Mexican War Dbq

If the United States took land and did such things to Mexico, why were they the ones to declare war on Mexico? The Mexican War began in 1846 after Mexico opened fire on Americans north of the Rio Grande, which happened to be the Texas-Mexico border. As a result of this event, President Polk declared war between the two countries, although, due to prior events, it seemed more reasonable for Mexico to be doing so. The United States was not justified in going to war with Mexico because they robbed land from them, brought slaves into Texas, and occupied land on the Texas-Mexico border. One reason the Mexican War was not justified was because the United States stole land from Mexico. In Document A, it states that Anglo-Saxons have began building schools and other buildings in California, which, at the time, still belonged to Mexico. Document D talks about how the U.S. citizens just moved into Texas simply because of Manifest Destiny-- the idea that the United States should expand. This evidence shows the U.S. was not justified in going to war because they basically stole most of Mexico’s land by moving onto them or marking them with their own property such as
schools. Mexico only started attacking the Americans after their land had been taken. A second reason the Mexican War was not justified was because Americans brought slaves into Texas. Document D states that some slaveholder Americans brought their slaves into Texas. Texas was still considered Mexican territory and Mexico had an anti-slavery policy, so by bringing slaves in, Americans violated that. This evidence shows the U.S. was not justified in going to war with Mexico because they violated Mexico’s policy. Americans still brought slaves into Texas, even though Mexico already passed the anti-slavery law, so doing that defied their law. A third reason the Mexican War was not justified was because Americans were occupying territory on the Texas-Mexico border.
Document C states that American troops were in territory at the Rio Grande (Texas-Mexico border) and that in the Mexican government’s view, the movement of the U.S. army was an attack on Mexico. Therefore, the government sent Mexican troops to defend the border. Even though Document B states that Mexico invaded Texas and attacked, they were only defending their border and Texas was still thought of as their land, not the American’s, so they didn’t view it as an invasion. This shows that the U.S. was not justified in going to war with Mexico because battles happened at the Texas-Mexico border since Mexico was protecting it and U.S. troops occupying that territory was seen as an
attack. The United States was not justified in going to war with Mexico because they stole most of Mexico’s land, brought slaves to Texas-- which was still considered Mexico’s land and Mexico was anti-slavery-- and they occupied territory on the Texas-Mexico border. It was important whether or not the U.S. was justified in going to war with Mexico because it could have changed the size of the U.S. If the United States was not justified and didn’t declare war on Mexico, most states west of Texas would still belong to Mexico today. Although since they did declare war on Mexico, justified or not, they still got all of that land.