Was the United States Justified in Going to War With Mexico? People fight for what they want or think is right and out of this comes war, a conflict between two groups of people that can be held responsible for numerous people’s deaths. It was 1846 and the U.S. saw Texas as a future part of their country but at that time it was Mexico’s land. Polk was president and believed in the manifest destiny which was a belief that the U.S. should own all the land in that continent They wanted to fight for it and this led to the war known today as the Mexican War, but people in Mexico call it the U.S. Invasion. The U.S. was supportive of the idea of going to war with Mexico and only two out of forty-two men in the Senate disagreed with going to …show more content…
if desired. Texas wanted to gain freedom from Mexico and they won. “Texans won their independence from Mexico in 1836.” (Roden 317). Texans had disagreed with how Mexico governed their country and decided to do what other than fight for their freedom. After they won independence they wanted to become part of the U.S. but this took some time for them to do. Texas tried three times to become part of their country and for almost a decade, they remained their own country (Roden 317). Congress was the one who made this decision and was not allowing them to be annexed. Around the time James Polk won the presidency, Congress finally decided to allow Texas to become part of the U.S. When it was time for Texas to be annexed, O’Sullivan made a speech and said: “Texas is now ours.” (O’Sullivan 323). America could not have made it any more clear that Texas was now theirs, so Mexico should respect that. Along the way of Texas becoming its own country, they also said that the Rio Del Norte was the boundary that separated them from Mexico (Polk 325). When Mexico lost their land, they would have known what part of their land was Texas, but when the U.S. won Texas, they were still going on their land as if it was their own. This evidence shows the U.S. was justified in going to war because Texas had won its independence so it could make its …show more content…
was justified in going to war with Mexico because they needed the land, Texas had been its own country, meaning it could make its own decisions, and Mexico attacked the U.S. America had been a new country so it had a yearly growing population and they also had a belief of taking over a certain part of land which included Texas. Also, when Texas became its own country, Mexico was mad at Texas and the U.S. but it wasn’t their fault they wanted to join the U.S. Mexico had also fought Texas, which had now joined the U.S. so Mexico should have expected for Americans to fight back but seemed surprised when they did. All in all this topic is important because changed the relationship with Mexico and the U.S. but not for the better. There are Mexicans even today who still feel sour towards Americans after the conflict of the two countries since they feel their land was
Also, Texas was in war against Mexico and the people were worried if Mexico will attack them. The distrust of Mexico central government caused by Antonio López de Santa Anna’s rejection of the United States immigration even when he already approved
The war with Mexico had no real reason except for gaining more land and spoils from the people of Mexico Which it marked the first U.S. Armed conflict mostly fought on the foreign soil. I Didn’t Agree with it because it used up resources and Other things on stuff we didn’t need at the time. But it would have been better to just negotiate with the Mexican government to receive Texas and California and the other places instead of fighting a senseless war that lead to many casualties on the Mexican side and some on the United States side. There was many people that agreed with the war and that’s why we had it
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
The war with Mexico was not justified for three reasons, one reason is that the war was about expanding slavery, another reason is because the war was not needed, the final reason is that the war was wicked and provoked. The first reason why the war was unjustified was because the war was about getting more land for slaves and slavery. Joshua R. Giddings explains, “This war is waged against an unoffending people without just or adequate cause, for the purposes of conquest; with the design to extend slavery; in violation of the Constitution, against the dictates of justice, of humanity, of the sentiments of the age in which we live, and the precepts of the religion we profess. ”(Document E). Giddings explains it perfectly, he was there while the war was going on.
In Chapter 8 titled “We Take Nothing By Conquest… Thank God” Howard Zinn states that the reason why the United States wanted to take the land away from Mexico was to be able to conquer and expand the territory. John Tyler wanted to initiate the war in order to make Texas a state. On the other hand James Polk wanted Texas to become a state that formed part of the United States. Polk also wanted to take over California and initiated the war by sending American soldiers into the territory.
In Document B, President Polk said, “I had ordered and efficient military force to take a position...to meet a threatened invasion of Texas by the Mexican forces….invasion was threatened solely because Texas had determined….to annex herself to our Union,... it was plainly our duty to extend our protection over her citizens and soil.” President Polk then mentioned the attack at the Rio del Norte, where the invasion in Texas happened. This evidence shows the US was justified in going to war with Mexico because Texas was invaded by Mexico, meaning that the U.S. should protect Texas by fighting
Thirdly, a second reason the Mexican War was not justified because US soldiers were in a disputed area. According to Jesus Velasco Marquez from “A Mexican Viewpoint on the War With the United States,” he states that “From Mexico’s point of view, the annexation of Texas to the United States was inadmissible for both legal and security reasons.” As well as, “The American government acted like a bandit who came upon a
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.
As stated before, the US was justified in going to war with Mexico because of three reasons, Americans were killed, Texas was already annexed, and Manifest Destiny allows it. The United states had many superb reasons for going to war with Mexico. This essay is significant because it helps explain the United States’ choice to go to war with
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.
Historical History #3: William Ellery Channing and John O’Sullivan Ashleyann Mabatid Azusa Pacific University College William Ellery Channing and John O’Sullivan Annexation of Texas in 1845 was about adding Texas to be a part of the United States. It would be the 28th state and it was on December 29, 1845.
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.
One reason the Mexican War was justified was Texas had already declared independence. Texas was no longer apart of the Mexican territory. One of the reasons why Texas had separated was they disliked Mexican rule. This evidence shows the U.S was justified in going to war with Mexico because Texas had independence from the country.
This war created a bad relationship between the U.S.A and Mexico. During the war, the daily paper, "El Republicano"
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.