mexican war essay examples

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Mexican-American War

By: History.com Editors

Updated: August 10, 2022 | Original: November 9, 2009

The Mexican-American War of 1846 to 1848 marked the first U.S. armed conflict chiefly fought on foreign soil. It pitted a politically divided and militarily unprepared Mexico against the expansionist-minded administration of U.S. President James K. Polk, who believed the United States had a “Manifest Destiny” to spread across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. A border skirmish along the Rio Grande that started off the fighting was followed by a series of U.S. victories. When the dust cleared, Mexico had lost about one-third of its territory, including nearly all of present-day California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico.

Causes of the Mexican-American War

Texas gained its independence from Mexico in 1836. Initially, the United States declined to incorporate it into the union, largely because northern political interests were against the addition of a new state that supported slavery . The Mexican government was also encouraging border raids and warning that any attempt at annexation would lead to war.

Did you know? Gold was discovered in California just days before Mexico ceded the land to the United States in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

Nonetheless, annexation procedures were quickly initiated after the 1844 election of Polk, a firm believer in the doctrine of Manifest Destiny , who campaigned that Texas should be “re-annexed” and that the Oregon Territory should be “re-occupied.” Polk also had his eyes on California , New Mexico and the rest of what is today the American Southwest.

When his offer to purchase those lands was rejected, he instigated a fight by moving troops into a disputed zone between the Rio Grande and Nueces River that both countries had previously recognized as part of the Mexican state of Coahuila .

The Mexican-American War Begins

On April 25, 1846, Mexican cavalry attacked a group of U.S. soldiers in the disputed zone under the command of General Zachary Taylor , killing about a dozen. They then laid siege to Fort Texas along the Rio Grande. Taylor called in reinforcements, and—with the help of superior rifles and artillery—was able to defeat the Mexicans at the Battle of Palo Alto and the Battle of Resaca de la Palma .

Following those battles, Polk told the U.S. 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 soil.” Two days later, on May 13, Congress declared war, despite opposition from some northern lawmakers. No official declaration of war ever came from Mexico.

U.S. Army Advances Into Mexico

At that time, only about 75,000 Mexican citizens lived north of the Rio Grande. As a result, U.S. forces led by Col. Stephen Watts Kearny and Commodore Robert Field Stockton were able to conquer those lands with minimal resistance. Taylor likewise had little trouble advancing, and he captured the city of Monterrey in September.

With the losses adding up, Mexico turned to old standby General Antonio López de Santa Anna , the charismatic strongman who had been living in exile in Cuba. Santa Anna convinced Polk that, if allowed to return to Mexico, he would end the war on terms favorable to the United States.

But when Santa Anna arrived, he immediately double-crossed Polk by taking control of the Mexican army and leading it into battle. At the Battle of Buena Vista in February 1847, Santa Anna suffered heavy casualties and was forced to withdraw. Despite the loss, he assumed the Mexican presidency the following month.

Meanwhile, U.S. troops led by Gen. Winfield Scott landed in Veracruz and took over the city. They then began marching toward Mexico City, essentially following the same route that Hernán Cortés followed when he invaded the Aztec empire .

The Mexicans resisted at the Battle of Cerro Gordo and elsewhere, but were bested each time. In September 1847, Scott successfully laid siege to Mexico City’s Chapultepec Castle . During that clash, a group of military school cadets–the so-called ni ños héroes –purportedly committed suicide rather than surrender.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 

Guerrilla attacks against U.S. supply lines continued, but for all intents and purposes the war had ended. Santa Anna resigned, and the United States waited for a new government capable of negotiations to form.

Finally, on Feb. 2, 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, establishing the Rio Grande (and not the Nueces River) as the U.S.-Mexican border. Under the treaty, Mexico also recognized the U.S. annexation of Texas, and agreed to sell California and the rest of its territory north of the Rio Grande for $15 million plus the assumption of certain damage claims.

The net gain in U.S. territory after the Mexican-American War was roughly 525,000 square miles, an enormous tract of land—nearly as much as the Louisiana Purchase’s 827,000 square miles—that would forever change the geography, culture and economy of the United States.

Though the war with Mexico was over, the battle over the newly acquired territories—and whether or not slavery would be allowed in those territories—was just beginning. Many of the U.S. officers and soldiers in the Mexican-American War would in just a few years find themselves once again taking up arms, but this time against their own countrymen in the Civil War .

