James Knox Polk was born near the Little Sugar Creek in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina in 1795. His childhood was tumultuous and unconventional, and several events and themes in his childhood undoubtedly helped shape the powerful personality of the future president. One thing is certain, however- his early life was highly influential in his political beliefs; they initially mirrored that of his family, but then matured into their final form- Jacksonian Democracy. (Seigenthaler 11)…
It was not that long ago the United States went to war with their neighboring country, Mexico. With James K. Polk being elected president of the United States in 1844, things were about to change for Mexico. A war was about to emerge that would make the United States a bigger and better country. Without the economic growth, Mexico lacked a strong Army to defeat the American Army and Navy to keep their land. Mexico would not give up their land without a fight. People believe that the United States had no right to start a war with Mexico and take a huge part of their land. With that being said, President Polk had other plans up his sleeve, a plan to take Mexican land from Texas to California.…
In the mid-nineteenth century, the United States found expansion necessary. Many factors necessitated the increase the countries size. The population of this young country grew from five million to almost twenty-three million, and by 1850 almost four million people had migrated westward. Two economic depressions, one in 1818 and another in 1839, further provoked migration, leaving the nation searching for hope, prosperity, and a new life in the frontier land. The people of the United States were enticed by inexpensive, vast, plots of land, opportunities to become self-sufficient. The vast lands of the west seemed to hold a chance for individuals to advance themselves and partake in new commercial interests promised in these new western territories.…
The Mexican-American war stared in 1821 after Mexico won its independence from Spain, thus allowing American settlers to move into the newly unoccupied territory. The Victorians of the war, were the Americans. After the war came to an end, Mexico signed the treaty of Guadalupe hidalgo. In the treaty Mexico agreed to give 500,000mi to the U.S., while the united states paid Mexico $15 million. There are many different point of views towards the Mexican-American war. The United states was not justified by going to war with Mexico because, they fought for what belonged to Mexico in the first place. And they used the belief of Manifest Destiny to overspread our country ignorantly.…
Around the 1840s, the US aspired to annex Texas and incorporate it as a state within the Union. However, gaining Texas had its consequences as it lead a war with Mexico. William Ellery Channing, an abolitionist and pacifist, saw that the policy regarding obtaining Texas would led the “nation into war” as it severed as “encroachment,” and a way “to propagate the curse of slavery.” (Doc 2) The annexation of Texas was seen invading Texas’ link to Mexico as in document one, the American Review stated the annexation “shall dissolve the slight bounds that now link the province to Mexico” (Doc 1) This served as a situation for Mexico, who had refused to recognize Texas’ independence and its takeover by the United States, although President James Polk, a strong supporter of the annexation of Texas as seen in his Inaugural Address- where he stated “none can fail to see the danger to our safety and future peace if Texas remains an independent states,” attempted to aid Mexico in coming to an understanding. Therefore, the Mexican War broke out, out of the effort for Texas to break free its bond to Mexico. Eventually, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war, and came to an agreement that included setting boundaries for Texas and the acquisition of new territory- California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona,…
What happened that caused the Mexicans to sign The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo? Texas wanted to be it’s own country but was under Mexican rule, thats where America stepped in. President Polk promised to take Mew Mexico from Mexico and make it part of the US. Polk and the American army travelled by boat to the precise spot that Hernando Cortez had docked 500 years heretofore. President…
During the fight against Mexico the United States was unified on bringing they land apart of the United States, as a result of winning The new territory it also created a lot of tension among the United States congress. The main reason was over slavery, if it would be allowed over the territory that was just won by the United States which began the compromise of 1850. Both sides were against one another, several congressmen saw this as a opportunity the south to increase farmland and for slavery and the northern congressmen saw these states to create a bigger country and taxable land to put in place a strong representation of government and military. The situation came to stalemate with a compromise they choose to allow the newly won or bought territory to make the difficult…
