When Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821, a string of ruthless dictators and weak presidents made Mexico an easy target for its powerful neighbor, the United States. The US swooped in to expand its territory and its popular institution of slavery. By doing so, the US started a war with Mexico that was justified for illegitimate reasons. The Mexican-American War was not justified because the US took Mexico’s land for the expansion of slavery, and justified their taking advantage of Mexico when it was politically weak by hiding behind Manifest Destiny. The US wanted to expand its territory for the growth of slavery, which was a dehumanizing and morally wrong practice. Although many Americans wanted slavery to expand, many did not. …show more content…
Jesús Velasco-Márquez, a modern-day Mexican professor of studies wrote an article in 2006 about the Mexican-American War. He said, “US historians refer to this event as ‘The Mexican-American War’, while in Mexico, we prefer to use the term ‘The U.S. Invasion...From Mexico’s point of view, the annexation of Texas to the United States was inadmissible for both legal and security reasons. ’’’ (Velasco-Márquez, 12). During the time of the independence of Texas, Mexico was ruled by the dictator General Antonio López de Santa Anna. Since the Mexican people were not able to vote when Santa Anna gave away Texas, they felt as if the US took advantage of them when Santa Anna was president. Mexico did not see the war as a dual sided conflict. To Mexico, the war was an invasion of the weaker by the stronger, and at a time when Mexico was vulnerable …show more content…
The US did not not have solid reasons to do so besides their own greed, so the US hid behind the idea of Manifest Destiny and tried to justify their actions. John O’Sullivan was the New York City journalist who coined the term Manifest Destiny. He said, “Imbecile and distracted, Mexico never can exert any real government authority over such a country…’’ (O’Sullivan, 8). O’Sullivan and the US suggested that Mexico “needed” the US to come and take over, because otherwise Mexico was going to fall apart. Although this was somewhat true, the US did not try to help Mexico through this difficult time; instead, the US took advantage of Mexico’s weakness and tried to take over completely. The idea of Manifest Destiny was centered around the idea that God wanted the US to expand as much as possible because the US had a superior way of life. The US justified their cruel actions towards Mexico because they were “destined” to act accordingly. If Americans truly believed that all people were created equal, then Manifest Destiny was not a plausible idea. Manifest Destiny created a hierarchy system in which the US was on top; a hierarchy was the opposite of a society or world where all people were created equal. Therefore, the US did not have such superiority to Mexico that God thought it was acceptable for Americans to act like they were allowed to trample on Mexico’s government
The long,bloody wars that America has encountered are faced with many conflicts. One of the wars that America has gone to is the Mexican American War. It’s 1846, and many schisms has been between Mexico and America with the problem of arguing over Texas. Mexico had originally owned Texas but Texas wanted to annex itself over to the U.S. But there are other reasons why America went to war and these reasons are they killed one-half of the U.S. troops, threatened us for crossing their border, annexation, and invasion.
A significant amount of American’s interpreted this as a god given right to expand. Declared in “John L. O’ Sullivan, “Annexation”, The United States Magazine and Democratic Review, Vol. XVII, July 1845.” (Document A) “[O]ther nations have undertaken… hostile interference against us… hampering our power, limiting our greatness and checking the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by providence [God] for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.” To summarize, this meant that countless Americans believed that Manifest Destiny gave them the means to take and take with no repercussions.
The Manifest Destiny was a belief that God gave all the power to the Americans and all the land and resources in the north. Polk saw Mexico’s treatment of Slidell as an opportunity, when the word that Mexican soldiers fired upon Americans on the Texas Side of the Rio Grande, Polk had a reason for war. I do believe that America was justified in going to war with Mexico, we have been treated like dirt in previous years from Britain, we are not going to let Mexico beat us. In Document A, it states: “It is time for opposition to the Annexation of Texas to cease… Texas is now ours… (Other Nations)
Texas as a matter of fact was taken from Mexico illegally. Not only did Polk annexed Texas but he also conquered California and New Mexico as well. The Mexican American War was an unjust war since the United States did not have
the attempt to buy a large part of their country angered the Mexican government. Slidell was asked to leave Mexico City. ”(Roden 317)This Information shows since the US failed to get the land, they felt like going to war was the right decision to get the land. This was because of their greediness.
