known to be southwestern United States or northern Mexico, it should be referred to as “Occupied Mexico” because of the influence that Mexico had on this area and their resistance to being driven out of the American southwest. Rudy Acuña presents an accurate claim that southwestern United States; such as Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California, once belonged to Mexico because of its effect and presence in these current states of the United States. The way Anglo Americans …show more content…
Mexico wanted to secure the American Southwest for the purpose of protecting the mines with the treasures of gold and silver that were essential in their empire. Since both Anglos and Mexicans worked in the mines during the late 19th century, there was a law passed where “the town did not allow Mexicans to own claims, but it did permit them to work for wages” (Acuña, 1988). The way that Anglo Americans treated Mexicans created social and economic injustices, where there were less opportunities for Mexicans to be of higher social and economic class is due to systems in favor of ranking a person on their race. Since people were seen based on their race and occupation, “In central Texas a sharp distinction separated sharecroppers and tenant farmers in part because of the social and racial stigma attached to being a sharecropper” (Foley, 1997, p. 10). In addition to Mexicans not being able to have the same rights as Anglo Americans, the Indians had even less rights. When the Indians came to Spain for new land, they were responsible for the foreign diseases that were brought. Since the Anglo Americans mistreated the Mexicans because they “were accused of every conceivable social ill, of carrying diseases, lowering wages, accepting charity, displacing Anglo workers, molesting white women, and even stealing Irish-American melodies and claiming them as their own.” (Foley, p. 54), the Mexican Treatment of the Indians in the American southwest was the result of Anglos views on Mexicans coming to California, Texas, New Mexico, and
Conquistadors came over to get all the gold they possibly could. The Spanish were cruel and took advantage of the Native Americans who were living there. Not only did the Spanish want the gold but they also wanted the land. The Native Americans were enslaved by the Spaniards and were forced to mine for gold. The Spaniards gave the Natives extremely high gold quotas to meet. Most were unable to do so and because of that they were punished. Natives would have both of their hands cut off(Document 1). The other reason was so that the Spaniards wouldn’t have a problem with resistance from them. The Native Americans were majorly taken advantage of for gold.
believed Mexico could not govern their territory properly, Mexico still owned and had authority over California. The U.S. was not justified in going to war with Mexico because they ignored Mexican authority by settling in California, Mexico’s territory, and established slavery in disputed territory when it was against Mexican law. According to John L. O’Sullivan’s “Annexation”, “The Angelo-Saxon foot is already on [California’s] borders...armed with the plough and the rifle…” (Doc A). The U.S. believed that Mexico “never can exert any real governmental authority over such a country” (Doc A), so they set up towns along the borders of California with armed soldiers in line. These actions were used to pressure Mexico into an attack, so the U.S. could annex California. Charles Sumner states in “Objections to the Mexican-American War”, “Slaveholders crossed the Sabine [river between Louisiana and Texas] with their slaves, in defiance of the Mexican Ordinance of freedom.” (Doc D). Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, and one of their founding laws was the ban of slavery. In spite of this, the U.S. broke Mexican law and established slavery in disputed territory.The U.S. used tactics such as angering and pressuring the Mexicans, which helped provoke a war that was
got their land from Mexico through war. The war with Mexico killed many people for the United States personal benefit of getting more land. At the beginning of the essay we had one question, was the United States justified in going to war with Mexico. The answer to this debatable question was that the United States did not have a good reason to go to war with Mexico, This was proven by the Manifest Destiny showed that “God’s” words told the U.S. to go out and take other people's land, which is totally wrong. Next border disputes occurred leading the U.S. to use it as an excuse to start the war with Mexico. And lastly the American viewpoint showed that the U.S. did not follow the laws of having Texas as a slave free place. These topics all show that the United States had to use something to make an excuse to start the war since they had no good reason to do
As Americans, we’ve taken far greater than just tacos, burritos, and nachos from the culture of Mexico. Through America’s past relations with Mexico, America has taken large amounts of land, and a sense of power from country south of the United States, Mexico. In 1846, James Polk, a former president of the United States, declared war on Mexico. There was confusion between Mexico and America. Land was being traded, new borders were being formed, but disorientation was aroused causing conflict. Differences in culture, beliefs, and even national law led to dispute among these two countries, making it even more difficult to reach a treaty of peace, or a deal. The Mexican-American War was not justified because it was an excuse for gaining land,
For centuries, Mexican Americans have dealt with an enormous amount of hardships that date back to their early Aztec roots. The source of many problems in Mexican American history can be traced in the pre-colonial period, before the United States of America was even conceived. Major problems of this era in history not only affected the Aztecs, but also the following generations of Aztec and Mexican descent, and continue to have an impact on their descendents in contemporary American society.
Mexico, once home to ancient cultures like the Maya and Aztec which ruled vast territory expanding from present day South America all the way up north to present day western United States now reduced to roughly half its size. The cause of this dramatic loss of land was contributed to the expansion of the United States and secession of southern provinces, now Central America. The loss of land not only affected Mexico’s presence of power but also affected hundreds of thousands of native people. This was just the beginning of what would come to be known as the land struggle and the fight for land grants, something the United States government would not acknowledge nor recognize.
