...------------------------------------------------- Mexican-American War and the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo The Mexican-American War and the Treaty of Guadalupe HidalgoSo far from God, so close to the United States – Old Mexican SayingOn September 14, 1847 the Mexican flag was not flying over the Mexican capital. Instead, Mexico’s neighbor to the north had captured the country. How and why did the United States defeat Mexico in the Mexican-American War? To the victors went what spoils? This essay will answer these questions in a nutshell.Throughout the 19th Century, the United States was increasing in power and population while Mexico was stuck in chronic “political unrest, civil conflicts, depleted treasuries, [and] separatist movements” (Oscar J. Martinez, Troublesome Border [Tucson: the University of Arizona Press, 1988], 51). The U.S. was also heavily influenced by Manifest Destiny—the idea that the U.S. had the natural right to rule North America from coast to coast. Consequently, various presidential administrations in the 1820s and 30s sought to purchase land from Mexico, with no avail.In 1835, Texas battled and gained independence from Mexico; Texas was a sovereign country for the next decade (the Lone Star Republic). In the Treaty of Velasco, the Texas-Mexico border was established along the Rio Grande. Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (pronounced “Santana”) signed the treaty but the problem lied in the fact that the Mexican Congress did not ratify it, nor did Mexican presidents after Santa...
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...Simon Waltzer Intro to Speech Communication 11/28/2010 Mexican Drug Wars In the early part of 2003 I went to the state of Michoacán in Mexico to visit my grandparents, because it had been since 1994 since I was last there. It was an incredible experience for me to once again see my family who many of them I’ve never met before. Never did I know that this might have been the last time that I would go visit them, no not because I didn’t want to but because of the circumstances surrounding the area of where my parents lived in. The reality was that Mexican Drug Cartel who has existed since the 1980s had become stronger and dangerous since newly elected Mexican President Felipe Calderon was in assumed office in December of 2006. Calderon hailing from that very state of Michoacán ordered 6,500 federal troops to the state of Michoacán to end the drug violence there. Ever since then, the drug violence between drug cartels and the Mexican Government has escalated to the highest extent. Although drug violence has existed long before the war with cartels and the government began, it was generally not as bad during the 1990s and early 2000s. This action is regarded as the first major operation against organized crime, and is generally viewed as the starting point of the war between the government and the drug cartels. As time progressed, Calderón continued to escalate his anti-drug campaign, in which there are now about 45,000 troops involved in addition of state and federal police...
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... The point of view of this story is told in 3rd person. It’s about other people. It seems to be a person coming for the outside. The author says for example,” I think that there would be no cars or helicopters in and above the streets.” The author is trying to say that’s what she thinks it would be like. The allegory to some issue today of this story could be compared to corporations and lower to middle class people. Lower to middle class people work for the big corporations, but also buy their products. The people earn their living by working for them but then turn around and buy the products. Another part of the allegory would be people being willing to abandon their morals for their lifestyles. For example, Mexican drug cartels are willing to cut up people for money for their lifestyles. I don’t think these people where born to be murders, but as in the story they seemed to have accepted that it is necessary to maintain their...
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...between US and Mexican waters by a drug cartel, Just after this incident a Mexican investigator who was searching for this man’s body was found beheaded and was delivered to the Mexican military in a suitcase. These are just a few of the known violent acts carried out by drug cartels recently. The Mexican drug war has been going on since 2006 but recently has been given more publicity. What is the history behind the drug war, the drug cartels, and what is the US is doing to protect its citizens from this war. It is important as Americans that we understand what is taking place so close to home and that can one day affect us directly. According to Lee and History Guy Media the Mexican Drug War is an armed conflict between drug cartels and the Mexican Government. A drug cartel is defined as an illicit cartel formed to control the production and distribution of narcotic drugs. The mexican govt has attempted to crack down on different drug organizations by arresting leaders in the drug trade. In the CRS report for congress it states that Mexico is one of the highest producers and smugglers of cocaine, marijuana, and heroine due to its location geographically. Annually they make between 13 to 48 billion dollars from the US drug market. Violence is increasing as years go by with 8,500 lives taken this year alone which brings the total to nearly 30,000 lives since the beginning of the war. There are many known drug cartels in Mexico today. According to the Mexican Government there...
