History textbooks and classes have lied to us for years about how the Mexican American War went. For years we’ve been taught that the U.S bought Mexico although that isn’t what really went down. Back before the war in 1821, Mexico had freed itself from its motherland Spain. Mexico had invited the Americans to live and use Texas for it’s land since there weren’t any Mexican citizens living there, Americans just had to abide by Mexican law. One of these laws was that the Americans would not be allowed to bring slaves to Mexico as it is illegal there, Americans almost immediately broke this rule bringing in slaves to help with farmwork. Mexico attempted to kick them out only for Texas to hold a revolution against them making Texas, American land. …show more content…
In 1845, United States Magazine and Democratic View Vol.XVII had a statement on the start of the war “The nations have undertaken … hostile interference against us, … hampering our power, limiting our greatness and checking the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence [God].” The idea that God gave Americans the permission to take over the land is completely invalid as it does not give a definitive tangible reason for the U.S to take the land, it sounds more like an excuse to steal the land than an actual reason. All though the Americans used Manifest Destiny as a reason to justify their decision. The article stated “Other to start the war, for the reason stated previously it doesn’t justify why the U.S would go to war with Mexico over such a …show more content…
In “A Mexican Viewpoint on the War With the United States,” Voices of Mexico,Issue #41, the issue states: “In the eyes of the [Mexican] government, the mobilization of the US army was an outright attack on Mexico.” This shows that, to Mexico, the Americans randomly entering what they thought was their land would have been seen as an attack. The Americans should have realized that Mexico would take the intrusion as an attack before sending in men to do nothing but walk in the undisputed land, obviously just attempting to egg the Mexicans on to shoot at
(Henderson 1) He explains how even though both the United States and Mexico are past colonies of European powers, their legacies very much differ. The United States was the world’s most successful and oldest federal republic, and while Mexico tried to do the same; coming from different backgrounds was a big detriment that impeded national success for them. Even so, Mexico suffered greatly from its internal conflicts and strifes; something that the United States already had time to differentiate and settle. These points tie into the defeat in the Battle of San Jacinto where the efforts in maintaining Texas as a Mexican colony was unsuccessful due to the lack of power within Mexico, while the U.S believed it was their god given right to colonize the west due to manifest destiny.
According to President Polk, “Mexico has passed the boundary of the United States, has invaded our territory and shed American blood upon American soil,” (Document B). The Americans were not the ones that attacked the Mexicans; it was the other way around. The Mexicans and the Americans did not agree on where the border between Texas and Mexico. The Americans were still where they thought their territory was, and the Mexicans invaded America! The Americans needed to fight back to defend their honor.
The US assumed that Mexico had no control whatsoever over its own foreign affairs, so they proceeded without any input from Mexicans. This proves that the US shouldn’t have gone to war with Mexico without clarifying the existing situation between the nations and discussing the terms of
What would you do if the U.S president was setting you up to look like you were invading them? Were the Americans justified to go to war with the Mexicans? I believe they were not justified to go to war. Polk only wanted war to steal the Mexicans land. He set the Mexicans up by making it look like they were invading U.S citizens so that he could get the votes to go to war.
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.
[O]ther nations have undertaken … hostile interference against us, … hampering our power, limiting our greatness and checking the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence [God] for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions. "According to Document C, Mexico had never approved Texas' annexation in the , so they were merely protecting what they believed to be their land. " The troops commanded by General Zachary Taylor arrived at the Río Grande, across from the city of Matamoros, thus occupying the territory in dispute and increasing the possibilities of a confrontation…. In the eyes of the [Mexican] government, the mobilization of the US army was an outright attack on Mexico. ''
Texas as a matter of fact was taken from Mexico illegally. Not only did Polk annexed Texas but he also conquered California and New Mexico as well. The Mexican American War was an unjust war since the United States did not have
The Mexican-American War The contentious Mexican-American War is a topic that is frequently discussed and debated. Was America's decision to go to war with Mexico justified? The Mexican-American War, which occurred from April 1846 to February 1848, was a clash between the United States and Mexico. It resulted in the U.S. obtaining more than 500,000 square miles (1,300,000 square km) of Mexican land spanning westward from the Rio Grande to the Pacific Ocean.
America fought a pointless war and invaded Mexico for texas. The Mexican-American war was fought from Apr 25, 1846 – Feb 2, 1848 and it was fought in, what is now, Texas. It was fought after Texas became independent and both America and Mexico tried to take Texas but neither of them could buy it because only one country could have it. Was The Mexican American war fought for a good enough reason? America invaded Mexico for slaves and was sending troops to the disputed territory.
If we look back at everything, all of this could have been avoided if James would have just sent 1 man to talk with Mexico into accepting 30 million dollars and not a whole army. The cause and effects of this was that Mexico lost a lot of land but the beneficial side is that now more americans were able to expand and chase a new reality. Without this event future generals like, President Zachary Taylor, Robert E Lee, and Ulysses S. Grant wouldn't have gotten their inspiration to become the future generals we hear of every now and then.. So I think I rest my case to say that, “ yes the U.S did have the right to attack Mexico for the greater good of the human necessity to be able to expand in new land and grow like a seed on a new
What were Mexican ’s supposed to think that it was ok to try and cross over and take land that was the Mexicans to begin with. As you can see, the trespassing of the Americans onto the Mexican’s land and onto the undisputed land made American’s unjustified in going into war with
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.
Was The U.S. Justified? Did you know that after the annexation of Texas, The United States was going to continue its path of Manifest Destiny and take over California? Leading up to the Mexican-American War, the war was between the United States and Mexico in 1844. The war started when the United States tried to invade Texas from Mexico. The United States was not justified in going to war with Mexico because Mexico claims that the annexation of Texas was illegal and violated security reasons, the United States straight up attacked Mexico, and the United States broke Mexico’s law by bringing slaves into Mexican land.
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.