Rodolfo Acuña and Norman A. Graebner take opposing standpoints on this topic. Acuña takes the standpoint that the Americans took advantage of the Mexican government, which was young and unstable at the time. He argued that the United States waged an unjust war solely for the acquisition of new lands. His excerpt from Occupied America: A History of Chicanos, 3rd Edition provided the basis for his argument. On the other hand, Graebner took the standpoint that President James Polk pushed a policy, enforced by a stronger nation, to force Mexico to sell New Mexico and California and recognize the annexation of Texas to the United States without starting a war. His argument was taken from his article “The Mexican War: A Study in Causation”. Both sides of the American Imperialism argument contain their own strengths. However, after the examination of the articles, Graebner proposes a more convincing
Which was the belief that God wanted to expand America's land from Texas all the way to the Pacific. “largely ignored Mexican authority”(roden,317). The Texans(Mexicans) let in the Americans in without having to pay for land and they still broke the laws. “ Certainly (Mexico)... might just charge be citizen”(summers,329).The Anglos came in and disobeyed the only laws they had to follow. They made slavery illegal, then the anglos brought 38000 slaves(summers, 329).
For nearly 250 years they had learned the techniques, as shaped under Spanish rule, that allowed them to mine with great accuracy and efficiency. However, this lead to the targeting of these people by Anglo 's who were jealous of their skills. Hatred and prejudiced soon turned to unlawful actions that targeted these people because of their race. As outlined in the text, from the writings of Antonio Coronel, two persons of foreign decent were hung with no trial or jury following the accusation by an Anglo miner that they had stolen from them, and threats were made to any persons who so chose to get in the way that they would meet the same fate (p.171). In other states, such as Texas in which loathing toward Mexicans already reigned supreme, Mexican-Americans were pursued by the likes of the state appointed Texas Rangers, who routinely harassed their counterparts, and in some instances shot them dead for offenses that were not judged by a manner consistent with American judicial beliefs. These brutalities were the offset of an Anglo society that was still infused with the likes of war with Mexico, and driven by hatred for peoples of different covered skin (as can be visited through similar circumstances with American Indians and African Americans). Mexican-Americans found themselves in a deplorable situation: their
As more Americans moved west and into Texas it became evident. that there was going to be a continued clash between Mexico and the white frontiersmen who quickly flooded. certain areas of the world. The American government wanted to purchase this valuable land but eventually it was taken by Americans. frontiersmen where it was declared its own realm.
Did you know that the United States took half of Mexico’s country as a reward for winning the Mexican War? After Texas won its independence in 1836 it tried to get annexed to the US however Congressmen didn’t want to anger Mexico who still considered Texas a part of their country so they said no both times. Later in 1844, James K. Polk was elected and everything changed and the Manifest Destiny was ruling. Polk didn’t just want to annex texas but also California. Congress voted for Texas and polk sent troops, with John Slidell into the disputed area of southern texas to Mexico City to try to buy California. However the attempt to buy a huge part of their country angered Mexican government. Polk felt that America’ honor was challenged so when
“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe”( Douglass). This famous quote epitomizes the philosophies of Frederick Douglass, in which he wanted everyone to be treated with dignity; if everyone was not treated with equality, no one person or property would be safe harm. His experience as a house slave, field slave and ship builder gave him the knowledge to develop into a persuasive speaker and abolitionist. In his narrative, he makes key arguments to white abolitionist and Christians on why slavery should be abolished. The key arguments that Frederick Douglass tries to vindicate are that slavery denies slaves of their identity, slavery is also detrimental for the slave owner, and slavery is ungodly.
With the end of the Mexican War, the United States absorbed one third of that nation’s total area. Even though American’s gained a considerable amount of land, it created great political sectionalism in America. Mexico was fighting to keep what they thought was their property and the U.S desired to retain the disputed land of Texas and obtain more of Mexico’s northern lands. This fast expansion of the size of America combined with a number of other military successes and improvement of the country’s infrastructure and communication powered ideas of Anglo-Saxon sovereignty, which merged with America’s pride to create a manifest destiny. Due to American Mexican war , Manifest destiny instilled nation building through territorial expansion, endorsed slavery’s growth, and promoted the notion of American racial superiority (Chavez, 3). The Mexican American War was mainly driven by the idea of Manifest Destiny, that instilled nation building through territorial expansion, endorsed slavery’s growth and promoted the
The history of the Mexican American people predates by many years the incorporation of the Southwest into the United States. Native to the Southwest, the Mexican American people have a history marked by the Spanish and then by the Anglo Americans. This early history, perhaps because of the proximity of the southwestern states to the Mexican border, has left a legacy of conflict that is p...
The United States won the Mexican-American War. With several reasons behind this great victory, this event had caught the European governments by surprise. As American armies were outnumbered four to one, and while they were also fighting in foreign lands, the American army still defeated the Mexican army and gained many more territories. In winning this impossible war, the Americans had almost complete control over what is now the United States of America and using the idea of “manifest destiny” to be the driving force behind their out-numbered armies.