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The Impact of the Mexican American War on American Society and Politics

On February 2, 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed which officially ended the Mexican-American War. However, as the guns fell silent, and the men returned home, a new war was brewing, one that continues to shape the course of this country to this day. 

While Ulysses S. Grant might have argued that the Civil War was God’s punishment for the Mexican-American War, a “wicked war" that was rooted in imperialism and the expansion of slavery, many Americans supported the Mexican-American War as they viewed it as the fulfillment of Manifest Destiny: the promise that the United States would extend from “sea to shining sea.” While Manifest Destiny remains a core of U.S. national identity, in the 1840s it encouraged a slew of ideological debates over this potential new territory, specifically if the territory should be free or enslaved. The Louisiana Purchase caused a major crisis over the organization of new states which Congress ultimately resolved with the Missouri Compromise, the compromise to end all compromises. It is important to note that the debates in 1820 were largely split among party lines, i.e. Democrats vs. Whigs . However, the Mexican American War reopened past wounds and sent the United States into another legislative crisis.

Even before the war was won and territory had been ceded, Congress was already discussing how to organize any potential new territory gained as reparations from Mexico.  One of the most important of proposals was the Wilmot Proviso  which Representative David Wilmot of Pennsylvania proposed in 1846, two years before the war ended. Under this proviso, any territory gained by war with Mexico should be free and thus reserved exclusively for whites. Wilmot was a free-soiler, which meant that he did not want to abolish slavery in the places it currently existed but rather prevent its expansion to new territories. However, Wilmot was also a Northern Democrat, and most Democrats supported slavery and protected it, even if they themselves did not own slaves. Many Northern Whigs believed in something called the Slave Power Conspiracy, a conspiracy theory in which slaveowners (the Slave Power) dominated the country’s political system even though they were a minority group, which was accomplished through a coalition with “dough-faced Democrats,” Northern Democrats who supported and protected slavery. While the Wilmot Proviso failed in the Senate, it passed in the House of Representatives because of a coalition between Northern Democrats and Northern Whigs and illustrates the first shift from party alliances to sectional alliances. Indignation over the Wilmot Proviso united southerners against northern threats to their most valuable institution, slavery. After this vote, the antebellum political landscape was forever changed.

The failure of the Wilmot Proviso only put off the issue of slavery for so long. With the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico ceded over 525,000 square miles of territory to the United States in exchange for $15 million and the assumption of Mexican debts to American citizens, which reopened the slavery issue. In order to promote party loyalty without aggravating sectional tensions, the Whigs did not include specific resolutions on slavery in their official platform for the Election of 1848. The Democrats ran on popular sovereignty , which is the idea that the status of a territory will be determined by the people residing in that territory. Popular sovereignty is neither explicitly pro-slavery or anti-slavery; however, it does nullify the Missouri Compromise . Neither party adopted a firm stance on slavery in the 1848 election; however, the free-soilers made the election about slavery. Consequently, the Whigs and the Democrats developed campaign materials to be sectionally distributed which highlighted their candidate's support and opposition for slavery respectively. The separate campaign materials in this election reveal the growing sectional divide in antebellum America.

Despite the growing sectionalism, Zachary Taylor, a hero of the Mexican-American War and a slaveholding Whig was elected president in 1848 and served for two years before dying in office of natural causes. The Mexican-American War projected Taylor into a position of celebrity and enabled his election in 1848. After his election, Taylor promised not to intercede with Congress’s decision for the organization of the Mexican Cession. Many southerners felt betrayed by Taylor, a slaveowner from Louisiana, as they equated his position with those of a free-soiler. In this time of heightened sectional tensions, southerners believed that if one did not actively protect slavery and its expansion, one supported abolition.

As a direct result of the Mexican Cession, the California Gold Rush began in 1849 which caused a massive frenzy to organize and admit California into the Union.  The Missouri Compromise stated that any territory north of the 36°30’ parallel would be free; however, the line would divide California into two sections. California was never a US territory and approved a free constitution, elected a Governor and legislature and applied for statehood by November 1849. Since California did not wish to be divided into two separate states, a new compromise was formed, aptly named the Compromise of 1850. Under the Compromise of 1850 , California was admitted as a free state without deciding the fate of the remainder of the Mexican Cession. Additionally, under this compromise, there was the federal assumption of Texas debt, the abolishment of the slave trade in the District of Columbia, and a stronger fugitive slave law. While controversial, the Compromise of 1850 alleviated the growing tensions over slavery and delayed a full-blown crisis over the issue.

