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Spanish-American War, what was the effect after the war
The Mexican war of independence
Spanish-American War, what was the effect after the war
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The Mexican War of 1846-1848 was one of major importance to U.S. history, but has since fallen into annals of obscurity. It was the nation’s first war fought on foreign soil: a war that advocated the concept of “manifest destiny”, the United States God-given right to claim territory for the establishment of a free democratic society (Stevenson 2009). Even though many historians claim the war was forced on Mexico by slaveholders greedy for new territory, President John Polk viewed the war as an opportunity to defend the annexation of Texas, establish the Rio Grande as its border, and to acquire the Mexican territories of California and New Mexico (Stevenson 2009).
Annexation of the newly formed republic of Texas incited bitter debate on all sides. All of the slave states wanted to bring Texas into the Union, but a number of free-states were opposed because it would destroy the balance of power in Congress. Britain also denounced annexation because they wanted to stop American expansion (McGill 2009). The Mexican government, who still claimed the disputed territory, repeatedly warned that if Texas became a U.S. state, there would be war. Despite political controversy and the prospects of war, the annexation of Texas was important because Britain was negotiating an alliance with the Republic of Texas. This alliance would wreck the Southern cotton trade and stop American expansion (The Mexican War 2006).
Newly elected President James Polk, a strong advocate for American expansion, dispatched John Slidell to Mexico to negotiate a deal for the New Mexico and California territories and to seek Mexican recognition of the Rio Grande River as the new Mexican-American border. It was important for the United States to establish its border ...
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...ed on Mexico by slaveholders greedy for new territory, President John Polk viewed the war as an opportunity to defend the annexation of Texas, establish the Rio Grande as its border, and to acquire the Mexican territories of California and New Mexico. Opportunity to defend the annexation of Texas, establish the Rio Grande as its boarder, and to acquire the Mexican territories of California and New Mexico.
References
McGill, S. (2009). The War for Texan Independence & the Annexation of Texas. War for Texan
Independence & the Annexation of Texas, 1. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Stevenson, K. (2009). The Mexican War. Mexican War, 1. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
The Mexican War. (2006). Current Events, 106(3), 2. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Tindall, G. B., & Shi, D. E. (2010). America, a narrative history (8th ed., Vol. 1).
New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company.
James K. Polk was one of many that felt extremely strong about Texas joining the Union. Silbey uses direct quotes from politicians gives a deeper outlook into Texas annexation. “That there is a large majority who would be glad to see Texas, in some way or another, united to this country, there can be no doubt.” (Silbey 81) Shortly after this widespread idea of Texas joining the country Congress was overwhelmed with bills to make Texas’s entry accomplished.
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
“Perhaps no other president during the first half of the 1800’s exerted as much of an impact on U.S domestic affairs regarding land acquisition as the eleventh chief executive, James K Polk. As president he finalized the annexation of Texas, and created a war with Mexico that transferred over 1.2 million acres of land to the U.S., now five states of the American Southwest. He also brokered a deal with Great Britain to purchase the state of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Polk is thus credited with expanding the domestic terrain of the United States, but at the expense of Native Americans who lost their land, and African Americans who were taken as slaves to these new states and territories.” I rate president Polk as a high president. He did the necessary to expand Southwestward. With political forcefulness, President Polk pursued his ambitious goals. Texas joined the country as the 28th state during his first year in office. Tense negotiations with Great Britain concluded with American annexation of the Oregon Territory. Following a controversial two year war, Mexico ceded New Mexico and California to the United States. The Polk administration also achieved its major economic objectives by lowering tariffs and establishing an independent Federal Treasury. “He felt that government plans to fund internal improvements was
So a major reason for Texas to be annexed into the United States was that the overwhelming majority of the population was former Americans. From the very time of winning independence, annexation of Texas to the United States was at the top of the list of things to do. But as soon as the Texas minister was sent to Washington to negotiate for an annexation, the Martin Van Buren administration said that the proposition could not be entertained. The reasons given were constitutional scruples and fear of war with Mexico. The real reason behind Washington’s excuses is slavery....
Narrative History of Texas Annexation, Secession, and Readmission to the Union. Texans voted in favor of annexation to the United States in the first election following independence in 1836. However, throughout the Republic period (1836-1845) no treaty of annexation negotiated between the Republic and the United States was ratified by both nations. When all attempts to arrive at a formal annexation treaty failed, the United States Congress passed--after much debate and only a simple majority--a Joint Resolution for Annexing Texas to the United States. Under these terms, Texas would keep both its public lands and its public debt, it would have the power to divide into four additional states "of convenient size" in the future if it so desired, and it would deliver all military, postal, and customs facilities and authority to the United States government.
