The Mexican-American War

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Kish, Ivan
Per. 2
The Unwarranted War Against Mexico The Mexican-American War played a crucial role in the history of the U.S giving it the last third of its land and contributing to making as diverse as it today, but was the basis of the war ethical. To know this background information on the war must be known. The Mexican-American War was a 2 year war fought over a border dispute which ended in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which gave America the the western territory it has today. So with that in mind, while the War against Mexico gave america very valuable land, the war itself was unjust due to the Texas revolution wasn’t itself just, Manifest Destiny pushing americans to fight , and the promotion of slavery in the war. A major reason …show more content…

A piece of evidence that affirms the War was fought for slavery is when Joshua Giddings says “...that it has resulted from a desire to extend and sustain an institution on which the curse of the Almighty most visibly rests. Mexico has long since abolished slavery. She has purified herself from it’s crimes and its. What Joshua is saying is that Americans and their leaders have developed a need to spread and keep slavery going and describes it has one of the worst things committed by man. Since Americans think parts of Mexico belong to them it most likely makes them even more angry that slavery is not being put to use in “their” land. This “need” for slavery ultimately pushed leaders to fight even harder in the Fight on Mexico. Another piece of evidence that corroborates the fact that the Mexican-American War was fought for slavery is in an article by Benjamin Lundy who was an abolitionist( someone who opposes slavery) that argued against the American Invasion of Mexico “The immediate cause for this war-led by the slaveholders of this country-...has been to grab the large and valuable territory of Texas from the Mexican Republic in order to re-establish a SYSTEM OF SLAVERY. “ This means that the leaders of the war who are known slave supporters, have been fighting and telling their troops to fight for slavery. How can one justify a war fought for such …show more content…

While this is true, this statement pays no regard to what other things happened because of the described actions. Think about the Mexicans and what they went through after mexico lost the war. Those that stayed had to learn a completely new language in order to communicate with most of the new population. Those that had to leave to the new territory of mexico had to leave everything behind, their businesses and homes and they may not have been prepared to make this move which would cause them financial. Also Mexico lost money since they rich land of the west was taken meaning much of their revenue was lost. This no doubt harmed the economy and its workers who are now jobless. So remember, when a country gains land another country loses much

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