However, in 1854 tensions over slavery once again skyrocketed over the organization of Kansas and Nebraska. While Kansas and Nebraska were not part of the Mexican Cession, their debates over their organization are linked to the Mexican-American War. As stated above, the Mexican-American War re-opened the discussions over how to organize territory, and one of the proposed solutions was popular sovereignty. While the Compromise of 1850 elected not to include popular sovereignty, it reemerged in 1854 with the Kansas-Nebraska Act , where Kansas and Nebraska would be organized using popular sovereignty.  The Kansas-Nebraska Act caused Bleeding Kansas , where pro-slavery and anti-slavery Americans flocked to Kansas in an attempt to establish either a slave or free government in that state, which eventually erupted into violence where neighbor killed a neighbor in the name of slavery and abolition. Bleeding Kansas is also the first instance where John Brown , famous for his 1859 raid on Harper’s Ferry, used violence to enact his radical abolition vision. Moreover, the Kansas-Nebraska Act propelled future President Abraham Lincoln into the national spotlight. The Kansas-Nebraska Act was Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois’s pet project and popular sovereignty is often associated with Douglas. Lincoln and Douglas engaged in a series of debates in 1858, which mainly focused on popular sovereignty and slavery’s expansion. While Lincoln lost the senatorial election in 1858 to Douglas, he became well known because of the debates, which positioned himself to be the Republican candidate for the Presidential Election of 1860. Additionally, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was the final nail in the coffin for the Whig Party and paved the way for the establishment of the Republican Party, the first prominent anti-slavery party which was rooted in sectionalism.

Ralph Waldo Emerson prophetically wrote, “Mexico will poison us.” The Mexican-American War and the massive territory gained reopened debates over slavery which diminished party alliances and increased sectional alliances. These debates over slavery eventually led to the demise of the Second Party System and paved the way for the rise of Republicanism. Sectional tensions had never been stronger and there were open discussions of disunion which increased as the 1850s progressed. All these tensions and issues would come to head with the Election of 1860 and eventually with the Civil War, where brother fought against brother. To say "Mexico poisoned" the United States is an understatement, the bloodshed during the Civil War rivaled any other American conflict and today we are still in the process of healing wounds that occurred over 150 years ago.

Further Reading:

• So Far From God: the U.S. War with Mexico 1846-1848 : By John S. D. Eisenhower
• A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln, and the 1846 U.S. Invasion of Mexico : By Amy S. Greenberg
• The Fate of Their Country: Politicians, Slavery Expansion and the Coming of the Civil War : By Michael F. Holt
• The Impending Crisis: America Before the Civil War 1848-1861 : By David M. Potter

Hispanic-Americans in the Civil War

Federico Fernández Cavada: Union Ties and Cuban Roots

Tejano Heroes of the Texas Revolution

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Free Essay On The Mexican-American War

Type of paper: Essay

Topic: War , Texas , America , Border , Mexico , President , Politics , United States

Published: 02/08/2020

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Introduction

The Mexican-American war of 1846-1848 was a continuous bloody conflict that was the result of Mexican resentment to the USA, and is still considered to be one of the most essential moments in the US history, being the first war to be fought on an international soil. The importance of this military act for the America is impossible to be overestimated, the country’s territory being stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific as the result.

Causes of war

The act of annexation created uproar in Mexico, who had not accepted the independence. Multiple efforts to avoid war were made by the Mexican president, sending envoys to the US for negotiations. As negotiations proved to be unsuccessful, Mexican president approved the gathering of troops on the Texan border. But both nations were afraid to initiate any serious military action, constantly looking for an excuse to start fighting. Finally, the Americans found a way of provoking Mexico into war. As far as Mexico was concerned, her boundary with Texas went across the Nueces River, while the Americans declared natural border of the Texas being actually located on the Rio Grande, further to the south, so the troops were sent to occupy that vacant region. On these grounds, it wasn't that long, before a series of skirmishes turned into a full scale war. “The worst of those (skirmishes) was the so-called "Thornton Affair", took place on the 25th of April 1846, when a squad of American troopers got attacked by a much larger Mexican force, and 16 Americans soldiers were lost” (Brands, 2004). Because the Mexicans crossed the border and found themselves in the contested territory, and followed by larger battles in the next two weeks, both nations decided to declare war by May 13, 1846.

