In 1846 the United States declared war against Mexico. The U.S wanted to spread west and follow Manifest Destiny but in doing that they took Texas away from Mexico. After annexing Texas, slavery was brought into the U.S. The United States under the leadership of President Polk clearly provoked Mexico into attacking US troops on the disputed border. These are all reasons that the U.S had no business starting a war with Mexico for territory that was legally theirs.
Not only was this false, Americans and politicians who were anti-slavery overlooked this because spreading what they considered America’s good qualities was more important to them and they wanted to follow Monroe’s Doctrine. Expanding west into the Oregon Territory was thought to be a necessity for America by many politicians of the time. Document B shows how the American Government thought it necessary secure its share of the Oregon Territory from Britain making the boundary line between Britain and America in the Oregon Territory at the 49th parallel. The Oregon Treaty of 1846 proves that not
Although President Polk’s message was ratified by the Senate and House, the United States reason for war wasn’t good enough for them go to war with Mexico. The U.S. was not justified for three reasons: There was a territorial dispute, the U.S. provoked the war, and it was used to expand slavery. My first reason why the U.S. was not justified is that there was a territorial dispute between America and Mexico on where the border was. According to Document Hook, General Zachary Taylor and his troops purposely moved across the known border into the disputed border, as if they were trying to get a reason to start a war with Mexico. According to Documents C and Background, Polk ordered the troops to enter the disputed area, and after they were attacked by the Mexicans, he used them to get America fired up and give them a reason to go to war.
The Mexican cession disrupted the balance, which suggests that the Missouri compromise wasn’t successful in minimalizing divisions between north and south. As it could be argued that the compromise actually avoided the issue that caused division in the first place when the debate about the territories gained in the Mexican war should be free soil or slave state. The Missouri compromise was successful because its aim was to maintain the free soil/slave state balance in congress as the north feared the southern majority in congress would vote to the expansion of slavery and the south feared that northern majority in congress would vote to abolish slavery. By using the idea that for every free state, there is a slave state, there is a balance in congress. For example the free soil states were Maine, Michigan, Iowa and Louisiana and the slaves states were Missouri, Arkansas, Florida and Texas.
The Fugitive Slave Act increased the tension between the North and South. Impassioned northern abolitionists, strongly against the Fugitive Slave Act and slavery, revolted against this southern sought rule and dispatched warnings for the slave fugitives (Doc. C). Among the turmoil that began to befall America, any more conflicts would make the south vulnerable to secession from the union. A freesoiler did not approve of the expansion of slavery but did not mind keeping
The Missouri Compromise created a geographical boundary that separated which states were to legalize slavery and which would not (Doc F). This line represented a huge conflict between the two halves of the nation that would eventually influence the start of the Civil War. Another detriment of the Era of Good Feelings was the economic crisis that hurt the entire nation. This economic crisis was caused by two factors: Congress’s decisions and the Second National Bank. Congress increased tariffs on imports to reduce the competition for domestic goods, but this decision hurt the farmers in the south (Doc A).
Meanwhile, President Polk had not been successful in his negotiations with Mexico to acquire California, so he began looking for a way to start a war without being seen as the aggressor. In 1846 he sent a unit of American soldiers into the disputed territory, which Mexico interpreted an invasion, and the bloodshed that followed resulted in a declaration of war by congress. Mr. Polk had gotten his war. The
Hence, Massachusetts and eight other states passed personal liberty laws which stated that state officials could not in any way assist in the capturing of fugitive slaves. Then under the James K. Polk administration, the Mexican-American war began in 1846 where the United States army captured Mexico. Causing more tension than the war itself, the Wilmot Proviso really got under the skin of the southerners. The Wilmot Proviso said that slavery was not allowed in newly acquired Mexico. Since it was a federal bill, the south, of course, blocked this bill which escalated the tensions as high as they had ever been before.
President Polk, a believer in the Manifest Destiny, provoked a war with Mexico in order to obtain more territory. At the conclusion of the war with Mexico, in 1848, the United States had obtained New Mexico, California, and Texas north of the Rio Grande from the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. A conflict arose between the Northerners and Southerners to decide whether the states should be free states of slave states. “The Treaty did nothing to settle the question of slavery in the new territory, however. Mexico had abolished the institution two decades earlier; would the United States reintroduce it?
Sometimes, we even begin to wonder whether God thinks that way about us too.” (Groody, 5) Therefore, Mexicans at this time are compelled to feel inferior to the Yankees. For the Yankees not only instilled fear to the Mexicans, but undermined their status as human beings. Racial stereotypes of Mexican Americans began during the American-Mexican war in the mid 19th century. The United States went to war with Mexico over disputed territory on the Texas border. For Americans believed all of North America belonged to them.