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Was America Justified In Going To War With Mexico

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On April 25, 1864 shots were fired at the Rio Grande beginning the Mexican-American War. This two year conflict ended with an American win. The United States received California, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado and some of Utah. Also, the Mexicans living in those states would now become American Citizens. But besides this great award of receiving our west coast states; was America justified in going to war with Mexico? This question has been lingering over Americans heads since President James Polk pronounced war against the Mexicans. According to me, America was completely justified in going to war with Mexico, for three reasons: Manifest Destiny, Economic benefits and Mexican shed American blood on America soil.
President James Polk was a firm believer in the Manifest Destiny. The Manifest Destiny was the idea for the United States to move westward and becoming a bigger country. James Polk thought that it was in God’s plan for America to move west. But there was a problem with the idea of moving west… all the states in the west were Mexican territory. Since the American population was growing very rapidly, the east coast of America was beginning to overflow. Due to the population growth came with …show more content…

Expanding westward was not only inexpensive or free but it gave America a chance to make more money. President James Polk saw the opportunity of how taking control of California and Texas would bring. In the 1800s the United States economy was based on welding, farming, trade and mostly owning slaves. Slavery were a big deal in those days, it was how most of Americans made their money. Polk, came to the conclusion, which was if California and Texas came into the Union as a slave state (tripling the number of free and slave states), it would cause more plantations of cotton with the possibility for affordable land that would make the country more

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