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Pro And Cons Of Declaration Of War On American Soil By President James K. Polk

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President James K. Polk asked Congress for a declaration of war against Mexico because, as he said, “American blood had been shed on American soil”. President Polk wanted to gain some of Mexico’s territory. He decided to send someone to Mexico with an offer. The offer was that the United States would pay Mexico for the Texan boundary of the Rio Grande, New Mexico territory, and California. Mexico was not interested in the offer or selling the territory and refused the offer, which ended with an angry president Polk after learning their response. After Polk learned about them refusing his offer, he sent his troops onto territory that Mexico and America had “claimed”. Mexico soon attacked the Americans for invading their territory. Which is where the quote “American blood had been shed on American soil”. Which the truthfulness of this claim varies.
I think the truthfulness of the claim “American blood had been shed on American soil” is not really that truthful. Why? One reason would be that when the American troops were attacked by the Mexican army, they were on a territory both claimed by each other. Meaning the whole territory wasn’t all American and the whole territory wasn’t all Mexico’s. The territory really wasn’t totally claimed by anyone. So for Polk to go back and say that “American …show more content…

Americans would get to expand their nation to the Pacific, which is called Manifest Destiny. Some of the cons would be going in debt for the war costs, people dying (more lives would be lost), Mexico might have an advantage since we’ll be going to war on their soil, and expanding

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Leonidas Polk was born in April of 1806 and grew up in North Carolina. He came from a wealthy family (Leonidas Polk) who had a bloodline of generals in the Revolutionary War. Along with being tied to the University of North Carolina, his family also had connections at West Point Military Academy. Polk would later start his military career by joining West point, but would eventually become a pastor (HistoryNet).

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Polk send a “war message” to Congress, “American blood shed on American soil.”, after he had sent Zachary Taylor into the disputed border region causing an armed clash between Mexican and American troops. This series of events was the driven force of the Mexican American War. American soldiers documented the monstrosities done themselves against Mexicans during this time, “committed atrocities to make heaven weep and every American of Christian morals blush for his country. Murder, robbery, and rape of mothers and daughters in the presence of tied-up males of the families have been common all along the Rio Grande.” (Takaki.

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“No president who performs his duties faithfully and conscientiously can have any leisure” (Shattan, 32). Polk's presidency (A forgotten one) has impacted America in a variety of positive ways because Polk was determined and a workaholic. President Polk, considered one of the “higher quality” presidencies has been long forgotten for no apparent reason. This man has accomplished a great deal during the four years he served this country. The 11th president of the United states impacted America positively with his exceptional leadership and diplomatic astuteness.

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As a Democrat, I believe that President Polk was justified in starting the Mexican-American War. Also, as a strong supporter of Manifest Destiny, also known as Western expansion, I furthermore find reason to believe Polk was justified in initiating war with the Mexican people; being that the Mexican government refused peaceful negotiation. The Americans were the just owners of this western land, and we intended to get it. The Mexican government refused a meeting with our representative to establish the border between Texas and Mexico, along with an offer of 30 million dollars for Western territory. These western territories would provide substantial economic growth for the United States, as well as the obvious: making our nation larger as

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Americans were outraged over the border dispute at the Nueces and the Rio Grande rivers, and Mexicans were irate with America’s annexation of Texas. President James K. Polk availed in the atmosphere of animosity, hurrying to place troops on conflicted land. On May 9, 1846, he found his cause for war. Mexican and American troops had engaged in combat on April 24, which led American blood spilt on contended soil. However, through all their fighting spirit, the Americans faithfully ignored their own mistreatment of the Mexicans.

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The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war between the U.S. and Mexico. This war was initiated by the United States and resulted in Mexico 's defeat and the loss of nearly 60 percent of its territory in the north. In the U.S. the war is termed the Mexican–American War, also known as the Mexican War, the U.S.–Mexican War or the Invasion of Mexico. In Mexico names for the war include Primera intervención estadounidense en México, Guerra de la Invasión estadounidense, and Guerra del 1847. Nonetheless, the Mexican American War was unjust because of President Polk’s thirst for more territory.

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Gun shots were heard as U.S. troops and Mexican troops fought. As a result, James Polk, the president of the United States at the time, declared war on Mexico. The U.S. was not justified into going into war with Mexico because the Annexation of Texas and California was unofficial, Texas unfairly changed its borders after winning its

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In Document B, President Polk said, “I had ordered and efficient military force to take a position...to meet a threatened invasion of Texas by the Mexican forces….invasion was threatened solely because Texas had determined….to annex herself to our Union,... it was plainly our duty to extend our protection over her citizens and soil.” President Polk then mentioned the attack at the Rio del Norte, where the invasion in Texas happened. This evidence shows the US was justified in going to war with Mexico because Texas was invaded by Mexico, meaning that the U.S. should protect Texas by fighting

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Was the United States Justified in Going to War With Mexico? Who started the Mexican-American War? Firstly, The United States went to Mexico in 1846. Texas declared its independence from Mexico in 1836. Certainly, Americans were being extremely greedy and wanted more and more land.

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On April 24, 1846, a Mexican army attacked American troops with no motive on U.S. soil. The United States of America was right in declaring war on Mexico because of Manifest Destiny, Mexico being aggressive, and Mexico being the ones to attack first. The first reason is Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny is the idea that God wanted America to extend its territory further West to the Pacific Ocean, which President James K. Polk believed in.

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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 Spanish American War was short and fought over a period of 10 weeks. Most Americans supported the war because we were freeing the natives in territories such as Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines from Spanish rule, but our definition of freedom was to only make money. " But freedom was above all economic in nature for most Americans: it involved private property, free enterprise, and opportunities for material gain. Most Americans thought that political rights, civil liberties, and private enterprise were all of a piece and that it was not possible to have one without the other” (Boller 200). The press told the public that the war was for a good cause.

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and Mexican forces had taken place in U.S. territory.” “Further, legislators were at odds over whether Polk had the right to unilaterally declare that a state of war

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A main piece of evidence supporting that claim is the 16 Americans that the Mexicans killed on supposed “American Soil”. However, those 16 Americans were killed in disputed the land. The land was not Mexico’s, nor was it America’s, it was basically unclaimed. Both Mexico’s and America’s viewpoints on their borders were different, so that is most likely the reason behind the disputed land. Additionally, President Polk knew about the border issues, and expected Mexicans to be there.

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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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