Essay On Was The Us Justified In Going To War With Mexico

During the 19th century, the people of the United States of America had a belief that they had a justifiable right to expand its territory; otherwise known as manifest destiny. This belief of inevitable conquering land in North America led to conflicts with the indigenous people already occupying the land. One of the conflicts the Americans had with the indigenous people of North America was the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) in which Mexico fought for their territory that the Americans thought was rightfully theirs in the attempt to expand west. There may be several reasons to the cause of the Mexican-American war, however, the two major causes of the war were consequences resulting from the Texas War of Independence and the American’s desire

As a Democrat, I believe that President Polk was justified in starting the Mexican-American War. Also, as a strong supporter of Manifest Destiny, also known as Western expansion, I furthermore find reason to believe Polk was justified in initiating war with the Mexican people; being that the Mexican government refused peaceful negotiation. The Americans were the just owners of this western land, and we intended to get it. The Mexican government refused a meeting with our representative to establish the border between Texas and Mexico, along with an offer of 30 million dollars for Western territory. These western territories would provide substantial economic growth for the United States, as well as the obvious: making our nation larger as

Latter President Ulysses S. Grant was another American in opposition to the war with Mexico. In his personal memoirs he wrote “To this day, I regard the Mexican War as one of the most unjust wars ever waged by a stronger nation against a weaker nation . . . in not considering justice in their desire to acquire additional territory.” (Document 3) On the other hand, there were publications like The New-York Daily Tribune would called the war “piratical” and the invasion was a “flagrant outrage” and it was also called “immoral and unwise”.

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.

and Mexican forces had taken place in U.S. territory.” “Further, legislators were at odds over whether Polk had the right to unilaterally declare that a state of war

This war happened mainly because the U.S. wanted to expand to the Pacific Ocean to fulfill their Manifest Destiny, trying to take away Mexico’s land. Mexico refused to to give land to the U.S. The big question is whether the U.S. was justified in fighting Mexico in the Mexican-American War. The United States was justified in going to war with Mexico because Manifest Destiny, too much Mexican interference, and Texas was invaded. One reason the Mexican War was justified was Manifest Destiny. In Document A, John O’Sullivan writes: “Texas is now ours...Let their reception into the “family be frank, kindly, and cheerful….”

Manifest destiny also affected the relationship with Mexico. Several factors led to the Mexican- American War in 1846. The factors were that the U.S citizens were moving into California and Mexico. Since there were many revolutions happening in Mexico throughout this time period the Mexican government was not able to protect the U.S citizens in this region. Another factor was that Mexico was upset that Texas declared independence from them and then the U. S annexed Texas in 1845.

God wanted the US to expand. On the contrary, some individuals claim the US was not justified in going to war with Mexico. This point of view makes sense because Texas was Mexico’s to begin with. Despite that, Texas was independent when the US annexed it. Therefore, the united states was justified in going to war with Mexico.

When Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821, a string of ruthless dictators and weak presidents made Mexico an easy target for its powerful neighbor, the United States. The US swooped in to expand its territory and its popular institution of slavery. By doing so, the US started a war with Mexico that was justified for illegitimate reasons. The Mexican-American War was not justified because the US took Mexico’s land for the expansion of slavery, and justified their taking advantage of Mexico when it was politically weak by hiding behind Manifest Destiny.

was not justified into going into war with Mexico was that the Annexation of Texas was unofficial. “From Mexico’s point of view, the annexation of Texas was inadmissable for both legal and security reasons.” (Marquez 327). This quote shows that Mexico viewed this annexation as an unofficial and unfair act against the government and citizens of Mexico. Polk’s act of extending borders to California was also seen as unfair because that land belonged to Mexico.

The Mexican-US War California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada; these are some states the United States of America gained after the Mexican War. Americans fought with Mexicans, but was war really the best option? In my opinion, the USA was 100% justified to go to war with Mexico; Americans were attacked on American soil and Mexico was trying to stop the American expansion. Therefore I think the United States was justified in going to war with Mexico.

A). In April of 1846, President James K. Polk had an idea to expand the U.S from coast to coast and after Mexico denied selling land to Polk because they had Texas, Polk declared war on Mexico because they were weaker and would give more land. As a result of the Mexican War, the U.S acquired a lot of land. This acquisition of new land soon posed as a problem regarding slavery. The United States government did not know if slaves should or should not be allowed in the new land.

The United States of America has been through many wars, wars concerning many things such as land oil, pride and respect. However, when the United States went to war with Mexico, it was planned over greed. The Mexican- American war was a war provoked by the United States, in efforts to expand the coasts of the country. Mexico was a small underprivileged country who had previously to the war had already lost part of their country (Texas). Needless to say this war was cut throat and violent, it was however one of the smartest business decisions America has ever made.

The Mexican-American War changed the Unites States of America in a monumental way. This war changed The U.S.A.’s relationship with foreign powers and the economic standpoint of the nation. The Mexican- American war, and its strong ties to manifest destiny, shaped the nation in a country bordered by two seas with a chance for common folk and foreigners to have a sustainable life due to the gold rush. The war can also be accounted for the downfall leading to the Civil War over the conflict of slavery due to the land purchased in the wars treaty. Conflict between Mexico and the United States began when Texas, previously part of Mexico, became part of the United States.

Although the United States war against Mexico resulted in the gaining of America’s most valuable land, the war itself wasn’t legitimate because of the revolution in Texas, motivation for superiority, and the U.S. government’s actions. To begin, the Texans began an unreasonable war because they didn’t follow Mexico’s laws and conditions. When Mexico started selling cheap land, they set conditions for the people moving in. The people had to convert to Catholicism, learn Spanish, become a Mexican citizen, and have no slaves. Many Americans didn’t like being told what to do, and disobeyed the rules and laws.