War With Mexico
Name: Savanna Tate
Date: December 5, 2014
Graded Assignment
A Just War?
Write an essay that answers the following question: Was the United States justified in going to war against Mexico in 1846?
Use the primary source material on pages 3–5 of this document and the information in Chapter 16 to help you answer the question and provide support for your answer.
Refer to the scoring rubric on the last page to see how your essay will be scored.
(100 points)
Write an essay that answers the following question: Was the United States justified in going to war against Mexico in 1846?
Answer:
The United States was not justified in going to war with Mexico because they did not have proper grounds to resort with violence to the Mexican government. Because of Polk’s sneaky tactics he provoked Mexico into attacking US troops. His overzealous drive to seize new territory from the Mexicans and disappointment over the fact that they refused to sell California also possibly played a role in his willingness to cause war against Mexico.
While attempting to gain California with $25million and a peaceful negotiation, Polk did not anticipate that the Mexicans would decline. This led to Polk becoming frustrated enough to resort cunning and scheming ways to get the Mexicans to give him the territories that he wanted. Polk was so greedy for land that he was willing to risk blood and death of his citizens and troops.
One of the most “brilliant” schemes that Polk thought of was to put the US troops in the disputed territory too purposely provoke the Mexicans to start the war making the US look like the protagonist of the conflict. One soldier stated, “We have not one particle of right to be here. It looks as if the government sent a small force on purpose to bring a war, so as to have a pretext for taking California and as much of this country as it chooses.” The Mexicans did not attack which worried Polk causing him to turn to his cabinet. He told them on May 9 1846 that he was to
Date: December 5, 2014
Graded Assignment
A Just War?
Write an essay that answers the following question: Was the United States justified in going to war against Mexico in 1846?
Use the primary source material on pages 3–5 of this document and the information in Chapter 16 to help you answer the question and provide support for your answer.
Refer to the scoring rubric on the last page to see how your essay will be scored.
(100 points)
Write an essay that answers the following question: Was the United States justified in going to war against Mexico in 1846?
Answer:
The United States was not justified in going to war with Mexico because they did not have proper grounds to resort with violence to the Mexican government. Because of Polk’s sneaky tactics he provoked Mexico into attacking US troops. His overzealous drive to seize new territory from the Mexicans and disappointment over the fact that they refused to sell California also possibly played a role in his willingness to cause war against Mexico.
While attempting to gain California with $25million and a peaceful negotiation, Polk did not anticipate that the Mexicans would decline. This led to Polk becoming frustrated enough to resort cunning and scheming ways to get the Mexicans to give him the territories that he wanted. Polk was so greedy for land that he was willing to risk blood and death of his citizens and troops.
One of the most “brilliant” schemes that Polk thought of was to put the US troops in the disputed territory too purposely provoke the Mexicans to start the war making the US look like the protagonist of the conflict. One soldier stated, “We have not one particle of right to be here. It looks as if the government sent a small force on purpose to bring a war, so as to have a pretext for taking California and as much of this country as it chooses.” The Mexicans did not attack which worried Polk causing him to turn to his cabinet. He told them on May 9 1846 that he was to