...going to war?” This was the question that many Americans asked themselves in the year of 1846. The Mexican American War began in April of 1846, the cause being disputed territory. Mexico claimed the Nueces River as its northeastern border, while the United States claimed the Rio Grande River. The disputed territory, which is now Texas, was originally a part of Mexico, but Texas was annexed into the United States in 1845. Mexico deemed this annexation as illegal and ignored it, causing the territory dispute to begin. This caused a lot of trouble with the two countries, including many battles and the start to a new war. The United States was not justified in going to war with Mexico because Polk provoked it, the United States...
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...Unjustified War with Mexico An incident occurred in the disputed territory north of the Rio Grande. Reports suggest 16 Americans were killed. The number of Mexican soldiers killed is unknown. 70 soldiers were attacked by a much larger Mexican force. The United States was not justified in going to War with Mexico because tensions were high, derision, and upsetting Mexico. “In Texas at the Alamo, Texans won their independence from Mexico in 1836.” (p.317 ph. 4). “In late 1844, James K. Polk was elected president of the United States.” (p.317 ph. 6). “In 1821, Mexico declared itself free its mother country, Spain.” (p.317 ph. 2). “The War of 1812 caused New England...
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...Was it an invasion or not? Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821. Texas won its independence from Mexico in 1836. The real question in my own words is “Was it really ok for the the U.S. to go take Texas from the Mexicans?” The United States was justified in going to war with Mexico because the Mexicans had a very bad government, Mexico also had a law that conflicted with current slavery practices in the U.S. , and lastly, the U.S. wanted to increase their territory to the Pacific Ocean. One reason the Mexican War was justified was because the Mexicans did not have a good government. (Doc A) Sullivan said “Imbecile and distracted, Mexico will never exert any real government authority over such a country.” What he is basically...
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...Nobody likes a robber.Especially when they live right next door. You see, the Americans had just gotten the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 which gave them lots of land. Then later Mexico gained its independence in 1821. After that in 1836 Texas decided to be independent too.(Background Essay) The Texans decided to sign a treaty with the U. S. and then the Americans got greedy again. They wanted the land from the Nueces River down to the Rio Grande. They wanted it so bad that they decided to go to war over it with Mexico. The United States might have been justified in going to war. No, the U. S. was not justified in going to war with Mexico because America was being disrespectful, America was stealing land, and America wanted a war. The first...
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...The Mexican-American War was fought between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848, There has been a considerable amount of discussion and disagreement surrounding the war, which has made it a controversial topic. While some argue that the war was unjustified, others maintain that it was necessary and even justified for a variety of reasons. One argument in favor of the war is that it was fought in pursuit of the United States' manifest destiny. This was the belief that it was the country's God-given mission to expand its territory and spread its way of life throughout the continent. From this perspective, the annexation of Texas and the subsequent conflict with Mexico were natural and necessary steps in the fulfillment of this destiny....
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...From the birth of the American Republic, there has been a debate over whether the American government acts in an isolationist or interventionist manner. Throughout its history, from the Mexican-American War and Mexican Revolution, the U.S. in Nicaragua, and World War I, that the United States has undeniably and continuously acted as an interventionist in world affairs. The United State’s economic interests, as well as its mission to spread democracy, were leading causes for intervention. There is a fine line between encouraging change in countries and interfering in their international affairs; however, the U.S. has repeatedly crossed it. The Mexican-American War was a major military intervention for the US. The United States began to infringe upon Mexico’s sovereignty in the 1840s when the American mission of manifest destiny advances the United States’ economic interests of Westward expansion throughout Mexican territory (Lecture Sept. 24). In this case, the American public, which was influenced by the Polk administration, justified and disguised means for war and territorial and economic expansion as being “pioneers of civilization,” (Herring 201) and spreading the blessing of democracy; American public support for the war was strong. Moreover, Mexican land was the driving factor of the war because Polk considered Western territory to the Pacific Coast to be valuable as it would be pivotal to increase American power, as well as important to conquer before European powers...
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...HIST 1301 Assignment #3 The Mexican American War The Mexican-American War (April 1846–February 1848) stemmed from the United States’ annexation of Texas in 1845 and from a dispute over whether Texas ended at the Nueces River (Mexican claim) or the Rio Grande (U.S. claim). The war—in which U.S. forces were consistently victorious—resulted in the United States’ acquisition of more than 500,000 square miles (1,300,000 square km) of Mexican territory extending westward from the Rio Grande to the Pacific Ocean . Mexico severed relations with the United States in March 1845, shortly after the U.S. annexation of Texas, partly because of Mexican opposition to the annexation and partly because of the conviction in the North that Texas represented an expansion of slavery. Furthermore, the boundary was in dispute. Mexico claimed that the southern boundary of Texas was the Nueces River, the Texan boundary while under Mexican rule. Americans, as well as the incoming President, claimed that the boundary of Texas was the Rio Grande River. The territory between the two rivers was the subject of angry bickering between the two nations and therefore served as the catalyst for an all-out war. President Polk's true goal was to acquire the rich ports of California. When his offer to purchase the lands were rejected by Mexican President José Joaquín Herrera, who was aware in advance of the American’s intention of dismembering his country, President Polk ordered Troops under General Zachary...
