Pros And Cons Of The Mexican War

When the Mexican War began in the 1840s, it was considered an unpopular war throughout the country. Many people saw the war as a sad excuse to continue American Expansionism and felt that the government cared more about the pride of the country instead of the future of the country. Even before the war began, there was a dispute between the North and South because they were still trying to answer the question of slavery. Abolitionist like William Lloyd Garrison was against the idea of slavery because he felt that it went the deep morals that most citizens in America had. He believed going to war for land would be going against what America stood for and many people got behind him. However, there were the people who thought that American expansionism

The opening shots of the Mexican War were the opening shots to the Civil War because it allowed and lead to many heated debates between Northerners and Southerners demanding their wants and not the others. Northerners and Southerners had heated debates and express their different views on American expansionism, both sides stating how they believed it would be beneficial to the future of the country and then how it would become a disadvantage. It first started with the idea of conquering smaller territories in order to keep expanding westward. Those who were in support of expansionism believed that moving westward would eventually fix the problem of overpopulation and even create more economic opportunities. However, those in disagreement with them believed that moving west would be interfering with the Natives and they thought moving further west could further divide North and South. Henry Clay was a leader during the Mexican War, but he certainly stand by wanting to go to war. In his Mexican-American Speech,

To their dissatisfaction, they learned that the Congress would not pass the Wilmot Proviso and that popular sovereignty would be put into use instead. Southerners became quickly offended by what the Northerners were trying to do. They believed if they brought slavery westward, that it would increase production for the economy. They thought that if they didn’t move out westward, the Southern economy would start to become very dependent of cotton and if they were able to bring slaves west, cotton production would increase. Northerners didn’t see it this way, they saw it as more opportunities to forced blacks into slavery while at the same time separated the black families from one another. In Amy Blackwell short article “Manifest Destiny and Slavery”, she states that the South believed that in order to thrive in the world, the nation itself had to constantly grow itself with slavery cementing itself America’s institution. This dispute would soon become the big question for years to come, with both sides not being able to come to an agreement on the status of slavery. After every debate, each side got more frustrated with the other, pulling each other further apart and causing friction in the Congress. However, all of this friction began when the first shot of the Mexican War, when it split the country into two