“Manifest Destiny” and the southern slavery plot in the West

When thinking about the possible war, the first motivator of the Americans was land and the maniac belief that their country should be stretching its shoulders from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This idea of expanding the American territory in order to fill the entire continent was called “Manifest Destiny”. This philosophy was both expansionist and radically racist: its proponents thought that: “the "noble and industrious" American people deserved the right to own those lands more than the "degenerate" Mexicans and Native Americans, who then have been occupying it.” (Henderson, 2007).

The Mexicans and Americans had fought about ten major battles all together, which turned out to be victorious for the US. The war, that lasted for about two years, and ended on February the 2nd, 1848, with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which granted the lands of the present California, Utah, and Nevada, as well as parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Colorado states to the United States of America. All rights to Texas were also renounced by Mexico.

The US Mexican war was a conflict which was strongly persuaded by various interest groups in the United States of America. The reasons for these interests were reflected in the conclusion of the war, resulting in the annexation of an enormous hunk of territory, including the present states of California, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and most part of Arizona, from which the US greatly benefited, both economically and strategically.

Brands, H.W. (2004). Lone Star Nation: the Epic Story of the Battle for Texas Independence. New York: Anchor Books. Henderson, T. J. (2007). A Glorious Defeat: Mexico and its War with the United States. New York: Hill and Wang. Wheelan, J. (2007). Invading Mexico: America's Continental Dream and the Mexican War, 1846-1848. New York: Carroll and Graf.

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The Causes of the Mexican-American War

The conflict under consideration, the Mexican-American war, which started in 1846 and lasted two years, is notable for its role in the history of the relationships between the countries. This event reflects the attempts to expand the territory by the United States’ leaders and the resistance of Mexico, which could not be overcome in a peaceful manner. In this way, the problems began when U.S. President James K. Polk declared his intention to purchase California and New Mexico to move the borders to the Rio Grande River (Guardino, 2017).

This deal was also connected to the fact that he wanted Texas to become a part of the United States in the first place, which was another cause for disagreement (Guardino, 2017). However, Mexico refused the offer, and Polk sent military forces to the country, thereby demonstrating his desire to use any means to ensure further expansion of the United States. Even though the northern lawmakers disapproved of this decision, which was deemed to be unconstitutional and, therefore, inappropriate, the war could not be prevented due to the greater support of manifest destiny (“The Mexican-American War,” n.d.).

In other words, the alleged necessity to expand the territory of the United States and corresponding rights granted by God overweighed any other considerations (“The Mexican-American War,” n.d.). Over the course of the war, the battles were fought in Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterey, Yerba Buena, Cañoncito, Chino, Tabasco, Santa Clara, and many other locations (Guardino, 2017). In the end, it was concluded with signing the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in 1848, according to which the United States received not only Texas but also New Mexico and California (“The Mexican-American War,” n.d.). Thus, it was significant for the formation of the borders between the countries.

Guardino, P. (2017). The dead march: A history of the Mexican-American war. Harvard University Press.

The Mexican-American War . (n.d.). U.S. History. Web.

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The Impact of Mexican American War on The Us

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Mexican American War Essay Examples

