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.
Justified is defined as having, done for, or marked by a good or legitimate reason. Texas won its independence in 1836. America’s wars are often very controversial. The United States was justified in going to war with Mexico because of three main reasons: Americans were killed, Texas was already annexed, and Manifest Destiny allows it.
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. 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.
Throughout the 1840s and 1850s a major war happened called the Mexican American War which drastically changed the U.S. and Mexico and lead to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo to be signed and which established the Rio Grande and not the Nueces River as the U.S Border. This also lead to the U.S. annexation of Texas and lead to the Mexico agreeing to sell California and the rest of the territory for 15 million.
The war between the U.S. and Mexico transpired between the years of 1846-1848. There were many Americans migrating into Texas, this did not go unnoticed by President James K. Polk, so he to attempted to annex Texas. Likewise, he sought after territory in New Mexico and California. The U.S. alleged that the Texas southern border was the Rio Grande. Conversely, Mexico did not recognize this borderline and as an alternative thought the Nueces River was the border. Mexico would not tolerate this discrepancy of borderlines and attacked the U.S. With the belief that Mexico had invaded American territory, Polk went to Congress to request a declaration of war, which he was granted. The Americans came out victorious in this war that lasted about two
The cry of war was heard between two nations that continually fought for land. Different boundaries are being claimed between America and Mexico for the fight of Texas, but the result is the increasing number of the dead. The United states chose to start the annexation of Texas. Mexico was angry with this unfair request. American troops were sent to southern Texas to only result in meeting the same set of foes. Gun shots were heard as U.S. troops and Mexican troops fought. As a result, James Polk, the president of the United States at the time, declared war on Mexico. The U.S. was not justified into going into war with Mexico because the Annexation of Texas and California was unofficial, Texas unfairly changed its borders after winning its
The causes of the Mexican-American war were the Annexation of Texas, Land Disputes between Mexico and the United States of America and President Polk’s Greed. The country of Mexico was upset and angry with the United States of America because they took the state of Texas away from them. The two continued to dispute over Southern Texas and the land between the rivers Rio Grande and Nueces. President Polk later sent a messenger to offer thirty-million dollars for the SouthWest. Mexico declined the offer and President Polk declared war on Mexico. This showed President Polk’s Greed and desire to spread the United States of America from the east to the west. By the end of the war, America was victorious and in result they took half of Mexico’s
Americans were outraged over the border dispute at the Nueces and the Rio Grande rivers, and Mexicans were irate with America’s annexation of Texas. President James K. Polk availed in the atmosphere of animosity, hurrying to place troops on conflicted land. On May 9, 1846, he found his cause for war. Mexican and American troops had engaged in combat on April 24, which led American blood spilt on contended soil. However, through all their fighting spirit, the Americans faithfully ignored their own mistreatment of the Mexicans. They ignored the original reason of the enmity, which was the annexation of Texas, and the actual uncertainty of border uproar. This brings into question; were the Americans as justified as they believed in their cry against
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
War is going on all the time and whether the causes are appropriate or not is debatable. Many times war is the last result, but for the US, in this case, armed conflict was the only option. On April 25th, 1846 a massive Mexican Army attacked Captain Seth Thornton and his US Army north of the Rio Grande. Many were overtaken by fear, of what was to come. War. However, the question still remains to this day, was the US justified in going to war with Mexico? Justified means to have good reason or be right about a decision. Did the US have good reason to start a war with Mexico? As far as the US-Mexican War is concerned the Americans did have appropriate causes for war. They 're acceptable reasons were Manifest Destiny, wanting to protect Texas, and the Mexicans ' strike on America because of a border dispute.
Throughout American History, slavery has always posed as a problem in the United States from 1776 to 1852. Slavery grew dramatically when the country acquired new territory as a result of foreign wars, like the Mexican War. Even though there are many reasons why there was a growing opposition to slavery in the United States from 1776 to 1852, the growing opposition of slavery was caused by the country gaining new land as a result of wars and events like the Compromise of 1850 and the Second- Great Awakening which led to the development of new books and newspaper articles.
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.
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. The way they claimed annexed was by saying the Rio Grande was the southern boundary of Texas but Mexico said it was the Nueces River. In regards to the war, Americans were greatly divided. The northerners hated it because of the fact that Texas favored slavery. Those in the south liked the idea of a war because it would help expand to the west. This expansion would provide more land and opportunity. The war was one-sided due to the fact that the United States won most of the battles. The problem with this was that México refused to negotiate after every loss, so the war had to go on for longer than it had to be. Since Mexico refused to negotiate
Conflict between Mexico and the United States began when Texas, previously part of Mexico, became part of the United States. The Mexican government believed that the border between Mexico and America
The United States war with Mexico continues to be a divisive topic among many people because of its background. The Mexican-American war was a fight between Mexico and America for land. America’s belief at the time was Manifest Destiny, which meant that they believed that America should extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific ocean. In the end, America benefited from the war and got the land. The United States expanded its size, achieving their dream of Manifest Destiny. 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.