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...The Mexican Drug War is an armed conflict taking place between rival drug cartels, with the objective of overthrowing the government of Mexico. According to a recent report by the Justice Department's National Drug Intelligence Center, 6 cartels, 129 midlevel organizations and 606 local groups engage in drug-trafficking activities in the binational region. Money is very affiliated in the Drug wars in Mexico. The cartels have bought many weapons and have paid so many individuals to kill thousands of people. These drug wars are based on who has more money and the most power. Money as well as drugs is moved all around the world. The more money that each cartel has the most power it has. The drug war in Juárez started when the Sinaloa cartel which originated in the Pacific state of the same name began trying to force in on the Juárez cartel's turf (Monica Campbell, 2008). These Cartels began a war among each other to gain power over each other’s territory. President Felipe Calderon responded by sending 3,000 soldiers and federal police officers. Yet the narcotraffickers, with their immense fund of high-powered weaponry, haven't shied from taking them on. And have been trying to buy them off: the cartels have infiltrated virtually every law-enforcement institution in the country, from local police departments to the Mexican attorney general's office. The result has been the increase of violence, growing more public and more impressive by the day (Monica Campbell, 2008). In early...
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...where you go in the world you almost always see influences from other countries in one form or another. It has both positive and negative affects within society. For example, poor countries that are rich in natural resources can distribute them to other countries to benefit their own economy. However, globalization can have negative affects as well. International crime organizations across the world are gaining more access to high-power weapons because of the way that globalization has changed how merchandize is exchanged. For instance, lets look at Mexico, for some time now in Mexico there has been a tremendous amount of drug violence and kidnappings, and lots of areas are unsafe to visit. The drug cartels are gaining more power and the Mexican Government is getting close to losing complete control of the country. President Felipe Calderón...
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...Marijuana allows patients to maintain nutrition Marijuanas impact on the United States Economy. If marijuana is legalized it will help stimulate our economy. 1. Legal marijuana will make more business opportunities. 2. Legalizing marijuana will create new jobs. B. Legalizing marijuana would help decrease national debt. 1. Federal government can tax marijuana at a high rate. 2. The federal government can use marijuana tax to go against debt. III. America funds Mexican drug cartels. America pays top dollar for Mexican marijuana. Kountz ii Mexican drug cartels smuggle drugs across the border. American money funds Cartels. Cartels are violent Cartels kill many innocent people. B. America should legalize marijuana nation-wide. 1. Legalizing marijuana would help our economy and patients. 2. Legalizing marijuana will help stop Mexican drug cartels. Notes on outline. 1. This is not a topic outline; it is a mixed sentence and topic outline. 2. Change the outline into either a topic or a sentence outline. 3. The highlighting indicates sentence structures, though some are incomplete sentences and need end...
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...Mexican Cession By Hannah Wilson What is Cession What does Cession Mean? It means to give up or surrender something Mexican Cession means that Mexico gave up large amounts of land such as California and New Mexico to the United States. History behind Mexican Cession In December 1845 the United States voted to make Texas the 28th State. Mexico thought that we had the boundaries wrong and that part of Texas still belong to Mexico. The United States thought the line was the Rio Grand River, but Mexico thought it was another river far inside of the Texas border. The United States President James K. Polk wanted to meet with Mexico and settle the argument about where the Texas line was and talk about buying more land from Mexico. Mexico refused to meet. Mexico had a new president Santa Anna who did not want to talk. What Happened Next… When Mexico refused to meet with the United States President Palk order our military to the border. On April 25, 1846 the Mexican Calvary crossed the Rio Grande river into Texas and began fighting with our military and that was the beginning of the Mexican American war. That event was very important in history because it would determine how much land Mexico would eventually have to give up. (Reference -Social Studies for Kids, website cited below) 1. Mexico gave up over 500,000 square miles of territory to the United States http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/wwww/us/mexicancessiondef.htm How did the War...
