Was The Us Justified In Going To War With 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. The US was justified in going to war with Mexico because of the appalling way Mexico was treating the US, and it was also truly Mexico who started the war.
Mexico was treating the United States
and the Americans who were living in Mexico poorly on both Mexican soil and U.S.
land. One thing that shows that Mexico treated American’s awfully was when 16 American men were wounded or killed by Mexicans while exploring American soil. James K. Polk, the 11th president of the United States, and current president at the time stated that the troops were at the border of the Rio del Norte, “to ascertain whether the Mexican troops had crossed, or were preparing to cross, the river...” (Polk, 10). The American troops never crossed the Rio del Norte into Mexican territory, they were always on American soil. All the poor American soldiers were doing on that dreadful April 24th was checking their own land for a Mexican invasion. Another thing that shows how poorly Mexico treated the US was that when Mexico begged Americans to come live in Texas to “Fill up their land”, the Mexican government forced Americans to pay unfair taxes. If Mexico really wanted the American citizens to fill land rather than to just make money, they would not have enforced taxation, they wouldn’t have forced a burden on someone they were seeking help from. Also the Mexican government
was enforcing taxes on the American citizens, while there was no American representative in the Mexican government. There was no American’s had no say in decisions made by the Mexican government, which means that there should be no Mexican taxes enforced on the Americans. The 11th president James K. Polk said, “We have tried every effort of reconciliation. The cup of forbearance has been exhausted even before the recent information from the frontier of the Del Norte.” (Polk, 10) Mexico had killed Americans, and forced them to pay the Mexican government money that they did not owe. The Americans tried to get along with the Mexicans for a long time but after all Mexico had done to America, war was the only option.
It was really Mexico who started the war, not the United States.
First, If the Mexican’s were not invading the US in the first place they would not have shot at all the American soldiers, and they could not have been shooting in self-defense, for it was they who shot first, and they were not on their own land. One piece of evidence that shows that Mexico started the war was actually spoken by a Mexican himself, Jesus Velasco-Marquez, a modern-day professor of international studies at the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico. He said, “When the Mexican government learned of the treaty signed between Texas and the US in April 1844, it... would consider such an act a declaration of war.” (Velasco-Marquez, 12) By stating his Mexican opinion, Velasco was saying that even though it was the US and Texas who signed the annexation treaty, it was Mexico who considered the signing a declaration of war, not the US. The US was only hoping to gain another state by signing the treaty, they weren’t even looking for a war. Another piece of evidence that shows that it was really Mexico who started the war, was the fact that Mexico sent troops into the land between the Rio del Norte and The Nueces River, which was invading the United States, and ultimately led to both the battle of Palo Alto, and the battle of Resaca de la palma. Furthermore, Mexico may claim that the Mexican-American War was really “The US Invasion”, but it was Mexico who started the war, so their title really makes no
sense at all.
Ultimately, for a variety of reasons, the US was justified in entering the war with Mexico. Whether it was because the US had less to do with the start of the war than is recorded in most history books, or because the US had many clear reasons to get revenge on Mexico, saying that the US was justified in going into the war makes much more sense when one takes into account every event that occurred both before, and during the war. There are always two sides to every story. Before pointing fingers and calling names, one should take into account all the details that both sides have brought to the table.