Aggravated with overcrowding, rising prices and economic depression; many Americans sought to start a new life away from the eastern seaboard. Those looking for new farm land and trade opportunities cast their eyes on the resources that lay in the vast domain to the west. It did not matter to them if the areas lie in a foreign country or was already inhabited by Mexicans or Indians. Americans justified taking land and displacing Mexicans and Indians through their belief of Manifest Destiny and white supremacy. Americans’ hunger for land and resource took a toll on Mexico. The turmoil of a new Mexican government, Annexation of Texas, and American scheme to acquire Mexican territory led to Mexico ceding all land north of Rio Grande from Texas west to California.
Trouble began long before Mexico gained their independence from Spain. The government in Mexico became destabilized and chaotic when the French arrested the Spanish King and occupied Spain in 1807 (Tindall & Shi, 2010, pg.386). This disordered rule led Miguel hidalgo y Costilla, a creole priest, to organize a revolt to declare Mexican freedom from Spanish rule; however, he was eventually captured and executed in 1811 (Tindall & Shi, 2010, pg. 386). This did not dissuade the creoles from continued efforts to gain independence from Spain. With the new found freedom in 1821, Mexico struggled to establish and maintain a secure government. Control in the country was mainly localized and ripe with corruption. The decentralized and ineffective central control spurred revolts in California. Mexico hoped to improve their situation through better relations with The United States.
Mexico invited American pioneers to live in the Texas region in hope of stabilizing the border with...
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...ress was meant to dupe them into declaring war by insinuating the American soldiers suffered an unprovoked attack on American soil (W. W. Morton & Company). Surprisingly, Polk’s scheme to defeat the Mexicans allowed the United States to attain all Mexican territory north of the Rio Grande to include California which Polk had been coveting.
Shifts in government control caused turmoil, uncertainty, and opportunities for adversaries. This was evident through the events that transpired in Mexico. Their lack of government control allowed rebellions to flourish. It also hampered their ability to prevent Texas’ annexation to the United States. And, it was unable to stop the United States’ plan to expand the American territory to the Pacific coast.
Works Cited
Tindall, G & Shi D. (2010). America: A narrative history (8th ed.). New York, NY: Norton & Company Inc.
...ver had the resources nor Polk's true imperialist nature. Polk's idea of "Manifest Destiny" was simply a way to rationalize the United States practice of imperialism in North America. Little of the land gained in the 19th century was given to the U.S.; most of it was taken using force and often violence. Financial compensation for the land was irrelevant considering the wars that took place to complete acquisition of the southwest. The motives of the United States government and President Polk were not only that of expansion. They had also wanted to gain new natural resources, land for agriculture, and the power that would be attained by the country's increased size. The country's belief in Polk's imperialistic form of expansion was the key to attaining a western seashore. The power gained by this expansion helped make America into a world powerhouse it is today.
Tindall, George, and David Shi. America: A Narrative History. Ed. 9, Vol. 1. New York: WW. Norton & Company, 2013. 185,193. Print.
Henretta, James A., and David Brody. America: A Concise History. Vol. 1. Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009.
Tindall, G.B. & Shi, D.E. (2010). America a narrative history 8th edition. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. p.205-212.
As more Americans moved west and into Texas it became evident. that there was going to be a continued clash between Mexico and the white frontiersmen who quickly flooded. certain areas of the world. The American government wanted to purchase this valuable land but eventually it was taken by Americans. frontiersmen where it was declared its own realm.
Divine, Robert A. America past and Present. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education/Longman, 2013. 245. Print.
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 relationship between the United States and Mexico has become increasingly complicated since the 19th century. In the mid-1800s, the United States aimed to spread its territory by settling a large portion of Mexico’s territory, including parts of California, Arizona, and Texas. The United States was drawn to Mexico’s rich land and its agricultural opportunities. Mexico had achieved its independence from Spain just before the U.S.-Mexican War, and was not ready to give up its newly acquired land. In 1846, however, war between the U.S. and its Southern neighbors began. Throughout the struggle, the United States exerted its power over Mexico. Many Mexicans felt threatened by the power of the U.S. The United States was viewed as a neighboring bully, looking to exert its force unjustly over innocent and defenseless people. A number of unfortunate personal exchanges throughout the dispute only worsened the nation’s opinions of each other. Mexico continued to see the U.S. as an overly powerful polity, threatening to discredit Mexico’s legitimacy as an independent nation. The United States saw Mexico as a disrespectful and inadequate younger sibling .
When viewing a map of the country of Mexico prior to the American westward expansion, it was actually larger than the United States had been at that time. Some lands that Mexico lost in the Mexican - American war under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, are Texas (the second largest state in the present US), California (the third largest state in the present US) and New Mexico (the fifth largest state in the present US). Due to this defeat Mexico lost half of its national territory. Half of Mexico’s lands were gone and half of Mexico’s people displaced making them Americans and no longer Mexicanos. This occurred without their approval or consent. In the book “My History Not Yours” written by Genaro M. Padilla are accounts of men and women living in the lands of Texas, California and New Mexico during the this unruly time of loss and the unknown. The pages of this book contain the actual written accounts of Mexicanos and their feeling of outrage sadness and anger against the insurgence of their mother lands. The feelings of accommodation and resistance are a present among the writers within Padilla’s book but some lean towards one side and some the other. All humans are different and the people of Mexico handled and felt differently about the loss of their lands. Some possessed the mindset that the overtaking of their lands by the Americans was unacceptable and they resisted and resented the presence of the Anglo-Saxons that now occupied their territory. While others possessed more of an accommodating view. That being, they saw the Americans as a potential asset to develop the lands and that the US was more powerful than they so it would be best to tr...
An American History of the World. 4th ed. of the book. W.W. Norton, 2012, 591. 6.) Foner, Eric.
George Browm Tindall, David Emory Shi. American History: 5th Brief edition, W. W. Norton & Company; November 1999
Tindall, George B., and David E. Shi. America: A Narrative History. 7th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 2007.
was the big problem with the American Settlers, which with in a few years out numbered the Mexican population twice if not more in Texas. The United States had been trying to purchase Texas and other territories unsuccessfully. A movement began to stir in Texas
Brands, H. W.. American Stories: A History of the United States. 2nd ed. Boston: Pearson Education, 2012. Print.
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.