Was The United States Justified in Going to War With Mexico? One question that is frequently asked between countries is whether the Mexican-American War should have even happened. This question has led many Mexicans and Americans to butt-heads with each other on who is right. Did the United States really have enough reason to go to war with Mexico? The United States was not justified in going to war with Mexico because there wasn’t enough reason, lack of communication, and unreasonable leaders. There were many things that helped both sides. The Mexican War began March 9, 1846 and it took place on Rio del Norte, also known as the Rio Grande. The main reason why the war occurred was because both countries wanted land to grow bigger in size …show more content…
Mexico and the US went to war because their were no communications on where the borders location truly was. “US historians refer to this event as “The Mexican War”, while in Mexico we prefer to use the term “The American Invasion”.”(Velasco-Marquez 327). No one spoke before they went to war which could have resolved the problems before hand. Speaking beforehand could have also saved many lives and prevented the loss and confusion. “The idea was… that this extensive province ought to become a part of the United States…”(Sumner 329). Both sides have their excuse, Mexico and America, but Texas’s point of view is never reviewed and; if the countries spoke, they could have made a better plan other than fighting. The war was caused because no one spoke up and shared their perspective which led to many …show more content…
President Polk thought that America’s “manifest destiny” was more important than other countries and that he was supposed to help America grow bigger. Santa Anna, the Mexican president at the time, forced people of his race and others off of their own land because he wanted it and they didn’t deserve it. “It is time for opposition to the Annexation of Texas to cease…. Texas is now ours…. Let their reception into the “family” be frank, kindly, and cheery….” (Sullivan 323). Both leaders of their countries were selfish and risked so many of their own people’s life just so they could do what they believed was right. “In the eyes of the [Mexican] government, the mobilization of the US army was an outright attack on Mexico….” (Velasco-Marquez 327). Not only did these national leaders risk lives, they gambled some of their country, in which Mexico would soon lose a lot of it. The leaders did not care about who’s lives they were risking, as long as they were following their thoughts and doing things without
The war between the United States and Mexico was brutal, but yet very interesting.“Today, we stand as a united country and are much closer to the ideals set forth in our Constitution that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” The first sentence of this quote is a perfect example of the Mexican American War, the we were supposed to be united. Manifest Destiny states that we as the United States are bound to have all the land, God wants them to. The war between Mexico and the United States started in 1846, should the United States go to war with Mexico. The United States was indeed justified to go to war with Mexico, because 16 Americans lost their lives in a battle with Mexico, second, Mexicans were mad about the revolution, and Mexico treated U.S. diplomats poorly.
Many people do not know that the Mexican War had increased the United States by 50%. The Mexican War started in 1846 and ended in 1848 and took place mostly south of the Rio Grande. What forced Mexico to declare war was the annexation of Texas, the citizens in Texas disobeying the Mexican laws, and Americans crossing the border. Do you think the United States had enough justification for going to war with Mexico? The United States was justified in going to war with Mexico because the United States’ Manifest Destiny beliefs, the Mexicans passed the border of Rio Grande, and the American citizens supported going to war.
As Americans, we’ve taken far greater than just tacos, burritos, and nachos from the culture of Mexico. Through America’s past relations with Mexico, America has taken large amounts of land, and a sense of power from country south of the United States, Mexico. In 1846, James Polk, a former president of the United States, declared war on Mexico. There was confusion between Mexico and America. Land was being traded, new borders were being formed, but disorientation was aroused causing conflict. Differences in culture, beliefs, and even national law led to dispute among these two countries, making it even more difficult to reach a treaty of peace, or a deal. The Mexican-American War was not justified because it was an excuse for gaining land,
The United States was unjustified to go to war with Mexico because the U.S provokes the war and starts the war, the only reason they had the Mexican war was to gain land and lastly Texas was stolen from Mexico by southern slave owners. The U.S. definitely had an advantage, they were stronger and better. So they could easily go to war with Mexico and
War is inevitable, but the Mexican-American War could have been avoided when determining borders. The controversial Mexican-American war is often talked and argued about. The big question about the war that everyone argues about is, Was America justified in going to war with Mexico? Well, were they? The United States was not justified in going to war with Mexico because Americans invaded Mexican land, The United States already has lots of land, and the Americans ignored Mexican laws and regulations. In 1821, Mexico declares independence from Spain. Texas won its independence from Mexico in 1836 to join America. This War (1846-1848) marked the first U.S. armed conflict chiefly fought on foreign soil.