The Mexican-American War was a conflict between the United States and Mexico, lasting from 1846 to 1848. The U.S. declared war after Mexico refused to acknowledge America’s claims over disputed territories in Texas, New Mexico, and California. After two years of bitter fighting and heavy casualties on both sides, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war with Mexico ceding vast amounts of land including Texas and California to the United States.The origins of the war can be traced back to 1836 when American settlers rebelled against Mexican rule in what would become known as the Texan Revolution. The rebellion resulted in an independent Republic of Texas that later joined the United States in December 1845 as its 28th state ” much to Mexico’s displeasure. To punish this perceived slight by America, Mexican forces invaded several border towns in March 1846 leading President James K Polk to request Congress declare war on April 25th that year; it did so four days later sending 15,000 troops southward led by General Zachary Taylor (later 12th US president). Though initially successful for America capturing Santa Fe (New Mexico) and Monterrey (Northern Mexico), these victories were short-lived as American forces suffered defeats at Buena Vista and Cerro Gordo; consequently it took more than a year before General Winfield Scott captured Veracruz enabling him march towards Mexico City itself occupying it September 14th 1847 ending all major hostilities though occasional skirmishes continued until early 1848 when peace negotiations began at Guadalupe Hidalgo near modern day Ciudad Juarez/El Paso TX resulting in the treaty being signed February 2nd 1848 effectively ending hostilities between USA & Mexic0 granting America nearly 525K square miles including present-day states like Arizona & New Mexico plus parts of Nevada, Utah & Colorado along with settling $15 million debt owed by Mexcio.

To many late nineteenth century Americans, the expansion of slave trade into Western territories led to a great deal of controversy. Since the drafting of the American 1787 Constitution, the South, and the North had grown further apart in terms of society, economy, and ideology. The North was afraid that the South would maliciously force […]

The Mexican American war brief and occurred in the year 1846-1848 and it was the maiden United States armed conflict that took place on foreign territory. The war was against a Mexico that was experiencing political divisions and a military that was basically unprepared and caught off guard by an American nation that harbored expansionist […]

The Mexican-American War occurred between the years 1846 and 1848. Majorly associated with the aspect of Manifest Destiny, President Polk advocated for the War in a quest to seize massive tracts of Mexican land, a decision that translated into a great deal of suffering among many Mexicans, U.S. citizens, and other Native Americans (Morrison 29). […]

The Mexican-American War of 1846 to 1847 was the first U.S. armed war fought on foreign soil. The American government fought against a politically divided and militarily inferior Mexico side. The fight began at the border which was accompanied by a series of American victories. The Mexican- American war was mainly caused by two issues. […]

Thomas Jefferson, the former U.S president believed that the westward expansion was the major key to America’s future and health. Apparently, Jefferson believed that a nation had to depend on an independent and virtuous citizenship for its survival. To him, land ownership went hand in hand with nation’s independence and virtue. This expansion is one […]

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Sample historical essay on the mexican-american war.

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The Mexican-American War was a mid-nineteenth century military conflict that resulted in substantial land gains for the United States. The purpose of the present sample historical essay is to provide a general overview and analysis of the Mexican-American War . As with every instance when a client orders a sample historical essay from Ultius , this work is expository in nature. The essay will begin with background context, primarily focusing on the Annexation of Texas.

Then, it will proceed to consider the key points within the Mexican-American War. After this, the essay will analyze the rationales for the conflict and the validity of those rationales; and finally, the essay will reflect on the potential ongoing implications of the Mexican-American War for current relations between the two nations that were involved.

History essay on The Mexican-American War: The annexation of Texas

In order to understand the context of the Mexican-American War , it is necessary to talk about Texas. The region of Texas, which was originally a part of Mexico, declared independence as a nation in the year 1836. Mexico was at first itself a territory of Spain, and American settlers sought permission from Spain to develop land within the region of Texas. When Mexico become independent, these negotiations were conducted with the government of Mexico; but this quickly led to serious conflicts, as the Americans within the region of Texas began to outnumber the native Mexicans in the region.

As Mexican immigration in the early republic increased, the situation escalated into military conflicts including the famous Battle of the Alamo. Major figures involved in this conflict included Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston, after whom major cities within present-day Texas are of course named. In any event, on the 2nd of March of the year 1836, "Texas' revolutionary government formally declared its independence from Mexico" (History, paragraph 5). This began Texas' decade as a sovereign and independent nation. 

After Texas declared independence from Mexico, it began to seek annexation by the United States: that is, it sought to cease to be an independent nation and instead become an American state. This was a key catalyst for the emergence of the hostilities between Mexico and the United States during this time. From the Mexican perspective, Texas had declared independence and departed from Mexico primarily because American settlers, in a manner reflective of the removal of Native American Indians , overwhelmed the Mexican residents of the region; and the fact that Texas then sought to formally become a part of the United States added a great deal of insult to injury, as it were. Texas was formally annexed by the United States in the year 1846; and this was also the year in which the Mexican-American War began. 