Whatever its true purpose, Manifest Destiny has indeed stretched the U.S territory and seized half of Mexico’s land. On the contrary, Manifest Destiny resulted in a conflict with
In a way, they just wanted their freedom like in the rest of America. This paper will show evidence that supports America’s right to go to war. When Mexico declared its freedom from Spain in 1821, the size of Mexico was equal to the United States (background essay). American farmers were encouraged to settle in the Mexican providence of Texas since the land was was empty (background essay). Once the settlers came it turned out to be
The war with Mexico was not justified for three reasons, one reason is that the war was about expanding slavery, another reason is because the war was not needed, the final reason is that the war was wicked and provoked. The first reason why the war was unjustified was because the war was about getting more land for slaves and slavery. Joshua R. Giddings explains, “This war is waged against an unoffending people without just or adequate cause, for the purposes of conquest; with the design to extend slavery; in violation of the Constitution, against the dictates of justice, of humanity, of the sentiments of the age in which we live, and the precepts of the religion we profess. ”(Document E). Giddings explains it perfectly, he was there while the war was going on.
This war happened mainly because the U.S. wanted to expand to the Pacific Ocean to fulfill their Manifest Destiny, trying to take away Mexico’s land. Mexico refused to to give land to the U.S. The big question is whether the U.S. was justified in fighting Mexico in the Mexican-American War. The United States was justified in going to war with Mexico because Manifest Destiny, too much Mexican interference, and Texas was invaded. One reason the Mexican War was justified was Manifest Destiny. In Document A, John O’Sullivan writes: “Texas is now ours...Let their reception into the “family be frank, kindly, and cheerful….”
Thirdly, a second reason the Mexican War was not justified because US soldiers were in a disputed area. According to Jesus Velasco Marquez from “A Mexican Viewpoint on the War With the United States,” he states that “From Mexico’s point of view, the annexation of Texas to the United States was inadmissible for both legal and security reasons.” As well as, “The American government acted like a bandit who came upon a
After years of battle for independence against Spain, Mexico gained territorial expansion but was left with a struggling economy and a sparsely populated region. The United States was in a position to take advantage of Mexico during this time, after a large period of economic growth. In Chapter 7 “Foreigners in Their Native Land: A War Against Mexico” by Ronald Takaki, in his book, A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America, retells the events that took place during the illegal immigration of the United States into Mexican territory, the acquisition of Mexico’s land, and the discrimination experienced by Mexican-Americans after the war. The Mexican American War was driven by the idea of “Manifest Destiny”, which is the
As stated before, the US was justified in going to war with Mexico because of three reasons, Americans were killed, Texas was already annexed, and Manifest Destiny allows it. The United states had many superb reasons for going to war with Mexico. This essay is significant because it helps explain the United States’ choice to go to war with
(Marquez 327) This direct quote shows that Mexico is angry that the U.S. is taking more land. In the daily El Tiempo stated that the American government came as a traveler and then acted like a robber (Marquez 327). This information shows that that the American government came and stole from Mexico. The annexation of Texas was inadmissable and unofficial.
Although the United States war against Mexico resulted in the gaining of America’s most valuable land, the war itself wasn’t legitimate because of the revolution in Texas, motivation for superiority, and the U.S. government’s actions. To begin, the Texans began an unreasonable war because they didn’t follow Mexico’s laws and conditions. When Mexico started selling cheap land, they set conditions for the people moving in. The people had to convert to Catholicism, learn Spanish, become a Mexican citizen, and have no slaves. Many Americans didn’t like being told what to do, and disobeyed the rules and laws.
According to John O’ Sullivan, “Other nations have undertaken...hostile interference against us, …hampering our power, limiting our greatness and checking the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence (God) for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions”. The Americans are using God’s will as an excuse to go to war with Mexico. The fact that other countries are also trying to taking territory from Mexico shows that the United States is willing to enter the competition for Mexico’s territory in order to gain more resources to support themselves and strengthen themselves by doing this. Manifest Destiny is nothing more than a concocted lie meant to persuade the masses the advantages of gaining more territory.