The Mexican-American War

Mexican-American War
Jacqulyn De La Torre
HIS/110CA
3/16/2015
Hadley Ajana
Mexican-American War
United States and Mexico were two nations headed in opposite directions. Mexico struggled to maintain a stable government and protect their land. The United States had a strong government and was influenced by the Manifest Destiny to expand its territory and claim its borders to Mexico. The differences, along with the skirmish over Mexican-American borders, lead to the Mexican-American War.
Causes of The Mexican-American War

There are two main reasons for the causes of the Mexican-American War. One reason would be the idea of Manifest Destiny; the belief that the United States had a God-given right to occupy and civilize the entire
continent. American believed that democratic English-speaking citizens would do a better job of running the land than the native Americans ; when migrating west in search of land they often ignored the fact that some of the land already had people living on it because of this belief. President Polk was a believer in the Manifest Destiny and offered to buy the land from Mexican, but all offered were refused. Tension began to rise over the desire to populate the southwestern areas. The second leading cause of the Mexican-American war was the Texas War of Independence. In the 1830s Mexico was under populated and needed settlers, therefore allowing U.S. Citizens to live in Texas as long as they converted to Catholicism and took an oath of alliance to Mexico. Thousands of Americans accepted this offer, only to later realize they were not satisfied with the Mexican government tried to run the providence. This started the Texas Revolution; both Mexicans and American fought for Independence from the Mexican government. The "Texians" won this battle, captured, and forced Mexico President Santa Anna to sign the Treaty of Velasco, granting them the Independence they desired. This only angered Mexico and fueled the fight between them and the United States over undefined borders and disputed land.
Let the War Begin

Mexico and the United States sent troops to compete and claim the land between the rivers that they both claimed were theirs.
Mexico claimed the Nueces River while the United States claimed the Rio Grande River. On April 25, 1864, they both met at the Rio Grande River in dispute over the land and the Mexican army opened fire on the American troops. This lead to the victory in the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. Following those battles, Polk told the U.S Congress that the "cup of forbearance has been exhausted, even before Mexico passed the boundary of the United States, invaded our territory, and shed American blood upon American soil"("Mexican-American War," 2009, para. 5). The losses were adding up very quickly for Mexico, so they decided to contact General Antonio López de Santa Anna to assist in the battle. Santa Anna convinced Polk that he promise to settle the war in favor of the United States only if he was allowed back into Mexico; he did not keep his word and immediately took control of the Mexican army, leading them to battle. Santa Anna was wounded in the battle of Buena Vista and was forced to withdraw and later named the President of Mexico. After many battles, the Mexican-American war came to an end with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo.
Effects and Outcome

The Treaty of Guadalupe was a peace treaty signed on February 2,1848; by the treaty 's terms, Mexico ceded 525,000 square miles of its territory to the United States in exchange for $ 15 million dollars. American also agreed to forgive Mexico 's debt to the American citizens. The first effect of the Mexican- American War was the territorial gains of the U.S. This territorial gain includes California and New Mexico, which is now known as Arizona, Utah, and Nevada; also established the Rio Grande River as the border between Texas and Mexico. The loss of more than half of Mexico 's territory caused much hatred towards the United States. To make matters worse, the United States promised those living in the ceded territories citizenship and the right to keep the land they were living on but failed to keep their promise and often stole their land. Another issue raised was slavery; questions were now raised over whether this newly acquired land would be open to having slaves or not. This becomes a huge issue in politics over the next decade and in many ways accelerates the coming of the Civil War.

Conclusion
The Mexican-American War had various effects on both sides. The Americans gained massive amounts of territory but also attributed to the ongoing hatred of the North and the South. Mexico suffered from the worst effects of the war; they lost a significant amount of their territory and lacked in stability due to the interference of The United States, before and after the war. The issues regarding slavery played an enormous role in the Civil War; they are all a huge part of Americas history.

References
Mexican-American War. (2009, March). Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/mexican-american-war

ushistory.org. (2015). The Mexican-American War. Retrieved from http://www.ushistory.org/us/29d.asp.