Key points in the Mexican-American war

The key Mexican general in the Mexican-American War was Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, and the key American general was Winfield Scott. The specifics of the various battles that occurred during the conflict would surpass the scope of the present essay, which seeks to primarily fulfill the function of an overview. In broad terms, what can be said is that the American armed forces met with success after success, to the point that at the end of the conflict, they were marching on Mexico City itself. And by that point, the Mexican armed forces were prepared to fully accept defeat. As the extensive US-Mexican War section of PBS.org states:

In the early hours of September 14 [1847], instead of having to fight his way through town, Scott instead received a delegation of Mexican politicians who surrendered the city unconditionally. The U.S. army that had begun the campaign to capture Mexico City in early March now marched triumphantly to the national plaza, victorious at last. (paragraph 3)

In short, the Americans won this war in a rather spectacular fashion. 

The Mexican-American War was formally concluded by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo . This treaty reflected the fact that Mexico had unconditionally surrendered to the United States. As Christopher Minster has written, the treaty:

Ended the conflict and ceded vast Mexican territories to the USA for $15 million and forgiveness of certain Mexican debts. It was a coup for the Americans, who gained a significant part of their current national territory, but a disaster for Mexicans who saw roughly half of their national territory given away. (paragraph 1)

There is a certain irony in the fact that while the conflict originally began over control of just the territory of Texas, the Americans won more—and the Mexicans lost more—land than either nation had really anticipated or bargained for. The United States actually won the entire stretch of land from Texas to California.  

Rationales for the Mexican-American war

It would be almost impossible to understand the Mexican-American War without considering the ideology of manifest destiny . In short, this ideology consisted of the proposition that it was the natural fate of the United States to stretch from sea to shining sea, or to occupy all of the North American land from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans. This may seem rather obviously self-serving at the political level. As Scott has made clear, though, the ideology was actually rooted in real religious conviction:

But Manifest Destiny was not simply a cloak for American imperialism and a justification for America's territorial ambitions. It also was firmly anchored in a long standing and deep sense of a special and unique American Destiny. (paragraph 2)

In short, the American people of the time did in fact sincerely believe that they were called by God for a special purpose, in a not un-similar sense to how the people of Israel were called in such a way within the Bible . 

This ideology is necessary for understanding both the annexation of Texas in particular and the more general territorial conquest of Mexico in general. From the perspective of the ideology of manifest destiny, Mexico was standing in the way of the American fulfillment of the nation's divine mandate; and as such, Americans were not only justified in taking but also had a positive duty to take land from Mexico (Griswald de Castillo 31).

Mexico, incidentally, had been suffering fom major political instability since gaining their independence in 1824 . This began in an implicit way through Americans settling in the region of Texas, which after all was why Texas eventually switched hands from Mexico to the United States; and it proceeded in an explicit way over the course of the Mexican-American War , through which the United States sought to push its advantage to the fullest and essentially grab as much Mexican land as possible. This is why the Mexican-American War has also sometimes been called—and perhaps with greater objective accuracy—the Invasion of Mexico . 

The Mexican-American war and manifest destiny

In this context, whether one believes that the American rationale for war was justified would seem to hinge entirely on whether one does, in fact, believe in the proposition that the United States was fulfilling a divine mandate by going after Mexican land. Although in-line with creation myths from around the world , from a strictly secular and political perspective, such a move could only be called unscrupulous at best. However, the very nature of a religious belief is such that it makes little sense to a person standing outside the circle of belief.

The ancient Jews, for example, clearly believed that they as a people had a special calling from the Lord, with many of their political decisions hinging on this thoroughly religious premise; and of course, many people today still believe in the Bible and see nothing wrong with this state of affairs. Similarly, if one actually believes in manifest destiny, then there would seem to be nothing irrational or even immoral about the United States going for a land grab. Indeed, from that perspective, the truly immoral thing would have been to not do that and thereby fail to live up to the nation's divine mandate. 

