The Mexican-American War

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Regardless of the decade or the country a person lives in, there seems to be a reckless disregard for the toll a war can take on human lives. When the Alamo was fought back in February 1836, it was about the independence of Texas from Mexico. In retaliation of the death and destruction of human life, Sam Houston retaliated in April and killed 630 Mexican soldiers and took General Santa Anna prisoner (Tindall & Shi, 2010). This was the start of the independence of Texas and the quest for annexation into the United States, which ultimately led to the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848. This paper will briefly explain the reasons for the Mexican-American War and will describe the outcome of the war.

The Reasons

Numerous reasons can be cited for the Mexican-American War. The Americans who were living in Texas wanted greater representation and power from the Mexican government and the ability to keep their slaves. Unfortunately, they were denied on both accounts. The Mexican government opposed slavery. After the capture of General Santa Anna in 1836, he was forced to recognize the sovereignty of the Republic of Texas (Hickman, 2011), however; the Mexican government still considered Texas a province and would not honor General Santa Anna’s agreement. General Santa Anna was exiled to Cuba until he outwitted President Polk in 1846 and resumed command of the Mexican army.

In the course of the next nine years, the United States rejected the annexation of Texas into the union because they were concerned about having another slave state. Other members in government were concerned about Mexico and provoking a conflict. Before President Tyler left office and Polk became the eleventh president of the United States in 1845, he initiated the...

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...te into the Union. The citizens of Texas wanted to break away from Mexican control. President Polk also wanted the territories of California and New Mexico. Unfortunately, Mexico would not sell. The Mexican-American War would wage from 1846 to 1848 with causalities and wounded soldiers on both sides of each nation totaling over 40,000. Some said it was the most unjust war ever waged, and the Civil War that will take place in the future was our punishment for the unholy Mexican War (Tindall & Shi, 2010).

Works Cited

Hickman, K. (2011). Mexican-American War: Roots of the Conflict. http://www.militaryhistory.about.com/od/mexicanamericanwar/a/MexicanCause.htm

Lee, R. (2011). “The History Guy: The Mexican-American War”. http://www.historyguy.com/Mexican-American_War.html

Tindall, G., & Shi D. (2010). America A Narrative History. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

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