The War Between Mexica and The USA

On April 25, 1846, the Mexican army attacked a group of United Sates soldiers under the command of General Zachary Taylor. The Mexicans killed about a dozen American soldiers and then laid a siege to an American fort along the Rio Grande. While General Taylor called in reinforcements, and with the help of superior riffles and also weapons, the Americans were able to defeat the Mexicans at the battles of Polo Alto and Resaca de la Palma.

After those battles had ended, James J. Polk, former governor of Tennessee, to the United States 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 soli”. Then on May 13, Congress declared war, without opposition from some northern lawmakers.

In my opinion I think that the Mexican-American War was justified because the term “manifest destiny” was an expression of an idea on the part of Americans. But it was also a justification, because they wanted territory and needed an excuse to push into territory that they didn’t have control over. Having this idea was to foreshadow by some of the writings during the revolutionary times, with the desire for Canada in the period between the American War for Independence and the War of 1812.

The Mexican-American War had a tremendous impact on the tension between Northern and Southern states because the opposition to expansion came from those who believed that the United States could not succeed as an experiment in self-government if it grew too big. This involvement became known as the Whig Party. At first the United States felt that the expansion was would contribute to the downfall of the nation. Then shortly after, the Northeast and east coast thought that they would lose power of the United States admitted more states in to the Union. Lastly, the people who supported slavery in the North were grateful that the victory of Mexico would lead to the incorporation of more slave territory into the United States.

The Texas annexation seemed to be a part of the natural exposition of the United States, which became a part of the Louisiana Purchase. Then the Mexico expanded more land to Texas for the use of slavery lands. John Quincy Adams, a member of the House of Representatives, thought that the push for Texas annexation as a slaveholder’s plan, although the historians have proven that there was no plan from the slaveholder’s to the United States.