Mendoza, Alexander, and Charles David Grear. Texans and War New Interpretations of the State's Military History.. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2012.
Thesis: The nine years of Texas’s independence were long and seemed to be dragged out. Were those nine years unnecessary and could it have been done in a shorter period of time? 13 October 1834 was the first revolutionary meeting of the American citizens who’d settled in Mexico, in the area soon to be known as Texas. The people attempted a movement that soon was laid to rest by the Mexican Congress. Attempts at independence were silenced for the time being and the elections of 1835 proceeded forward.
The U.S requested the also be given the Rio Grande. The Rio Grande was south of Texas and clearly belonged to Mexico (refer to figure 1). The U.S felt that the Rio Grande was part of Texas and should be given to the U.S with Texas. Mexico would not give up the Rio Grande because they were certain that the Rio Grande belonged to them. America's greed is THE major reason this conflict occurred. The U.S also believed the Mexico should have to pay for any of the U.S's debts that were incurred during Mexico's conflicts with Spain. America was in debt 3 million dollars because of the Mexico and Spanish conflicts and America very strongly believed that these debts were Mexico's fault and they should have to pay for them.
Pletcher, David M. “Annexation Completed and The Push to the Pacific.” In The Diplomacy of Annexation: Texas, Oregon, and the Mexican War, 172-226. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1973.
In the 1840’s, with American expansion ongoing, under the principles of Manifest Destiny, James K. Polk entered into the presidency of the United States. Polk campaigned the ideals of manifest destiny and believed that territory under Mexican control should be acquired to facilitate further expansion. The lands in question are now known as California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico, and the Mexican government was resistant and unwilling to part with them. With tensions rising between the two nations, Texas is annexed into the U.S. and Polk dispatches an envoy to Mexican President Nicolas Bravo in an attempt to purchase California and New Mexico. Nicolas Bravo was aware of his attempt
After the Texas independence war, Mexico doesn’t recognize Texas’s independence because their president, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, was captured during the Texas independence war. Although we didn’t get to annex Texas because it would be a slave state and an unbalanced between free and slave states. Texas finally got annexed in 1845 which was one of the causes that started the Mexican American War. The other cause is that President James Polk wanted California, so he offered Mexico $30,000,000 dollars for New Mexico, California and to have the border of Texas at the Rio Grande. He sent an American diplomat, John Slidell, to Mexico City. When John Slidell came to Mexico City, Mexico refused to even to see or talk to him. Polk was determined to get that territory from Mexico. So James Polk knew he was going to war with Mexico but he needed to get the country on his side, so Polk had to get Mexico to attack first. Polk sent General Zachary Taylor to build a fort on distributed territory on January 1846 to drag Mexico to attack. On April 25th, 1846 Mexican cavalry attacked the fort, and the United States army won on the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. Polk’s plan was planned out perfect. He went to Congress on May 11th and told them Mexico attacked us on our soil. On May 13th, 1846 Congress declared war on Mexico.
It pitted a politically divided and militarily unprepared Mexico against the expansionist-minded administration of U.S. the President of the U.S. James K. Polk had the idea that Americans should spread across the continent to the Pacific Ocean this was called the “manifest destiny” A border skirmish along the Rio Grande started off the fighting and was followed by a series of U.S. victories. When the dust cleared, Mexico had lost about one-third of its territory
Under James Polk’s presidency, America wanted to continue the western expansion. They claimed that this was God’s plan and that the American’s were God’s new chosen people. The American government used this concept of “manifest destiny” to justify their intent. By saying that God intends for them to claim this land and continue the expansion they were able to gain the support of the American citizens. America would be gaining almost half of the territory of Mexico, for a price tag of thirty million dollars. Aside from monetary gain the agreement proposed by Polk offered no benefits for Mexico.
During President Polk’s presidency, America grew by two-thirds, the term “Manifest Destiny” was coined, and America went to war for land in 1846 with the Mexican-America War (U.S. History.org, 2017). In February 1846, Texas became a state (a slave state) then Oregon became a state in June. Later that month, Polk declared war against Mexico and the Mexican-American War would be fought until 1848 and ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (Schultz, 2013). The treaty not only ended the war, but allowed America to acquire a large amount of land in exchange for $15 million and set the boundaries between Mexico and America (Schultz,