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...Rodjanét Williams History 101 Professor Saul Panski April 22, 2013 To Justify War or Not to Justify War? That is the Question On May 11, 1846, James K. Polk delivered his address to Congress requesting a Declaration of War on the Republic of Mexico. President Polk justified his war by saying in his message that Mexico had attacked American troops and invaded the United States. He also brought up the issue that initially brought about all of the tensions between the U.S. and Mexico, which was the Mexican government had not been cooperative in negotiations over the Texas boundary. Polk, as well as most of the rest of Americans at this time, saw the declaration of war as a legitimate and natural expression of America’s Manifest Destiny, which will be later explained. The question remains, however, was Polk’s declaration of war on Mexico really necessary, let alone justified? Was peace what he really wanted, or was his true intention just to acquire more land and expand the U.S. westward as fast as he could? President Polk did appear to have taken several steps to try to avoid an armed conflict with Mexico. First, Polk tried to reopen diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Mexico by sending an envoy, Mr. John Slidell of Louisiana, invested with full powers to make adjustments to the current state of affairs between the two countries. He sent this envoy, seemingly, as evidence that he did not want war, but peace and harmonious engagements between the U.S. and Mexico from there...
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...The United States of America was justified to go to war with Mexico for various reasons. One reason going to war justification is contained in Document A. Written in this primary source document it states that Mexico was limiting our expansion of land and limiting the development of our nation. This was a conflict because at this time the United States was expanding its territory at a constant rate. Another major movement of this time was manifest destiny. During this time many people moved west for religious freedom however it was extremely dangerous during that time period to move to land already occupied from another nation. In result to this people were moving into Mexico as well as along the border of Mexico. When American soldiers had...
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...Have you ever wondered how we got territory from Mexico? The United was justified in going to war with Mexico because US was giving resources Mexico,mexico passed the border and killed a lot of americans, and mexico's government can’t command their people. The US government gave food,supply,ect. to places that needed the things. Source A says “The anglo saxon foot is already on california's borders marking its trail with schools and colleges,courts and representative halls,mills and meeting houses” (Polk). The US government are giving resources to schools,colleges,courts,etc. The us is justified because the us wants to help people so they give them resources. The US invaded mexico. Source B says, “Mexico passed the boundary of the US and killed...
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...of Manifest Destiny Americans in the 19th century believed in Manifest Destiny, and the consequences that came with it outweighed the benefits. Manifest Destiny is an ideology that says that Americans expanding westward and beyond is inevitable and justified. The consequences of this belief are not only the fact that America started a war with Mexico in order to obtain more land on the North American continent, but also the colonization of the land that belonged to Mexico and its people. Manifest Destiny is the belief that Americans have the right to expand westward and beyond because it was God’s will for them to do so. As John O'Sullivan, a former ambassador, said in a speech called “The Great Nation of Futurity”, in which most people agreed, “We...
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...Mexican-American War The Mexican-American War was fought between the United States and Mexico between 1846 and 1848, and it was marked the first American military battle to be fought on foreign soil. The Mexican American War was mainly driven by the idea of “Manifest Destiny”; the belief that the Americans had a God-given right, based on racial superiority, to spread across the Pacific Ocean (Chavez 2). The motives that were really behind Manifest Destiny was the acquisition of new territory, and the Americans wanted territories which were relatively uninhabited by people they considered inferior. As Americans wandered in search of land towards the west, the reality that the majority of those lands had occupants living in them got overlooked. President Polk shared and guided the dream of manifest destiny, and offered to purchase some territory of Mexico. His aim was to convince Mexicans to get into a negotiation and surrender a portion of their land to America .However, the refusal of the offer by the Mexican government and the unbending of the Polk to populate the area resulted in tension in the two nations. President Polk told the congress that blood had been shed, and he provoked war with Mexicans. With the end of the Mexican War, the United States absorbed one third of that nation’s total area. Even though American’s gained a considerable amount of land, it created great political sectionalism in America. The Mexican American War was for the most part determined...
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...Mexican-American War Just or Unjust The territory that started a war. “Two times over the next nine years, Texas applied to the United States Congress for annexation.” Was the United States justified by going to war? Where the Mexican-American War could be viewed as just by some, and unjust by others, the war was ultimately just. The U.S. was just, in going to war with Mexico, because Texas wanted to be in the United States territory and their leader did not care. “The treaty signed between Texas and the United States” (Document C). Which means Texas wanted to be part of the U.S. Also, Manifest Destiny “Polk was a strong supporter of Manifest Destiny. He believed it was God’s plan, that America extent its territory all the way to the pacific...
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...reinterpretation of the Mexican War justified the actions that were committed in pursuit of Manifest Destiny. He recognized Polk’s aggression as a retaliation to Mexico’s uncooperative nature. By continuously commenting on the unreasonable reactions of Mexicans, he implies that the War could have been avoided; but, due to the stubbornness of Mexicans, the war was inevitable. Recent historians, like Amy S. Greenberg, have challenged this argument. Greenberg, like Merk, does not fully examine the Mexican perspective in her analysis; however, her research reveals the unjust nature of the war instead of justifying the war. In A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln, and the 1846 US invasion of Mexico, Amy S. Greenberg emphasizes Polk’s territorial goals, to expand shore to shore, as a major cause of the war. Before Polk was elected as president, the Whig party predicted Polk’s election would lead to war. Polk pursued the...
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...Did the Americans have the right to manifest destiny/ annex Texas?Americans and Mexicans, In disputed territory or Texas/ Mexico. It all started when Mexico wanted more citizen so they made a compromise deal with Americans, they had to follow the guidelines that the Mexican government had created, but they broke them because they wanted to have slaves and were lazy people and Mexico did not like that idea. So because Americans wanted to disobey the law they thought it was a good idea to go to war with texas and eventually gained their independence.The U.s was not justified to go to war with Mexico because For one they stole mexico's land from under their nose, two Americans illegally brought slaves, which were specifically quoted in the deal,...
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