The boundary between Mexico and Texas was undecided, however Mexico said it was the Nueces River and the U.S said it was Rio Grande. At this point it was clear that the United Stated was provoking the Mexican army into fighting. As Polk’s Army entered Mexican territory they were attacked and 16 were killed. (Background Essay) President Polk used this as an excuse to persuade Congress to declare war against Mexico. However, according to Jesus Velasco-Marquez, in the eyes of Mexicans, the American troops were trespassing and therefore the Mexican government was bound to protect their borders.
There were many factors that helped the growth of The British Empire such as early settlers and trading companies, however the Navigation Acts rapidly accelerated the success of the trading companies therefore expanding The British Empire. The Navigation Acts were a set of laws that kept trade in the hands of the British; this gave them ultimate power over most trade and gained them a lot of wealth and thus success. Government and war played a significant role in the growth of the British Empire which gave them more power such as the EIC winning a number of sea battles against the Dutch which granted another firmum which gave the company more effective trading. Trading companies helped the growth of the British Empire, as without these, there would have been no income, meaning Britain couldn’t gain more land and secure more footholds. The trading companies played a significant role in triggering the Navigation Acts, but it was the acts themselves that put trade in the hands of the British.
BRITISH MERCANTILE POLICY AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION Historians have debated the influence of Britain’s mercantile policy in the coming of the American Revolution. In my opinion, I think it was not a causal factor in the causing the war. Far from causing harm, the Navigation Acts brought enormous benefits to Americans, who did not object to mercantilist policies As we all know, mercantilism was formed in West Europe during the 15th and 16th century. The early mercantilists pursued the increase of the precious metals as currency in their own country. The requirement was to buy fewer foreign products but sell more of their own goods in order to achieve the purpose of maximizing the accumulation of precious metals.
However not all Americans believed the U.S should become an imperialist country. The Filipinos wanted freedom and annexation violated consent of the governed. Fighting broke out Emilio Aguinaldo appointed himself president of the Philippine Republic. The Filipinos did not fight conventionally; they were not skilled enough in battle, so they engaged in guerrilla warfare.it became a longer and costlier conflict than the one in Spain. The U.S is not justified in annexing the Philippines and fighting a war to keep it because it was just a chance to exploit people and land to earn power and prestige.
The author was not present in the society of the book, he only wrote about the sequence of events. This affects the source because we might not know if what happened was actually true. It seems as if the author’s intention was to inform people about the invasion of Mexico. The audience is the people of Mexico (book was originally written in Spanish) The bias that the conquest of Mexico was Brutal. Leon-Portilla is a reliable source as he was a credited anthropologist and historian.
After reading the Texas Declaration of Independence and the rebuttal to it, I feel that Texas has presented the more convincing arguments. Texas provides a variety of supportive arguments on why they want to become independent from Mexico. Texas gives many examples of different ways Mexico is trying to take over their land. Texas refers to themselves as “an instrument in the hands of evil rulers.” (117) Texas and Mexico both sworn to support the federal republican constitution of their country, but it no longer had a important existence, due to the Mexican nation forcibly changing the whole nature of their government without giving Texas any consent. Texas argues that the Mexican General Santa Anna made late changes in the government and overturned the constitution that both states originally had agreed upon.
In colonial times, the earliest interactions between the Native Americans and the European settlers lead to different relationships between the two groups. But more often than not, the relationship wound up being negative, especially for the Native Americans. Two areas with negative relationships were the American southwest, controlled by the Spanish, and the Chesapeake Bay area, controlled by the English. In the southwest, as the settlers came into contact with the Native Americans, they became convinced that their every aspect was superior to the Native Americans. The main reason the Spaniards even bothered to interact with the Native Americans was to achieve their main goal in America, to find gold and other valuables.
Mexican War of Independence An article written by Jesus F. de la Teja, "MEXICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE," Handbook of Texas Online depicts the series of events that took place to end the Spanish rule in Mexico. There are many causes of the revolution of Mexico, some of the causes being the lack of political stability and economic reasons. Another cause of the Mexican revolution was the exploitation and mistreatment of the poor. The middle class unable to own land due to not having any wealth contributed to the political instability. Father Michael Hidalgo is considered an important figure in the history of Mexican Independence as he is the one to begin the rebellion against bad government and Spaniards.
"The Mexican Revolution was a real revolution," Fuentes said, adding that Mexicans gained "national self-knowledge" and a "discovery of cultural continuity which had never been fully recognized in the political and economic history of the country." Fuentes also said that the revolution allowed Mexico to have social justice and maintain national unity against U.S. pressure. Despite the gains from the revolution, Fuentes pointed out that much had yet to be done to strengthen Mexico, such as integrating minority groups into the population and creating more job
Thanks to these connections and his fluency in Spanish, Trist gained the position as the United State’s Emissary to Mexico during the Mexican-American War. Although Nicholas Trist secured a favorably peace treaty with Mexico, and in turn almost doubled the size of the U.S., Trist was a man forgotten by the country and by many historians despite his perseverance and accomplishment in one of the most productive and misunderstood diplomatic assignments in U.S. History. When Trist was recalled prematurely from Mexico, Trist instead stayed to finish the treaty to avoid missing what he knew was a enormous opportunity for the U.S. Not only did Trist realize the importance of seizing the moment but he succeeded in settling a treaty with Mexico which included nearly everything Polk had ask for. For these tremendous achievements one would think Nicholas Trist would be greatly revered until his death and go down in history, but instead Trist was dismissed in disgrace from government service and denied pay for his work in Mexico after his official recall. Trist was Recalled In November of 1847 about seven months in Mexico.