The mid 1800’s, Americans obviously pushed around the Mexicans. In 1821, Mexico gained its freedom from Spain. The young nation was about the same size as the United States, and the U.S. government immediately developed a lust for Mexico’s land. Arguments arose, leading to the Mexican-American war. Like most wars, it had its supporters and critics. Looking back at the evidence a couple of centuries later, the United States did not have a valid and compelling reason to declare war on Mexico because they invaded Mexico, they craved Mexico’s land, and the U.S. disrespected Mexico.…
Texas became the 28th state of The United States of America in February of 1845, by the process of annexation. The president of The United States at the time was James K. Polk. However, Mexico believed that Texas belonged to them, and so did the United States. The two sides ended up going up against each other to what is considered by Americans to be “The Mexican-American War”, and is considered by Mexicans to be “The U.S. Invasion.” The war occurred across Texas and Northern Mexico, with 13,283 Americans perishing, and 25,000 Mexicans losing their lives.…
In 1821, Mexico won it's independence in a revolutionary war against Spain. Mexico was a large country which included Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and part of Colorado. In 183 Texas broke of from Mexico and declared itself “ The lone star republic” and in 1845 the U.S Congress brought it into the union as a state. Later in spring of 1846, all that was needed was a military incident to begin the war Polk wanted. It happened after General Taylor's quartermaster, Colonel Cross disappeared. His body was found eleven days later. It was assumed that the Mexicans had killed him. A lot of the Anti-Slavery congressmen voted against all war measures. Seeing the mexican campaign as a means of extending the southern. Slave territory Joshua Giddings explains his vote against supplying men and arms for the war. To Howard Zinn looks like Polk was the only one that wanted California to be part of his nation.…
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is an agreement, signed on February 2, 1848, at Guadalupe Hidalgo, which is a city north from the capital of Mexico, between the United States and Mexico that marked the end of the Mexican War. With the defeat of the troops and the fall of the Mexican capital on September 1847, the Mexican government surrendered to the United States and wanted negotiations between the United States to end the war. Signing the treaty was only the beginning of the process because it still had to be approved by the congresses of both the United States and Mexico. No one could tell how the Polk administration would receive a treaty negotiated by an unofficial agent, and could they know the goods and the negative things of the Mexican political scene for the next few months. In both the U.S. and Mexican governments there was opposition to the treaty. In the United States, the northern abolitionists opposed the annexation of Mexican territory. In the Mexican congress, a sizable minority was in favor of continuing the fight. Both countries ratified the document. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo marked the end of the war.…
In the late 1830s, there was a lot of interparty wars over whether Texas should be permitted as a state or not as it was proslavery and abolitionists were against allowing Texas into the United States. However, in 1845, President Polk made Texas a state. Despite Texas being a state, Mexico and America had a border dispute resulting in the Mexican-American War. This war ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which granted America many of current Western states. These states allowed America’s land to increase further and also granted greater Westward Expansion.…
Webster argued that the war with Mexico and the admission of new states would be horrible. This was his own opinion, but many individuals during this time period felt the way that he did. Webster talks of what the president has his mind set on and how that mindset cannot be changed. This is viewed as a problem that Webster can not get over, he feels that the president should listen to the people and not be caught up in his own mindset. The mindset of the president was one that was given to him by many of the people of the United States, but was it the majority of the people? Webster never discusses this with his readers. This may be for certain reasons; maybe the majority did feel the need for expansion. Webster would have hurt his own argument for him to put that in this article.…
The Mexican-American war was a border dispute due to Texas. Texas had declared independence from Mexico since 1836. Mexico thought the boundary line was “...the Sabine River, which separated Louisiana and Texas (Pg.6 Johannsen).” The U.S claimed the line was “...the Rio Grande, the "traditional" line claimed in the 1803 treaty with France, which suggested that Texas was a part of the Louisiana Purchase, and confirmed by John Quincy Adams in his 1819 negotiations with Spain (Pg.6 Johannsen).” The purpose of the war was to decide how the annexation of Texas was going to happen by deciding where the boundary line should be.…
This was the begging of the Mexican-American war. The president at the time James K. Polk believed in manifest destiny. A border at rio grande was what had started it all. And throughout the war the US had many victories. As the war was coming to an end Mexico had lost ⅓ of its territory.…