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...Immigration Today the United States is facing two major problems, the first being the national debt growing to over thirteen trillion dollars and it seems like it will continue to grown unless something drastic happens. The second problem this great country is facing is the growth of illegal immigrants. To some this may not seem to be an issue but it truly is, with an estimated population of a little over 308 million people living in the United States it is estimated that there are close to 10 million illegal aliens currently living in the United States today and it is suppose to grow by about half a million each year unless some changes are made. Since 2008 our country has been in a severe resection some even say it is a depression, and with the unemployment at 9.5% many of the possible jobs that are available are being taken by the illegal immigrants for lower rates. If all the immigrants were fired from their current job and some one that was unemployed we would cut or unemployment down to 6% or less. With more people employed more money would be pumped back into the country. Many people don’t realize that most of the money that is earned by illegal immigrants is not kept in the country. Most is send back to the country where they came from. This is a major problem in today’s society because public spending is what we need to turn this country around, and I don’t mean the kind that President Obama did with his bail out money. Many of the companies that employ these...
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...Drug trafficking is getting more serious everyday that if we do not make an attempt to stop or slow it down, deadly consequences may occur. There have been so many articles on this issue and the rate of deaths of people using drugs is increasing rapidly. Everything has a start and so do drugs. The drugs come from traffickers who don’t care about the result of people using it; they only care about how much money they gain from it. Drugs destroy you from your health to your job, business, and worse, your relationships. According to Fitzgerald, by 1925 there were at least 30,000 to 100,000 of illegal premises in New York alone (Fitzgerald). This proves that the spreading speed of drug trafficking is increasing fast, and making more people suffer from the effect that is creates. The dealing of illegal drugs has existed for a very long time in Canada. People have been smuggling drugs in many different ways and there have been many popular drug busts that occurred as a result. Some of the most common illegal drugs being dealt are marijuana, cocaine, opium, and etc. Some of these drugs damage your body while others act as medicine and help people to overcome certain types of illnesses and diseases. The big debate these days is whether to legalize some of these illegal drugs, which provide benefits to people. Also, since many people are using them today this causes problems as these people are arrested and thrown in jail causing them to be overcrowded. In addition to that, a drug such...
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...The Mexican War was the first battle of the Civil War. There are varied opinions as to which battle was actually the first battle of the Civil War. The most popular choice is the attack on Fort Sumter; however, this paper will argue that this is not the case. My main argument will be that because of the events leading up to and during the war, the reasons for the war, and the outcome of the war, the Mexican War laid the groundwork for the Civil War and made it inevitable. Although the Mexicans had recognized Texas independence in 1845, they rejected the Lone Star Republic’s claim to the unsettled territory between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande. When the U.S. annexed Texas and assumed its claim to the disputed area, Mexico broke off diplomatic relations and prepared for armed conflict. Just before leaving office in early 1845 President John Tyler, a Virginian seeking to provide a new area into which slavery might expand, secured a joint resolution from Congress annexing Texas to the United States. Upon taking office, President Polk immediately turned to the acquisition of Mexico's northern territories. President Polk sent U.S. troops under the command of General Zachary Taylor to the Rio Grande River in January of 1846. Mexican officials believed that the Texas-Mexico frontier stood one hundred miles to the north, at the Nueces River, and interpreted Polk's move as a deliberate provocation. Mexican troops quickly arrived at the Rio Grande as well, and minor...
