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123helpme Manifest Destiny and American Territorial Expansion
Us motives for spanish american war
123helpme Manifest Destiny and American Territorial Expansion
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America was not justified in declaring war against Mexico. It is very evident that President Polk provoked the conflict that took place. When he ordered the US army to occupy the land between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande River, he knew that this area technically belonged to Mexico still. Polk had intentions of purchasing these lands, as well as California, New Mexico, and other southwestern areas, but Mexico declined the offer. His willingness to engage in conflict was spurred by his want for more land. Manifest destiny was a big concept back then and most American’s jumped at the chance to expand further westward. He could have gone about the situation more diplomatically, but instead chose to fight once he could not buy his way out.
Although many Americans did not take the war seriously, the Mexican-American War of 1846 was responsible for the thousands of both Mexican and American deaths, and permanently left a scar on the the U.S’ relationship with Mexico. In 1846, the U.S declared war on Mexico after shots were fired at American soldiers on the “Texas side” of the Rio Grande, which the Americans believed was the border between Mexico and the U.S. The war was very controversial, and many Americans vigorously opposed President Polk’s decision to declare war. However after winning the war, the U.S gained most of Mexico’s territory in the West, completing the Manifest Destiny (BGE). Was the U.S. right to go to war with Mexico?
The war between Mexico and the United States started in 1846, should the United States go to war with Mexico? The United States was indeed justified in going to war with Mexico, because 16 Americans lost their lives in a battle with Mexico. Second, Mexicans were mad about the revolution, and Mexico treated U.S. diplomats poorly. Many mini-huge and impactful battles took place to unite the country and to fulfill God’s will to take all the land. While trying to execute Manifest Destiny, 16 Americans killed for the right but made a sacrifice to take dominance over Mexico.
Through Manifest Destiny, the U.S. conquered many new territories. Ever since the U.S. became its own country, they always wanted more land. They thought that the Manifest Destiny gave them the right to expand and conquer more land. The United States were offered a deal known as the Louisiana Purchase which doubled their size. Even after they received this land, they were thirsty for more. They wanted to have Texas as their own. After Texas got their independence from Mexico, President Polk annexed it. Polk had his eye set on California next. But before he could get California, he had to deal with border dispute in Texas, leading to the war with Mexico. So, did the United States have a good reason to go to war with Mexico? The answer is simple, the U.S. was not justified into going to war with Mexico. This is proven through the Manifest Destiny, border disputes, and an American viewpoint on the war.
The scene is set; America is the great power in the western hemisphere. Post Spanish-American War, America is faced with a dilemma of annexing the Philippines. In the winter of 1899 following the annexation of the Philippines, America had a problem. Filipinos had been fighting for independence from Spain and did not want to be seceded (83). Despite the Filipino objection, the United States displayed their assertion on the land. In conflict, both the Filipinos and American had many meetings with death. There were consequences and repercussions from invoking the American power on this foreign land. The American victory in the Spanish-American War helped propel the nation. Thesis: Although met with conflict from the natives, the
So, is the United States justified in going to war with Mexico? I think the U.S. was unjustified to go to war with Mexico because, the United States provoked the war and started the war, the only reason they had the Mexican war was to gain land and lastly Texas was stolen from Mexico by southern slave owners.
the land and yet it had such a weak economy and could use the money
The Spanish-American war cannot be directly sourced to one cause. Rather it was the result of the combination of events pre-dating the war and the spark that ignited our intervention into this conflict. This paper will trace the reasons behind the United States involvement in this war. The United States partaking in this war, was a signal to the rest of the world that the United States was ready to emerged as a world power. By having one of the best Naval Fleets, by the beginning of the war, the United States sent a messaged to the rest of the world that the US is ready and capable to become more involved in foreign affairs. However, it is important to question the importance of each cause that led up to the United States declaring war with Spain and putting itself between them and Cuba.
The Mexican-American War - Debate The Mexican-American war began in 1846, but reasons for the war began much earlier when Mexico made the crucial decision to entice settlers to Texas, with the promise of affordable land grants, actions which eventually led to the annexation of Texas by the United States. All they had to do was accept Mexico 's requirements of becoming citizens, speaking Spanish and converting to Catholicism, this to people who were use to a government that people had rights and freedoms, not experienced in Mexico. Mexico wanted them to develop these long uninhibited lands of Texas, in hopes that it would promote development in the area.(Nardo, 1991, p. 16). The selling of land grants started in the 1820s and the Mexican-American James W. Fannin took over the garrison at Goliad manning it with 350 untrained volunteers with guns, who would be considered pirates to Mexico.
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
Why We Shouldn't Go to War with Mexico War with Mexico will destroy us. Fighting with them will set a burden on us as well as on them. We are fighting with them for the same reason England is fighting with us. England fought us because we would not follow the laws that they passed, and we want to fight the Mexicans because they don't want to give us the land that we want. In some way, you could call this being hypocritical.
The United States was not justified in going to war with Mexico because America came in and broke the laws, there were no borders for Texas, and America stole Mexico's land. Tejanos(Mexicans) invited Americans in to settle in Texas. Americans also known as Anglos Broke most of the few laws Mexico made. There was a war for the independence of Texas. A couple years later, President Polk went to go ask Mexico for some of their land because of their belief called Manifest destiny.
United States started the war with Mexico due to its imperial ambitions and need for territorial expansion. America was modernizing itself and getting ready to engage in competition with Europe. Capitalism and modernization fueled the competition for resources to feed the industries, and the markets to sell the manufactured goods. A country in this world was either an exploiter or the exploited by that order of things. Being neither one of those was the hardest to achieve. Americans decided to be exploiters; therefore, they needed to engage in competition with Europe, a group of empires dominating the world. To successfully compete with Europe, America needed the natural resources and advantage over trading routes Asia to engage profitable in business with Asian territories. Another reason Americans engaged in war with Mexico was to avoid domestic instability and chaos that would slow down its imperial progress. Issues of economic crisis and slavery were vital to solve. The U.S needed to justify their actions; thus, they put the blame on Mexico for starting the war. The War with Mexico was a significant event since it was the largest U.S military expansion for the reasons of modernization covered up as an act of self-defense.
Some americans say that nations hinge on each other, while others say they also compete with one another. This gives rise to rivalry, which sometimes leads to war. Some wars emerge from differentiation in race, religion and culture. Due to the evolution of technology in an accelerated pace, highly sophisticated weapons are now available for use in wars. Wars also bring about widespread destruction, disrupt communication and hamper commerce. Thus, they cause heavy financial loss and great suffering to people. The effects of wars often affect countries that are not involved in the conflict. The threat of war can pressure a nation to waste immense amounts of money on defense instead of spending on developmental works like creating roads, hospitals, schools, and much more. War can halt a countries development. Some countries try to achieve political desires by using terrorism as a weapon against other countries. Terrorism spreads fear in civilians through acts of violence like killings and hostages. This intimidation has transformed into worldwide threat.
The Mexican-American war determined the destiny of the United States of America, it determined whether or not it would become a world power and it established the size of the United States of America. Perhaps the war was inevitable due to the idea of Manifest Destiny - Americans thought they had the divine right to extend their territory. The Mexican-American War started mainly because of the annexation of the Republic of Texas (established in 1836 after breaking away from Mexico). The United States and Mexico still had conflicts on what the borders of Texas was, the United States claimed that the Texas border with Mexico was the Rio Grande, but the Mexicans said that it was the Nueces River, so the land in between were disputed and claimed by both the United States and Mexico.
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.