This land is your land, this land is my land

Insofar as one rejects manifest destiny as a self-serving mythology, though, the only conclusion that could be drawn is the American decision to go after Mexican land was deeply immoral in nature. Moreover, it is also unclear whether that decision was fully justified by the contemporary law of the land within the United States itself. The issue of expansion and annexation in United States foreign policy is still a hot topic for debate today. For example, Baude has argued that it was probably unconstitutional for the United States to pursue the annexation of Texas:

A power to annex foreign territory is too important to be inferred through the Necessary and Proper Clause. Because the Constitution does not enumerate a congressional territorial-acquisition power, Congress therefore disregarded great-powers limitations in annexing Texas . . . through joint resolution" (paragraph 4).

However, this would be nothing new for the United States: President Jefferson had previously gone against even his own views on the Constitution in order to make the Louisiana Purchase from Napoleon. It would thus seem that the siren song of manifest destiny has always been too alluring for the United States to resist. 

Ongoing international implications from the Mexican-American war

From a present-day perspective, it would be easy for most to imagine that the United States has always geopolitically looked the way it does. But this is obviously far from the case. As the blogger, Sharp Iron has pointed out, the territories acquired by the United States as a result of the Mexican-American War include the current states of: Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and California.

Most present-day Americans have, with the nonchalance of the winner, likely forgotten about this. On the other hand, most present-day Mexicans probably still remember this, and it is probably an ongoing cause of resentment between the United States and Mexico—a resentment that confuses Americans, for the simple reason that they do not remember what it was all about. 

Moreover, it is worth considering whether the religiously inspired doctrine of Social Darwinism and manifest destiny is still alive and well within the present-day United States, except expanded to the global arena this time around. Since World War II and then the end of the Cold War , the United States has clearly emerged as the strongest nation on the planet; and the foreign policy of the United States clearly indicates that the nation aspires to a kind of global hegemony at not only the political but also the economic and the cultural levels.

It is not difficult to see the ongoing trace of the ideology of manifest destiny in this situation and in these aspirations. When the United States was still less than half of its current size, it was already dreaming of stretching all the way to the Pacific Ocean; and with the Mexican-American War , this dream came true. It would seem that the United States is still dreaming big in this regard. However, the current crisis within the presidential race would seem to raise questions about whether the United States does, in fact, have the material and cultural resources to continue on with this posture of greatness.   

In summary, the present sample essay has consisted of an overview and analysis of the Mexican-American War  written per the Ultius MLA-style guidelines for in-text citations . A key point that has been made here is that the American rationale for the conflict was strongly driven by the ideology of manifest destiny, and that whether one believes that the war was justified or not is likely to hinge on whether one is in fact a believer in this ideology of American exceptionality and greatness. Moreover, it has been suggested in this sample history essay that the implications of the Mexican-American War reach into the present day. This is true not only in terms of antagonism between Mexico and the United States but also in terms of the United States' ongoing belief in its own exceptionality and greatness. 

Like what you read? Check out this essay on Cesar Chavez , a Mexican-American civil rights activist and leader.

Works Cited

Baude, Will. "'Great Powers' and the Unconstitutionality of the Annexation of Texas and Hawaii." Washington Post . 22 Feb. 2015. Web. 7 Jun. 2016. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/02/22/great-powers-and-the- unconstitutionality-of-the-annexation-of-texas-and-hawaii/>. 

The Bible , King James Version. 

Griswald de Castillo, Richard. "Manifest Destiny: The Mexican-American War and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo." Sw. J.L. & Trade Am . 31.5 (1998): 31. Print. 

History. "1836: Texas Declares Independence." n.d. Web. 7 Jun. 2016. <http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/texas-declares-independence>. 

Minster, Christopher. "The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo." About Education , 15 Feb. 2016. Web. 7 Jun. 2016. <http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/Mexican-AmericanWar/p/The- Treaty-Of-Guadalupe-Hidalgo.htm>. 

PBS. "Battles of the War." U.S.-Mexican War 1846-1848. Author, n.d. Web. 7 Jun. 2016. <http://www.pbs.org/kera/usmexicanwar/war/entrance_to_city_of_mexico.html>. 

Scott, Donald M. "The Religious Origins of Manifest Destiny." National Humanities Center , n.d. Web. 7 Jun. 2016. <http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/nineteen/nkeyinfo/mandestiny.htm>. 

Sharp Iron. "Why in the World Would Mexicans Dislike the United States?" n.d. Web. 7 Jun. 2016. <https://sharpiron.wordpress.com/2011/03/03/why-in-the-world-would- mexicans-dislike-the-united-states/>.