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...Mexican American War 1846-1848 Some wars fall between the cracks. That appears to be what happened with Polk’s War. James K. Polk was our eleventh president. He is often listed as the worst president we’ve ever had. Polk’s War was actually the Mexican War of 1846-48. Before and during that war, most Americans including congress were not in favor of a war with Mexico. The war was launched on questionable pretexts. Why invade a smaller, poorer neighbor just for land? Mexico’s border with the Republic of Texas was the Nueces River near Corpus Christi. New Mexico, Arizona, California along with other territory belonged to Mexico, having won them from Spain some 25 years earlier. There were debates in Congress that the invasion of Mexico was unconstitutional. America had never invaded others (except the American Indians). A young congressman, Abraham Lincoln, began his move into the national limelight as an avowed opponent to the war. Polk saw America as having a manifest destiny to control the entire continent. The great American attitude of “can do” was increasing in strength. Arrogance was never been in short supply in our brief history. President James K. Polk sent troops to Corpus Christi to move the border to the Rio Grande. This was not something the Mexicans wanted. They responded with some strength and were not the push-over Polk and the war hawks thought they would be. For such a...
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...The United States in 1846 was not justified in going to war with Mexico. The United States did not have proper justification to respond with violence against the Mexican government. The war with Mexico was also a product of the United States’ belief of manifest destiny. Polk’s over ambition to seize new territory from the Mexicans and disappointment over their refusal to sell him California also possibly played a factor in his willingness to wage war against Mexico. The United States under the leadership of president Polk clearly provoked Mexico into attacking US troops. All these reasons show that the US had no business starting a war with Mexico for territory that was rightfully theirs. The war with Mexico came at a time when much of the country had strong feelings of manifest destiny. Manifest destiny is the belief that fate had preordained the US to expand from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans and from Canada to the Rio Grande river. This idea which was coined by John O’ Sullivan was very popular in the 1840’s. This ideal had strong influence and was one reason that their was so much popular support for the US expansion west. This ideal while nationalistic did not give us the right to go into Mexico and seize land which was rightfully theirs in the first place. They had the right to expel any US citizens that were living on their country’s land especially if they where not abiding by their laws. This alone makes even the annexation of Texas not completely just...
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...stroke of a pen, the Mexican-American War officially came to an end. The signing of the treaty ended the territorial disputes that caused the conflict between both countries. In the treaty, the United States government was obligated to pay Mexico fifteen-million dollars. In return for the compensation, The United States expanded its territory. The territory that was obtained via the treaty eventually became New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona, and some of Utah.[1] This treaty, especially in the long run, benefited both the United States and Mexico, but there are many arguments about why the war started. Some argue that the United States was power hungry and was continuing its “bulling” of the continent to fulfill their belief that it was God’s will for the United States to control the land from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. This has now become to be known as Manifest Destiny.[2] Then there are the counter arguments that the dictatorship of Mexico sent troops to invade the United States and killed Americans. In a message to congress on May 11, 1846, President James Polk said, “Mexico invaded our territory and shed American blood upon the American soil.”[3] There are many arguments that say the United States is a racist nation and that this war, like many others, was because of white racism. Whether the battles were all racially motivated will never be known. It is impossible to know what was in the hearts of the Americans who fought in the war. What is know is...
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...Diego Bustos Prof. Imogene Lim GLST 490 9th December, 2014 The Mexican Dream: Drug Cartels The American dream, a dream that does not come true for every man or woman that is in search of it. According to Ellies, the American dream represent: “each person has the right to pursue happiness, and the freedom to strive for a better life through hard work and fair ambition.” But, would not that same dream be the dream for Germans, French, Spanish, Brazilians and every single country in the world? The truth is that according to the level of access a person has in order to pursue happiness and to strive for a better life has been indisputably the gap among developed and undeveloped countries for decades. However, hard work does not seem to be the key factor to achieve happiness and/or a better life. Then, what does? During the beginning of the 1980’s decade, Mexico among other Latin-American countries started to adopt Structural Adjustment Programs (SAP) sponsored by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) in response to the neo-liberal ideology that was starting to spread around the world as the avenue for global well-being. The World Health Organization states that Structural Adjustment Programs: “were economic policies for developing countries that have been promoted by the WB and IMF since the early 1980s by the provision of loans conditional on the adoption of such policies.” The economic policies promoted by the IMF and WB were meant to encourage the...
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