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How Was The Mexican American War Justified

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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. This war was won by the Americans and condemned by its contemporary detractors as expansionists. The US was unjustified in going to war because of 3 reasons: the U.S. robbed Mexico, the growth of slavery in Texas, and President Polk provoked it.
The first reason as to why the U.S. was not …show more content…

The expansion of slavery in Texas is my second reason. Slavery was strongly opposed in Mexico. Mexico is a religiously zealous country. One of the most crucial things to them is their faith. Mexico was strongly opposed to slavery and would never have slaves on its border. Mexico desired that the United States relocate to their territory, but because the US did not follow these rules, Mexican officials became enraged and kicked them out. The third and final reason is that Polk provoked Mexico. He was a strong believer in Manifest Destiny. He believed that God planned to kick out Mexicans and let the USA grow more. He stole Texas from Mexico (Doc. B). This evidence shows that the US was unjustified in going to war because he thought Manifest Destiny was one of God’s plans. “I do not think there was ever a more wicked war than that waged by the United States on Mexico. I thought so at the time when I was a youngster, only I had moral courage enough to resign-Ulysses S Grant to a journalist in (1879). This was triggered by the American annexation of the Republic of Texas in 1845 and a dispute over whether Texas ended at the Nueces River. Since the Mexican government invited Anglo

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Slavery was a major topic of the time. Mexico was completely against having slaves, while America wanted slavery. (Doc. D) This is a reason why the United States was not justified going into war. Our freedom was disrespected by the Mexicans and they could have charged American citizens with disgraceful robbery, while seeking extension of slavery.

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Was the US justified in going to war with Mexico? This eternal question is arguable and could be thought of both ways. The US and Mexico had an argument about the southern border of Texas, which recently annexed with US. The basic reason behind this war was to get hold on territory between the Rio Grande and the Nueces River. This question has several answers and opinions because of 3 main reasons: Manifest Destiny, Treaty of Velasco, and the war of Palo Alto.

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Which resulted in some conflict. Was the Unites States Justified in going to war with Mexico? Yes, because of mexican invasions, manifest destiny,and increasing population. The first reason the United States was justified in going to war with mexico is because Mexico themselves invaded them. Where United States claimed to be the border (Rio Grande) they sent soldiers to check to see if mexicans would cross the boundary, and when encountered the mexican troops injured and killed 16 of the 63 men dispatched.(Doc B) Mexico also attempted to subdue Americans’ beliefs.

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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….”

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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

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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.

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The Mexican American War of 1846 was a dispute over the border between Mexico and Texas which became a part of the U.S, but was the United States justified in starting this war with Mexico? No, the U.S. was not justified in starting this war against Mexico. Because the U.S. never had a reason to support this war, it was only for the land, power, and continued “Manifest Destiny” expanding the U.S. Some of the ways politicians and many others used to start a war to expand to the west to “Manifest Destiny” a belief for the expansion of the United States and the use of racism another belief of thinking a race is lower than another race. This is supported by an entry in the document “Annexation” by John L. O’Sullivan, he wrote “(O)ther nations have

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Did America need to go to war with Mexico? I believe the unite states was justified into going to war with Mexico because blood was splattered on the Americans land , Mexicans invaded America and it was also America's destiny to gain more land. One reason the Mexican War was justified was because soldiers invaded the U.S. On their territory. Mexico had passed the border on the Rio Grande. America tried to protect its land, but later on Mexico killed and wounded 16 people.

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Nevertheless, even if Texas was not legally a part of Mexico at the time, the other states were wrongfully taken from Mexico by the United States because Mexico had rightfully won that land from Spain and was still under Mexican control. The only land that was legally independent of Mexico was Texas because of the Texas Revolution and it could be argued that the United States had a right to colonize it. Despite all of this, the United States still wrongfully took a lot of land from Mexico for their “westward expansion”. States that are now California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, most of Arizona and Colorado, and parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming were wrongfully taken from Mexico by the United States. It has been clear that the Mexican-American war was not fair in the slightest because Mexico did not have the correct support or resources to fight the Mexican-American war.

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Another thing is that Polk deliberately sent a known spy (William Parrot) to Mexico for a diplomacy after Mexico made it clear that Parrot was not wanted. Did you know that Polk is trying to start war with the Mexicans, trying to make himself look all innocent. He only wants to go to war to gain land but, doesn't want his voters to know that. He tricks the U.S citizens

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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.

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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.

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The Mexican didn’t want the Americans to take over their old land because they thought it was still theirs. The war started in 1846-1848 when Polk was president. Many people wanted and didn’t want to go to war. The United States was not justified in going to war with Mexico because it was Mexico’s ex land , the Manifest Destiny wasn’t real, the Mexicans and the Americans never had a chance to talk about things.

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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.

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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

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