Mexican American War Essay Examples
The Mexican-American War was a conflict between the United States and Mexico, lasting from 1846 to 1848. The U.S. declared war after Mexico refused to acknowledge America’s claims over disputed territories in Texas, New Mexico, and California. After two years of bitter fighting and heavy casualties on both sides, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war with Mexico ceding vast amounts of land including Texas and California to the United States.The origins of the war can be traced back to 1836 when American settlers rebelled against Mexican rule in what would become known as the Texan Revolution. The rebellion resulted in an independent Republic of Texas that later joined the United States in December 1845 as its 28th state ” much to Mexico’s displeasure. To punish this perceived slight by America, Mexican forces invaded several border towns in March 1846 leading President James K Polk to request Congress declare war on April 25th that year; it did so four days later sending 15,000 troops southward led by General Zachary Taylor (later 12th US president). Though initially successful for America capturing Santa Fe (New Mexico) and Monterrey (Northern Mexico), these victories were short-lived as American forces suffered defeats at Buena Vista and Cerro Gordo; consequently it took more than a year before General Winfield Scott captured Veracruz enabling him march towards Mexico City itself occupying it September 14th 1847 ending all major hostilities though occasional skirmishes continued until early 1848 when peace negotiations began at Guadalupe Hidalgo near modern day Ciudad Juarez/El Paso TX resulting in the treaty being signed February 2nd 1848 effectively ending hostilities between USA & Mexic0 granting America nearly 525K square miles including present-day states like Arizona & New Mexico plus parts of Nevada, Utah & Colorado along with settling $15 million debt owed by Mexcio.
To many late nineteenth century Americans, the expansion of slave trade into Western territories led to a great deal of controversy. Since the drafting of the American 1787 Constitution, the South, and the North had grown further apart in terms of society, economy, and ideology. The North was afraid that the South would maliciously force […]
The Mexican American war brief and occurred in the year 1846-1848 and it was the maiden United States armed conflict that took place on foreign territory. The war was against a Mexico that was experiencing political divisions and a military that was basically unprepared and caught off guard by an American nation that harbored expansionist […]
The Mexican-American War occurred between the years 1846 and 1848. Majorly associated with the aspect of Manifest Destiny, President Polk advocated for the War in a quest to seize massive tracts of Mexican land, a decision that translated into a great deal of suffering among many Mexicans, U.S. citizens, and other Native Americans (Morrison 29). […]
The Mexican-American War of 1846 to 1847 was the first U.S. armed war fought on foreign soil. The American government fought against a politically divided and militarily inferior Mexico side. The fight began at the border which was accompanied by a series of American victories. The Mexican- American war was mainly caused by two issues. […]
Thomas Jefferson, the former U.S president believed that the westward expansion was the major key to America’s future and health. Apparently, Jefferson believed that a nation had to depend on an independent and virtuous citizenship for its survival. To him, land ownership went hand in hand with nation’s independence and virtue. This expansion is one […]