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Lincoln’s Speech Against the American-Mexican War Essay

Background information on lincoln’s speech, the summary and aim of lincoln’s speech.

Abraham Lincoln is one of the most prominent US presidents of all time, occupying the post from 1861 to 1865. He earned this recognition as he successfully navigated one of the darkest events in the country’s history, the American Civil war, and was responsible for the abolishment of slavery. However, not many people know about Lincoln’s political career prior to becoming the president, during which he was not as popular amongst the citizens of the US. One prominent action of his that drew people’s disapproval was his speech in 1848 addressed to the president at the time, James K. Polk, criticizing the American-Mexican war that started two years prior. The purpose of this paper is to analyze Lincoln’s declaration in terms of its purpose and aim.

In 1848, Lincoln had been occupying a seat in the House of Representatives for two years and was representing the Whig political party. Despite having only recently started his career in politics, the future president took a strong stance against the American-Mexican war, outlining his criticism of the government’s actions in a speech. While the address begins with the words “Dear Chairman,” it is transparent that Lincoln meant for the recipient of his criticisms to be James K. Polk himself. In fact, there are many points in the speech, which specifically call out the US president, urging him to answer the posed questions [1][2] . However, as the address was public, Lincoln meant for regular citizens to be privy of his conclusions in terms of the American-Mexican war. As the general public’s opinion was split in the middle, he hoped to sway more people to his side. Lincoln’s stance on this issue was not received favorably by his political party, and his career in this area came to a brief halt until the 1850s.

The speech was written after the House of Representatives voted and passed an amendment that undermined Polk’s reasons for starting a war with Mexico. Lincoln had agreed with this decision, and in his speech, he promised to reverse his vote if the president would answer several questions [3] . Most of the inquiries were focused on the issue of the location of the first bloodshed. Polk had claimed that Mexican soldiers ruthlessly killed citizens on American soil, which was the grounds for waging war against them [4] . However, Lincoln believed that the location of this battle was never formally confirmed to be part of the US territories. He claimed that it was most likely part of the inhabited land, which was not under the jurisdiction of either country [5] . As such, the act of reiterating the first bloodshed as the reason for starting the war, as Polk had been doing in every address, was strongly criticized by Lincoln. Another part of the speech questions the duration of the fight with Mexico, which was initially promised to last no more than four months.

In order to obtain the truth, Lincoln urged the president to answer all of his questions. He put much emphasis on the responsibility of the president of the country to tell its citizens the truth and reminds Polk that he sits in the seat that Washington had once occupied [6] . While Lincoln promised to reverse his vote, it is evident that he was confident in his stance as he was openly invalidating the president’s reasons for starting a war. As such, the true aim of the address was most likely to make Polk take responsibility for his words and admit to lying to further his own agenda.

While Lincoln’s decision to speak out against the American-Mexican war resulted in him halting his political career for some years, this act proved to be a good indicator of his time as a president. In this address, one can see the future leader of the US’ oratory skills and critical thinking. Additionally, Lincoln’s respect for the presidential post and the responsibilities it entails are apparent as he criticizes Polk for not taking his position seriously enough.

Lincoln, Abraham. 2016. “Speech in United States House of Representatives: The War with Mexico” (Speech, 1848). House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College . Web.

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IvyPanda. (2022, September 6). Lincoln’s Speech Against the American-Mexican War. https://ivypanda.com/essays/lincolns-speech-against-the-american-mexican-war/

"Lincoln’s Speech Against the American-Mexican War." IvyPanda , 6 Sept. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/lincolns-speech-against-the-american-mexican-war/.

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IvyPanda . 2022. "Lincoln’s Speech Against the American-Mexican War." September 6, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/lincolns-speech-against-the-american-mexican-war/.

1. IvyPanda . "Lincoln’s Speech Against the American-Mexican War." September 6, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/lincolns-speech-against-the-american-mexican-war/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Lincoln’s Speech Against the American-Mexican War." September 6, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/lincolns-speech-against-the-american-mexican-war/.

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Home / Essay Samples / Sociology / Mexican / The History Of The Mexican War

The History Of The Mexican War

• Category: Sociology , War
• Topic: Mexican , Mexican War

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