Robert E. Lee said, "It is well that war is so terrible, or we would grow too fond of it." The Mexican-American War was a controversial war that occurred between 1846 and 1848. This particular war caused the U.S. to take half of Mexico’s provinces for herself and quickly created a division between U.S. citizens. The greedy want for more land and the religious justification for taking it caused people to recognize that there was a larger underlying problem than just war. The possibility of creating more slave territory than free territory opened a rift between citizens that would become so wide it would entirely split the county in two and help trigger what would be known as the Civil War. The main drive behind the Mexican-American War was land. At this time, President James Polk made attaining more territory one of his central objectives during his presidency, using whatever tactics necessary. When Texas …show more content…
Many Northerners opposed the annexation of more land because they believed slavery would only be spread further across the country. Hosea Biglow argued that “They jest want this Californy– So’s to lug new slave-states in–” (Document E). If there were more slave states than free states, the power between the two would become unequal in government affairs. This realization dawned on U.S. citizens, and tensions rose as people argued about what the newly acquired land should become. Fierce Northerners, such as Joshua Giddings, declared their opposition to slavery saying, “Sir, we will not commit this crime” (Document R). Abraham Lincoln shared his opinion by saying, “I believe this Government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free… It will become all one thing or all the other” (Document S). This problem between the two systems of the states was a major contributor that would eventually establish the ultimate dividing labels of the North and the South– the Union and the Confederacy– in the near