A People’s History: We Take Nothing by Conquest, Thank God, Slavery Without Submission, Emancipation Without Freedom & the Other Civil War
A People’s History: We Take Nothing by Conquest, Thank God, Slavery Without Submission, Emancipation Without Freedom & The Other Civil War
Chapter eight discusses the Mexican-American War. Zinn argues that while some people have represented the war as a popular cause, the truth was fairly different. He mentions that President James Polk pushed an expansionist agenda to excuse his conquest of México, and the press supported his actions by lying about the conflict and popular response to it. Zinn argues that soldiers and the public did not like the invasion of México at all. Thousands of soldiers died from disease and desertion. Zinn’s main argument is that the invasion of México was labeled as a defensive action to gain support from soldiers and the public, but it was still seen as a war by many, and the public did not gain anything significant. The public generally thought the war was useless.
Zinn wrote “Accompanying all this aggressiveness was the idea that the United States would be giving the blessings of liberty and democracy to more people. This was intermingling with ideas of racial superiority, longings for the beautiful lands of New Mexico and California, and thoughts of commercial enterprise across the Pacific.” This quote shows how the goal for the Mexican- American War was not a defensive motive, but more of a need to grow and expand.
The annexation of Texas, New Mexico and California, were the only real benefits of the war. After México surrendered the U.S. had the opportunity to take all of México, but they did not want to deal with millions of Mexicans living in the center and south of the country, thus the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo took half of México. Zinn called the phrase "we take nothing by conquest.... Thank God." from an 1848 article in the Whig Intelligencer. The article claimed that the United States did not take anything by conquest because the U.S. paid Mexico $15 million, that amount was extremely low compared to the
Chapter eight discusses the Mexican-American War. Zinn argues that while some people have represented the war as a popular cause, the truth was fairly different. He mentions that President James Polk pushed an expansionist agenda to excuse his conquest of México, and the press supported his actions by lying about the conflict and popular response to it. Zinn argues that soldiers and the public did not like the invasion of México at all. Thousands of soldiers died from disease and desertion. Zinn’s main argument is that the invasion of México was labeled as a defensive action to gain support from soldiers and the public, but it was still seen as a war by many, and the public did not gain anything significant. The public generally thought the war was useless.
Zinn wrote “Accompanying all this aggressiveness was the idea that the United States would be giving the blessings of liberty and democracy to more people. This was intermingling with ideas of racial superiority, longings for the beautiful lands of New Mexico and California, and thoughts of commercial enterprise across the Pacific.” This quote shows how the goal for the Mexican- American War was not a defensive motive, but more of a need to grow and expand.
The annexation of Texas, New Mexico and California, were the only real benefits of the war. After México surrendered the U.S. had the opportunity to take all of México, but they did not want to deal with millions of Mexicans living in the center and south of the country, thus the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo took half of México. Zinn called the phrase "we take nothing by conquest.... Thank God." from an 1848 article in the Whig Intelligencer. The article claimed that the United States did not take anything by conquest because the U.S. paid Mexico $15 million, that amount was extremely low compared to the