Under the presidency of expansionist James K. Polk, America sought to gain Texas and other territories as part of manifest destiny. On December 29, 1845, the Republic of Texas was officially annexed to the United States of America, as the 28th state to join the Union. This decision sparked a series of disputes between America and Mexico, that would eventually lead to the Mexican-American War. The Mexican American War, starting on April 25, 1846 would be the first war America fought primarily on foreign soil.
Initially, when Texas declared independence from Mexico in 1836, American political powers refused to add it, a slave state, into the Union. Partly for the overarching slavery disputes, and also partially to prevent war with Mexico. Eventually, after the election of James K. Polk, the U.S. annexed Texas, angering the Mexican government and foreshadowing upcoming conflicts. The Mexican government refused to recognize Texas’ independence and its annexation by the United States, causing Polk to send an diplomatic party to resolve the issues. However, when the party got there, they started negotiation on the sale of California, totally disregarding any disagreements about Texas. Polk then sent troops to back up his envoy, and deployed on a disputed territory line. The Mexican government was forced to retaliate, or else they would lose all chances at the Texas Territory. The Mexican Government sent a force, that killed or captured all of the American force. This attack on American forces gave Polk the excuse he needed to start the war.
Although support from the congress was overwhelmingly in favor of the war, public support for the war was extremely divided. Democrats were extremely pro-war, due to the potential benefits from territorial gains for slaves. Whigs, on the other hand, saw the war as a greedy land grab, and were extremely opposed to the war.
After the U.S. Army seemed to defeat the Mexican Army on almost all fields, the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo officially ended the war. The treaty established the Rio Grande as the U.S.-Mexican Border, and Mexico agreed to sell the territories north of the Rio Grande for 15 million dollars.
http://www.history.com/topics/mexican-american-war
This post was really helpful for review of the previous section, especially the section on divided public support of the war. I found a letter written by William Lloyd Garrison, publisher of the anti-slavery newspaper The Liberator and founder of the American Anti-Slavery Society,sent in the time of the Mexican American War.
ReplyDeletehttp://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/letter-on-the-mexican-american-war/