[pic] The holiday of Cinco De Mayo, is celebrated on the 5th of May, which commemorates the victory of the Mexican military over the French army at The Battle Of Puebla in 1862. It is primarily a regional holiday celebrated in the Mexican state capital city of Puebla and throughout the state of Puebla, with some limited recognition in other parts of Mexico, and especially in United States cities with a significant Mexican population.The battle at Puebla in 1862 had happened at a very violent and chaotic time in Mexico's history. Mexico had finally gained independence from Spain in 1821 after a difficult and bloody struggle, and a number of internal political takeovers and wars, including the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) and the Mexican Civil War of 1858, which had ruined the national economy.During this period of struggle, Mexico had accumulated heavy debts to several nations, including Spain, England and France, who were demanding repayment. When Mexico had finally stopped making any loan payments, France had took action on its own to install Napoleon III's relative, Archduke Maximilian of Austria, as ruler of Mexico. The french army were marching on toward Mexico City, when they had encountered a strong resistance near Puebla at the Mexican forts of Loreto and Guadalupe.
The Battle of the Alamo took place between February 23 and March 6, 1836. The battle consisted of a thirteen day siege proceeding an all out attack from the Alamo Mission near what is now San Antonio, Texas. The battle left an estimated 300 of the Mexican forces killed or wounded and just two of the Republic of Texas surviving. I believe that this battle really helped to cement the idea of secession into the minds of the Texians and pushed them to revolt. President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the president of Mexico at the time, started to move the governmental system of Mexico towards a dictatorship.
At the time of the Mexican War, two American generals would emerge as having the vast majority of responsibility for the fighting at hand. Both generals, Winfield Scott and Zachary Taylor, were well respected leaders but polar opposites when it came to war fighting strategies. Throughout the war both generals fought their style of campaign, but in the end it would be General Scott who captured the glory in his campaign to capture the Mexican capital of Mexico City. The campaign for Mexico City was one that held interest too many, including the Duke of Wellington. The Duke, having interest in military conquest, followed the exploits of the American Army engaged in the Mexican War.
He was a strong believer of Manifest Destiny. He thought it was God’s plan to expand American territory all the way to the Pacific. He not only wanted Texas but also California. Congress voted to annex Texas and Polk sent troops to guard the disputed border. The Mexicans thought that the Nueces River was the border but the U.S thought the border was Rio Grande.
Hidalgo sparked a bloody ten year war that ended over 300 years of colonial rule, thus achieving the initial intent (history.com The Struggle for Mexican Independence). The beginning of Brazil’s independence were a lot less chaotic than the movements in other Latin American colonies, but were still a difficult time. In 1807, Portuguese prince Dom Joao (also called John VI) sailed to Brazil for refuge from Napoleon. He brought many reforms that pleased the people of Brazil. These included getting rid of Portuguese monopoly on Brazil’s trade market, opening up
” After repeated menaces, Mexico has passed the boundary of the United States, has invaded our territory and shed American blood upon the American soil…” This is a quote from chapter one, also it’s a war message that wrote by President Polk. This has already explained that the invading from Mexico is one of the reasons for staring the war. Also, manifest destiny is another important reason for the war. President Polk wanted to expand the boundary of Untied States. He vowed to bring California under the United States control.
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.
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
Traditional history holds that the South was defeated by overwhelming Union manpower and resources. That same history states that the South only lasted as long as it did (four years) because of the brilliance of the South’s (and even America’s) greatest general, Robert E. Lee (Thomas, 1995). The fact is the South could have won the Civil War. History shows many wars have been won by the weaker opponent. The American Revolution demonstrated that a vastly inferior American army (with no Navy) was able to outlast and when needed decisively fight and beat the most powerful army (English) in the world.
After America took land from Mexico in the Mexican American war of 1848 it decided to economically dominate the rest of Mexico's land. With the threat of further military invasion, the U.S. offered Mexico's leaders a piece of the pie in return for allowing the US takeover of the Mexican economy (Gonzales, 2000). Under US influence, the Mexican government took land away from its peasants and sold it to US investors who in turn built railroads to transport the natural resources of Mexico to the U.S. (Gonzales, 2000). Soon the US controlled not only the politics of Mexico but the economy as well. With the thousands of landless peasants, and new job openings due to the railroads being built northward, a northern migration soon developed within