The war between Mexico and America from 1846 to 1848 had raised many controversial opinions, both approve and disapprove. Followings are some of the arguments made by supporters of this war as well as the opponents. First of all is Albert Gallatin, who was strongly against this Mexican War. Gallatin was born in January 1761 and died in August 1849. He was a Swiss-American politician, diplomat, ethnologist and linguist. He was an important leader of the Democratic-Republican Party, serving in various federal elective and appointed positions across four decades. One year after the Mexican war broke out, Gallatin wrote the book “The Peace with Mexico” in effort to promote peace during the Mexican American war in 1847. The article “The Unjust War with Mexico” is a part of this book, in which he pointed out why we shouldn’t have this war.
Basically, Gallatin used morality and virtue as a foundation to convince people to not have this war. He argued that the war with Mexico would be immoral and scandalous: “Nothing can be more injurious to it, more lamentable, more scandalous, than the war between two adjacent republics of North America.” (Gallatin).
He explained that the people of the United States are already better and luckier than people in other nations in many ways. They are living at the country that has the most extensive territory, the soil is fertile, the climates are diverse which help produce variety of productions, and benefits many potential industries. As a
The Mexican American War started in 1846 because of Mexican resentment caused by the 1836 loss of Texas and the American’s desire for Mexico’s more northern territory. “On September 9, 1847 after two years of fighting, the Mexican American war essentially ended when the American Army captured Mexico City after the Battle of Chapultepec”( 6). The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war. United States leaders then acted morally superior in their negotiations of the treaty 1. During negotiations, United States officials viewed the “forcible incorporations” (1) of almost one half of Mexico’s land as an “event foreordained by providence and Manifest Destiny” (1).
In a way, they just wanted their freedom like in the rest of America. This paper will show evidence that supports America’s right to go to war. When Mexico declared its freedom from Spain in 1821, the size of Mexico was equal to the United States (background essay). American farmers were encouraged to settle in the Mexican providence of Texas since the land was was empty (background essay). Once the settlers came it turned out to be
American history is full of events that have changed the curse of its history, some more recent than others, an often overviewed war or conflict is the Mexican war, probably because it was only 13 years before of one of the most bloodshed periods and important periods of this country 's history, the Civil War; the Mexican War might have nit had as big as an impact as that of the Civil War, but nonetheless it was a period that is certainly important, we can also think that no war is ever unimportant (Shaara,10). Since the Louisiana purchase, there was a fervor for expansion among the American people, in 1845 the then independent nation of Texas was annexed by the United states (Shaara, 12). But there were several doubts about what was the real
INTRODUCTION 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. So you 're probably wondering why the war was fought but you 'll find that out later.
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.
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
In 1846, two superpowers of the Americas went to war against one another, Mexico and the United States of America. Though the war was purely based upon land expansion, the aftereffects were consequently very important to all the people who lived in either country. The three most important effects of this territorial war, known as the Mexican-American war, include the increase of miners and settlers pushing west, the dramatic decrease of the Native American population, and the increase in sheer number of slaves and popularity of slavery. When the U.S. won the Mexican-American war, they gained over 500,000 square miles of land alone from the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, not including the Gadsden Purchase of 1853 which acquired an additional 29,000 square miles. With all this new land, there were many trail blazers that set out to conquer the wilderness.
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 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.
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.
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.
The Southern and Northern states differentiate on many issues, which ultimately led them towards a Civil War. There stood deep social, economic, and political disparities between the North and the South. These modifications stemmed from the understanding of the United States Constitution on both sides. In the end, most of these disputes about the rights of states directed to the Civil War. There existed reasons other than slavery on behalf of the South 's breakaway.