The issue of slavery in the post American-Mexican war goes way back to the very beginning of the conflict between the two nations. It started in 1846 up to 1848 under the leadership of President K. Polk, the U.S head of state who ran an expansionist-minded administration. He held the belief that the U.S needed to spread a ‘manifest destiny’ across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. A slight board skirmish along Rio Grande sparked off war between the two countries. Mexico was politically divided and ill-prepared in terms of their military. Therefore, the U.S leveraged on the supremacy of its military and capitalized on the weaknesses of Mexico. When the war ceded, Mexico had lost a third of its territory-Almost the entire California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Utah. …show more content…
However, their grievances did not materialize as they were overwhelmed a certain level of patriotic enthusiasm that overrode their sentiments. Conquering Mexico meant that the U.S got to take over the land that previously belonged to the Mexicans. The size of the country grew almost by double. Territories expanded. This then led to the question of how was land going to be used. The Southerners, who owned slaves, wanted them to continue residing in the same lands, while the Northerners wanted it be a free land. Conflict and arguments ensued.
The argument held by the Southerners was that the slaves would be instrumental in building the America hence make it possible for its progress, the Northerners held the argument that this association would result in conspiracy making it slave trade an accepted vice and sink United States deeper into the rut of slavery. In fact, they believed that Southerners would build a slave empire that would not benefit them in any way. This marked the starting point of very sharp divisions between the Southerners and