Conflict Essay: America Versus Other Nations Native Americans, War of 1812, and the Mexican War

February 14, 2012
U.S. History
America vs. Other Nations

America has been a country of change, industrialization, movement, evolution, cooperation, and leadership, but the most common theme that the Unites States has seen time and time again has been conflict. But what is conflict? Conflict is defined as coming into collision or disagreement. The United States has been involved in many distinguished conflicts with other nations such as Mexico in the Mexican War and Great Britain in the War of 1812 as well as being at conflict with groups of people like the Native American.
The War of 1812 was a conflict in which the United Sates was in opposition with Great Britain. This conflict was caused by Great Britain impressment of American sailors and forcing them to fight their wars against France. Because of the actions of the British the War Hawks who were members of Congress who advocated for the war against the British such as Calhoun and Clay, encouraged that America perused their right to fight back to stop the imprisonment of their citizens to restore their safety. Another cause of this war was the involvement of the British with Native Americans. Because Americans did not care for the Indians the British provided them with guns and weapons for them to attack the Americans to have an advantage in the country and help them defeat the United Sates. An important event in the War of 1812 was the Battle of New Orleans. The Battle of New Orleans was a fight that happened after the war had technically ended; this was one of the most important victories for the United Sates as a nation. This victory increased nationalism in Americans and we became more united as a nation. During this battle a new important figure arose, Andrew Jackson helped defeat the British and he became known as a national hero by everyone. As a result of our defeat of a powerful country we earned the respect of other countries and we now represented a threat. A very important effect that resulted from the war was the opening the southwest for white settlement leading to westward expansion because of the Louisiana Purchase by President Jefferson from Napoleon of France because he needed money for his war with the British. The fall of the Federalist Party was another important result from the War of 1812 because of their loss of creditability among the people of the United States. An additional outcome was the he Economy grew, bringing the industrial revolution with it, manufacturing in the north will become the dependency, leading to the creation of the Erie Canal that will link the North and West, and the creation of the cotton gin that will increase slavery in the south because of it making cotton more profitable and making the south the Cotton Kingdom.
The Mexican War was a renowned discrepancy the United States had with Mexico. Because the United States believed in Manifest Destiny which was the belief that it was Gods will for America to expand all the way to the Pacific Ocean, President Polk sent Slidell to negotiate the land from New Mexico to California, when Mexico refused to sell the land and sent troops to attack the United States declared war on Mexico. The United Stated fought Mexico and won, taking their land but still giving them compensation for the land. The war is ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe and the new acquisition of land feeds America’s need for Manifest Destiny. Because we now had newly purchased land from Mexico, Wilmot Proviso was suggested, this was the banning of slavery from any land purchased from Mexico. This increased the conflict between the north and the south, because it reopened the controversy and debate if slavery should be allowed in the south. Northerners embraced it but southerners disliked it because it meant they could not have large plantations on the new land because they were not allowed to have slaves. California was part of the purchase or victory against Mexico. Gold was found in California in 1848 causing people from all over the country and other nations to come to the United States and seek fortune. These people were known as 49ers and the population of California grew rapidly causing that annexation of California as state. The debate on slavery surfaced in California but it became a free state in 1850. The Alamo was a battle between American citizens called Texans and Tejanos in which they were fighting the General of Mexico Santa Anna. The Texans and Tejanos were fighting for their independence from Mexico; Santa Anna refused for Texas to leave Mexico and answered with force. The forces of Santa Anna were too strong for the small group of Texans. After battling for a while Texans defeated Santa Anna and got their freedom from Mexico. They wanted to become part of the United States, and were an independent country until 1845.
The United States versus Native Americans is considered a conflict amongst two countries because although Native Americans were in the United States they were not believed to be American or citizens of the country. They were thought of as being savages and were later moved away from civilization to be a “different country”. An important act against Native Americans from the United States was the Indian removal act. This was not the first time Native Americans had been removed from their land, in 1795 the federal government forced the Shawnee, Miami, and Delaware tribes accepted the Treaty of Greenville, losing the southern two thirds of their land. The Indian removal act was a law that authorized the removal of tribes such as the Cherokee from their land in southeast United States. President Andrew Jackson disliked Native Americans because they were brutes and savages and should be removed from the profitable land that they are on North Carolina and Georgia. Congress passed the law and the Native Americans were forced to move from their land to reservations in Oklahoma. Native Americans took a stand against the law passed in the court case Worchester vs. Georgia in which the court ruled that the Cherokee and other tribes should be allowed to stay on their land and not be forcefully removed. President Jackson did not follow what the court said stating “John Marshall has made his decision: let him enforce it” and he still had the Native Americans removed. This was not the first time the Native Americans had failed against the United States government, as seen with Tecumseh who gathered Native American tribes to fight against the whites and were defeated. The forced movement of the Native Americans became known as the Trail of Tears. The Trail of Tears was an 800 mile journey to their reservations in Oklahoma. The journey was very long and in the cold, harsh conditions many of the Indians were not prepared for many of them died, the suffering of this group of people gave its name to the journey. This horrible act was used under Manifest Destiny as well as displaying one of many of Jackson’s tyrant form of government. President Andrew Jackson had become seen as a National hero in the Battle of New Orleans, and that lead to his presidency. He played a very important role in the lives of Native Americans. He was a common man, from poor beginnings and became an inspiration for the westerns. He did not look in to the problems of Native Americans ignoring them, women, and slaves. He gave his friends and supporters jobs in the government as well as taking money from the national bank and giving in to his “pet banks” causing the United States to become broke.
In retrospect, the United States has been through many conflicts with other countries and groups of people. We fought the British in the War of 1812, fought the Mexican in the Mexican War, and fought the Native Americans for land and change.