What Caused The Mexican American War

In 1837, American settlers in Texas joined with their Tejano neighbors and won independence from Mexico. They appealed to join the United States as a slave state. This promised to distress the careful stability that the Missouri Compromise had attained, and the seizure of Texas and other Mexican territories did not become a political prime concern until the enthusiastically expansionist cotton planter James K. Polk was voted for the presidency in 1844. As a result of the steering of Polk and his associated, Texas participated in the union as a slave state in February 1846; in June, after negotiations with Great Britain, Oregon joined as a free state. That same month, Polk declared war against Mexico, asserting that the Mexican army had “invaded our territory and shed American blood on American soil.”

It is September 1846, America is continuing to expand westward, and are at no pace to stop. Manifest destiny has completely dominated the west, and they might even be overstepping their own boundaries. America wants to take states like Texas and California, and Mexico isn’t having it. This is where it all begins. Mexican American war begins, Mexican American war ends, just like that.

On April 25th, 1846 Mexican cavalry attacked a group of U.S. soldiers under the command of General Zachary Taylor. The Mexican cavalry killed a dozen U.S. soldiers. Just 18 days later, on May 13th, Congress declared war on Mexico even though there was some opposition from northern lawmakers. As Mexico’s losses added up,, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna convinced James K. Polk that if he was allowed to return to Mexico he would end the war in a way that was most favorable to the United States. When Santa Anna returned he double-crossed Polk, and led the Mexican army to battle.

In 1846 The Mexican-American War began lasting till 1848. The United States acquisitive need for more land was their only motive for starting a war with Mexico. The United States started an unjustified war with the newly independent country just more territory. Polk stated that “The Mexican Government not only refused to receive him [the U.S. envoy] or listen to his propositions, but after a long-continued series of menaces have at last invaded our territory and shed the blood of our fellow-citizens on our own soil.

Therefor, the U.S. was not justified in going to war with Mexico. U.S. historians refer to this event in particular as “ The Mexican War”; while in Mexico, the refer to it as “ the U.S. Invasion.” (Doc.C, Par.1) Troops commanded by General Zachary Taylor arrived at the Rio Grande across from the city of Matamoros President Polk’s orders in early 1846. Thus, occupying the territory in dispute and increasing the possibilities of battle. In the eyes of the Mexican Government,the mobilization of the U.S. Army was an outright attack on Mexico.

By September 1847, American troops had captured Mexico City after winning a series of hotly contested battles. The Mexicans still refused to surrender. With the American army went a special envoy, Nicholas Trist, who unauthorized to deliver Polk’s terms of peace. Therefore, in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which signed on February 2, 1848, Mexico ceded its northern provinces of California, New Mexico (included today’s Arizona, Utah, Nevada and part of Colorado) and accepted the Rio Grande as the boundary of Texas. The United States was to pay Mexico $15 million and assume up to $3 million in Mexican debts to American citizens.

The United States war with Mexico was over 160 years ago and still continues to be a divisive and widely debated topic, was it justifiable or not? The first war to be fought mostly on foreign land, was the Mexican-American War that started in 1846. America, lead by President Polk, who believed the U.S had a “manifest destiny”, fought against Mexico who had a weak military and was politically divided. After the war ended in 1848, Mexico lost one-third of its territory which included present-day California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico. Although the United States war against Mexico resulted in the gaining of America’s most valuable land, the war itself was unjust because their goal was to expand slavery, Texas was wrong from the beginning, and the war was based on false pretenses.

The United States fought with vigor, but they were no match for the Mexican soldiers, the shot that killed Davy Crockett was heard around the village. The Mexican-American war was from 1846-1848 but problems started to arouses before that. The Mexicans and the Americans both thought that the land was theirs. The Mexican claimed it but the Americans believed in Manifest destiny which means that the land was a gift from God. Although the United States war against Mexico resulted in the gaining of American’s most valuable land, the war itself was unjust because the Texas was wrong from the beginning, the war was based on false pretenses, and the expanding of slavery was the goal.

On February 1846, Polk made General Zachary Taylor move toward the Rio Grande. On April 24 1846, a Mexican army advanced. April 25 1846 was when Thornton and his army was attacked by the Mexican army for invading the land. War began on that day and Taylor had fought in the battle of Palo Alto and the Resaca de Palma.

Throughout various articles, facts have lead to the belief that the Mexicans were responsible for starting the Mexican War. The dilemmas began to appear when Mexico failed to recognize Texas as an independent state. The president of Mexico at the time, Antonio de Santa Anna, signed an agreement in Texas for their freedom but neglected it as soon he came back to Mexico. Afterward, The United States annexed Texas and Mexico cut off all relations with the U.S. The communication between them was completely dissolved and Mexico refused to negotiate with any American.

Blood from Americans to Mexicans splashing one another fighting for what Polk really wanted which is taking nearly half of Mexico territory. Polk rewrites this war message to Congress and fills it full of stirring rhetoric Mexican soldiers had crossed into American territory and shed American blood. Polk bully Mexico he thought that intimidating would force Mexico to give up what he really wanted. The battle of the Mexican- American War began on the field of Pablo Alto. Even though Mexico had more solders than the Americans, the Americans had something really powerful which was flying artillery that was developed by a soldier named Samuel Ringgold.

When Texas was annexed from Mexico in 1845, President Polk sent ambassadors to buy California and New Mexico, but Mexico’s new president ignored all meetings and rejected all treaty offers. Consequently, this increased tensions between the two nations because the leader of Mexico refused all our attempts to make peace between our countries. Not only did Mexico deny any treaty making, but she also would not accept the fact that Texas was now a part of the United States and therefore could not agree on a fair and logical border. Mexico’s actions throughout the United States’s quest to seek peaceful treaties between our two nations, proves the war was

The Mexican-American war altered the United States environmentally, culturally and politically. First, on February 2, 1848, Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo two years post the beginning of the war. The treaty not only achieved President Polk’s goal to achieve California from Mexico but also granted the U.S. over 500,000 square miles of new territory. The new land caused approximately 90,000 spanish speaking, mostly Catholic Mexicans under American jurisdiction. Second, Nativism, a rising anti-catholic and anti-immigrant deemed the Mexicans inferior.

soldiers in the disputed zone under the command of General Zachary Taylor, killing about a dozen. Taylor called in reinforcements, and with the help of superior rifles–were able to defeat the Mexicans at the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. Following those battles, Polk told the U.S. Congress that the “cup of patience has been exhausted, even before Mexico passed the boundary of the United States, invading our territory, and shed American blood upon American soil.” Two days later, on May 13, Congress declared war, despite opposition from some lawmakers. No official statement of war ever came from Mexico.

It was April 25, 1846. The Mexican military invaded Texas, a disputed territory. When the U.S. military came to attack, the Mexicans killed 16 Americans. This is one of the many events leading to the Mexican American War. The Mexican-American War was a major war over Mexico’s land.