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Mexican War Dbq Essay

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American - Mexican War DBQ Essay

The year was 1835, Texas had just declared its independence from Mexico as its own country. Tensions recently have built up between the people in Texas and Mexico due to the regulations enforced by the Mexicans, and the huge American Population compared to the Mexican Population has also had an influence on it. Texas ends up winning the war and is able to govern itself. A few years later, after Texas’s independence, they decided to join the Union. This causes tensions to build up between Mexico and the US due to disputed territories, as both countries had different borders for Texas. As the tensions built up, they would soon later lead to the Mexican - American war. Justifying a War between two countries …show more content…

John L O’Sullivan who was a minister for the United States of America during that time period, this was his message for going to war with Mexico. In it, he states that, “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”(Doc A). America believed they were given permission by God to conquer the continent, but that doesn't sound like a justification the US can support with solid evidence; rather, it sounds more like a blatant lie. Claiming you should be able to conquer land because God wants you to be not a proper or fundamental justification for a massive war between two major countries. Overall, the justification of a war should rely on a proper and reasonable justification, not one like the US justified their war with Mexico as stating that the reason they wanted to invade is that god destined them to is not a good enough …show more content…

Slavery was a big part of the US as they were built on the back of slaves, but while that may be true, some people started to recognize the inhumane methods and how the slaves were being treated which caused a great divide in the country between the Northern States and Southern States. The Southerners wanted to spread slavery and so Texas was seen as an opportunity as they had been forbidden to go above the 36’30 degrees Latitude mark, the only possible way was to go west and down. Particular evidence can be seen from Charles Summer, who was a State legislator in Massachusetts who served 24 years and was quite popular. He stated that, “Our newspaper excited the lust of territorial robbery in the public mind… Certainly (Mexico) … might justly charge our citizens with disgraceful robbery, while, in seeking extension of slavery, (our own citizens denied) the great truths of American freedom”(Doc D) Together, this evidence implies that people were brainwashed into believing that taking Mexicans' land was a righteous decision and that it was justified. It also says a lot that people were aware they were expanding for slavery but chose not say something on it. This simply illustrates that people were desperate for land and expansion for slavery even though Mexico had just abolished slavery. In the sense that it was done for the US to better itself

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[When Texas was annexed, as part of the United States, Mexico and the United States had a disagreement on the border of Texas. The Mexican’s believed that the border was the Nueces River, while America believed that the border was the Rio Grande. This disagreement caused the war with Mexico in 1846. ] The United States was justified to go to war with Mexico.

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was justified in going to war with Mexico was because Texas was no longer a part of Mexico. Mexico should have understood what gaining independence from a country meant since they had just broken away from the Spanish Crown. In 1836 Texas gained its independence from Mexico and became an independent republic. The problem was Mexico kept trying to rule over them even though it was not their land to rule over. America came in to try and help Texas stay separated from their former country.

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As stated by John L. O’Sullivan, “Other nations have attempted...hostile interference against us… hampering our power, limiting our greatness and stopping the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent given to us by God for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.” This quote states that other nations tried to seize the continuation of America's goal to spread to the pacific ocean from the east. John also refers to Mexican officials as, “Dumb and distracted…” Implying that they are not efficient at governing their land, especially California.

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He also wrote that we have “our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.” This evidence shows the U.S. was justified in going to war because of Manifest Destiny, which eventually expanded the U.S. This was said to improve the American economy. A second reason the

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The way they claimed annexed was by saying the Rio Grande was the southern boundary of Texas but Mexico said it was the Nueces River. In regards to the war, Americans were greatly divided. The northerners hated it because of the fact that Texas favored slavery. Those in the south liked the idea of a war because it would help expand to the west. This expansion would provide more land and opportunity.

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The decision that the United States made in going to war with Mexico in 1846 was justified because we had to defend our territorial interests and expand westward in accordance to manifest destiny. With the belief that it was America’s destiny to expand across the continent, manifest destiny pushed America to annex more land. In 1845, the annexation of Texas created greater tension between Mexico and the USA, as Mexico believed Texas belonged to them, the US thought otherwise. With no agreements over the Texas-Mexico border and Mexico’s refusal to talk, war became very likely as the US desired to protect their interests in expansion and to declare their dominance in that area.

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President James K Polk massively believed in the Manifest Destiny, the belief that the American people had a duty to expand westward across North America. This idea sparked a fire that believe it or not most didn’t want. The result: The Mexican-America war. While the war gained America five different states and was one of the largest territorial expansions in United States history, many critics believed that America was headed down a bad path. That we were going to end up like most great conquerors in the world, dead or with innocent blood on our hands that God will never forgive us for.

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The idea of Manifest Destiny was centered around the idea that God wanted the US to expand as much as possible because the US had a superior way of life. The US justified their cruel actions towards Mexico because they were “destined” to act accordingly. If Americans truly believed that all people were created equal, then Manifest Destiny was not a plausible idea. Manifest Destiny created a hierarchy system in which the US was on top; a hierarchy was the opposite of a society or world where all people were created equal. Therefore, the US did not have such superiority to Mexico that God thought it was acceptable for Americans to act like they were allowed to trample on Mexico’s government

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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.”

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The Mexican-American war was a conflict between the United States and Mexico that began in 1846 and ended in 1848. The war was a result of a dispute over the U.S. annexation of Texas and the Mexican government's refusal to recognize the Rio Grande as the southern boundary of the United States. The war resulted in a U.S. victory and the signing of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which allowed the U.S. to acquire large swaths of Mexican territory, including the modern-day state of California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Colorado, Wyoming, and Oklahoma. Despite the U.S. victory, the war was not justified and was a violation of Mexico's sovereignty. The first reason why the Mexican-American war was not justified is that it was based on pretenses.

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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.

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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.

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The Mexican government was angered that America would attempt to force them into selling their land and asked them to leave. Polk, upset because Mexico declined the offer, set up camps in Texas, however, Mexico still thought of Texas as their land so the establishment

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The United States war with Mexico continues to be a divisive topic among many people because of its background. The Mexican-American war was a fight between Mexico and America for land. America’s belief at the time was Manifest Destiny, which meant that they believed that America should extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific ocean. In the end, America benefited from the war and got the land. The United States expanded its size, achieving their dream of Manifest Destiny.

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“it was God’s plan that America extend its territory.” (Roden 317) God wants America to take Texas. The Mexicans are “limiting our greatness checking the fulfillment of our Manifest Destiny” (O’Sullivan 323) People are wrongly stopping God’s plan. Later America got Texas, California, and Oregon Territory.(Roden 317)

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