“largely ignored Mexican authority”(roden,317). The Texans(Mexicans) let in the Americans in without having to pay for land and they still broke the laws.“ Certainly (Mexico)... might just charge be citizen”(summers,329).The Anglos came in and disobeyed the only laws they had to follow. They made slavery illegal, then the anglos brought 38000 slaves(summers, 329). They knew slavery was illegal, but they brought them anyway. Texas welcomed them in if the Americans followed the laws(alamo, Background). They broke most of the laws. This evidence shows the U.S. was not justified in going to war because they disrespected the authority of Mexico. America was allowed to settle in Texas and they ignored everything they
As Abraham Lincoln argued, the Mexican-American War was an unjust war. Diplomacy was never exhausted to the point it could have led to war. It was an expensive campaign that caused a large loss and many unnecessary deaths. Many would lose their sons to the 9 battles within the war such as Whig leader Henry Clay and Daniel Webster.
The United States’ war with Mexico continues to be a divisive topic as it gave the US large plots of land but has controversial roots. The Mexican American War was a two-year armed conflict between Mexico and the United States of America. Although the United States’ war against Mexico resulted in the gaining of America’s most valuable land, the war itself was unjust because Texas’ reasons for independence were illegitimate, it was used to expand slavery, and the war was declared on false pretence.
Did you know that the United States took half of Mexico’s country as a reward for winning the Mexican War? After Texas won its independence in 1836 it tried to get annexed to the US however Congressmen didn’t want to anger Mexico who still considered Texas a part of their country so they said no both times. Later in 1844, James K. Polk was elected and everything changed and the Manifest Destiny was ruling. Polk didn’t just want to annex texas but also California. Congress voted for Texas and polk sent troops, with John Slidell into the disputed area of southern texas to Mexico City to try to buy California. However the attempt to buy a huge part of their country angered Mexican government. Polk felt that America’ honor was challenged so when
I think that the start of the Mexican-American War was influenced by many political factors at the time, as well as disputes over land ownership. A primary factor in the cause of the war was that of the annexation of Texas. Texas was considered to be a province by Mexico, but the United States wanted it to become a state. Texas also wished to become a state, as they hoped it would solve some of their financial and military problems. In March of 1845, the United States Congress approved annexation, and the Texas Congress approved it in June. Texas became a state in December, thus angering the Mexican government, who considered it to be stolen.
The Mexican-American War marked the first American military battle to be fought on foreign soil. The Mexican American War was mainly driven by the idea of “Manifest Destiny”; the belief that the United States had a right to spread across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. The motives that were really behind Manifest Destiny was the acquisition of new territory ,and the Americans wanted territories which were relatively uninhabited by people they considered inferior, such as Indians, blacks and Mexicans. President Pork provoked war with Mexicans with the aim of pushing Mexico into negotiating with Americans. To achieve this, he was willing to threaten them with war. His aim was to convince Mexicans
The Mexican-American war determined the destiny of the United States of America, it determined whether or not it would become a world power and it established the size of the United States of America. Perhaps the war was inevitable due to the idea of Manifest Destiny - Americans thought they had the divine right to extend their territory. The Mexican-American War started mainly because of the annexation of the Republic of Texas (established in 1836 after breaking away from Mexico). The United States and Mexico still had conflicts on what the borders of Texas was, the United States claimed that the Texas border with Mexico was the Rio Grande, but the Mexicans said that it was the Nueces River, so the land in between were disputed and claimed by both the United States and Mexico.
The United States was split on the war. Northerners thought President James Polk, who was a southerner, was trying to gain land for slaves. Other Americans thought it was wrong to have war with Mexico to get more territory. Although United States citizens were divided the United States army had success on the battlefield, led by Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert Lee which in...
In 1845 the U.S attempted to Annex Texas. Basically America wanted Texas to become one of the states rather then and independent nation by itself. At this time Texas was an independent nation that was not a part of America or Mexico. Mexico wanted to keep Texas neutral if not a part of its own country. When the U.S attempted to annex Texas Mexico became outraged, " In November 1843 Mexico had warned that if the United States should commit the 'unheard-of aggression' of seizing an integral part of 'Mexican territory' Mexico would declare war " (Bound for the Rio Grande, 62). Despite the warning the U.S attempted to annex Texas. In doing so Mexico retaliated by breaking off all diplomatic relations with the U.S. Mexico felt that the U.S was insulting them by not taking them seriously when they threatened with war. So at this point America showed a very large interest in possessing Texas. America was very close to actually acquiring Texas when they made their first mistake in the war.
The Spanish-American War was not started by one thing in particular. It was because of a large amount of reasons that built up until it erupted in war. It started with the explosion of the USS Maine. When Spain sent in General “Butcher” Weyler to stabilize the situation in Cuba, he put the majority of the population into concentration camps. The US sent the Maine to protect its investments there. The USS Maine was on a “friendly” mission to wait and rescue any US citizens that may be hurt in the conflict. At 4:40 pm on February 15, 1898, the Maine exploded and sank in Havana Harbor. The source of the explosion was not known. Some thought that it may have been from a Spanish mine. Others thought there may have been a spy on board the ship sent to destroy it.