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.
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 Duke, having interest in military conquest, followed the exploits of the American Army engaged in the Mexican War. He became keenly interested in the exploits of General Scott, and according to For the common defense: A Military History of the United States from 1607 to 2012 (3rd Edition) (2012), when learning that Scott had abandoned both his supply and communication lines in the early part of August of 1847, to push towards Mexico City, stated the opinion, “Scott is lost…. he can’t take the city, and he can’t fall back upon his base.” (p. 139). Scott and his Army was however not lost, and when the campaign ended he had pulled off an amazing victory which according to For the common defense: A Military History of the United States from 1607 to 2012 (3rd Edition) (2012), gave rise to the Duke of Wellington exclaiming that Scott was “the greatest living soldier”, and “urged young English officers to study the Veracruz-Mexico City campaign”, which he considered “unsurpassed in military annals.” (p. 140). What exactly was it about this campaign that would later have military leaders and historians calling it “one of the finest in the annals of American warfare”.
Also the book gives us another perspective about what really happen during the whole Mexican Independence and also how the United States considered itself superior in many ways to Mexico and other Latin American countries. Henderson examines several factors that explain why Mexicans permitted that the United States took its land, apparently he make us think that it was because the United States ambitions to become a powerful nation. I think that this book explains very well the reason why Mexico went to war with the United States and we can conclude that it was because Mexico was suffering very political troubles, also because Mexicans didn’t have the economical resources to success, in other words they were very weak. Finally we can see that even thought there has passed a lot of time since the Mexican and American war happened some struggles still going on in Mexico while the United States ambition still
The United states kept a contingent force in Nicaragua until 1925. The reason why the United States did this was because,” served as a reminder of the willingness of the United States to use force and its desire to keep conservative governments in power” (Tim Merrill). There were other reasons for invading Nicaragua like for their waterways, and to make sure other countries couldn’t decide to invade them for their resources which were not broadcasted to the public because this would shed light on the ambitious and imperialist motives of the government. In 1927 Augusto Sandino leads guerrilla fighters into a 5½ year war against the US because of their occupation in Nicaragua, but surrendered in
In the year of 1810, México had an influence from United States and France so they began to think in the idea of fight against the Spanish. In that time, a King of Spain was governing but he had many unfair laws because he gave all the power to the rich people of Spain instead of the people that were born in Mexico, especially the Mexican Indians, they were exploited. A priest, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla and his officers were arming a conspiracy against Spanish so they decided to fight in the fall of that year but then Hidalgo received a letter from Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez, the owner of the house where they were planning the revolt in Queretaro, and she told him that the Spanish caught them and that now they knew their plans so Hidalgo decided to anticipate the fight. He gathered many persons as he could in his church so he made an army of 50,000 persons. Miguel Hidalgo rang the bell of the
Juárez was arrested and when he was released from prison he went to Guanajuato, made himself president and declared war. Juárez and Zuloaga fought over the role of religion for awhile before the U.S. eventually intervened and sided with Juárez. The war was now in the favor of the liberals and when the war ended in 1861, Juárez returned to Mexico City as president on January 1. Mexico still owed large debts to Britain, Spain, and France and in late 1861 the three nations united and went to Mexico to collect. Complications in negotiations convinced the British and Spanish to leave but the French stayed.
The Underdogs Throughout history when the people of an established society are upset with the government there is always pattern of reform. This was the case for the Demetrio and his band of rebels during the Mexican Revolution which began as united movement against the three decades of authoritarian leaders such as Porfirio Diaz, Francisco Madero, and finally Victoriano Huerta. However, Demetrio and his band did not set out for reform because of the same reasons. Each member of the group had a different reason that they wanted change within the Mexican government. Nevertheless, the purpose of Demetrio and his band of rebels was to get rid of authoritarian rule and make Mexico more like democratic America, but instead they lose track of what
ASSASINATION OF JOHN F KENNEDY On 21 November 1963, President Kennedy, accompanied by the First Lady, travelled to Texas, where he was scheduled to make a number of appearances in a bid to drum up support for the Democratic Party prior to the 1964 general election. Not everyone, however, was convinced of the wisdom of such a journey. Some White House officials, worried that the President would receive a hostile reception from voters in what was a staunchly Republican State, advised against it. But characteristically, Kennedy rebuffed their concerns, insisting that a trip to ‘nut country’ was necessary. He reportedly said to Jackie: ‘if somebody wants to shoot me, nobody can stop it, so why worry about it The following day, 22 November 1963, at 12.30pm, President Kennedy was travelling in an open top car through the streets of Dallas when three loud rifle shots rang through the air, apparently shot from the sixth floor of the nearby Book Depository building.
Taking a leap in space and time, you will debate the moral and political implications of Brown's raid in the voice of historical characters, circa 1859-1860. For additional overviews and perspectives: Re-evaluating John Brown's Raid, by Karen Whitman (from West Virginia History) John Brown, 1800-1859 (Territorial Kansas Online at the University of Kansas) John Brown's Holy War (The American Experience/PBS) John Brown's Raid (Shotgun's Home of the American Civil War, a site constructed by an amateur Civil War and Confederate history buff) *Republican politicians, including Abraham Lincoln, made a point of publicly distancing themselves from Brown's Harper's Ferry Raid and tactics. In his famous Cooper Union speech on February 27, 1860, Lincoln asserted: You charge that we stir up insurrections among your slaves. We deny it: and what is your proof? Harper's Ferry!