Mexican War Dbq Analysis

The United States had strong supporters and equally strong critics when entering the war with Mexico in 1846. After Mexico declared its independence from Spain in 1821, Texas decided to declare its independence from Mexico. In 1844, President Polk worked to annex Texas, even though Mexico threatened that they would declare war on the United States if that action were to occur. Polk ignored this and Texas was annexed. At first, both countries disputed over proper borderlines: Texas and the United States believed that the Rio Grande was the proper border between Mexico and Texas; Mexico believed that the Nueces River was the proper border. However, several more ideas to the anger between the countries began to develop: religion, slavery, etc. Nonetheless, America was not justified in going to war with Mexico because Mexico had warned the United States of what actions they would take if Texas was annexed, some Americans saw the war as wrong and unnecessary, American strategies were imperialistic, and Polk used unfair tactics in getting Congress to agree with war.
Although, there are some accounts that could help justify the United States in going to war with Mexico, they also oppose it. John O’Sullivan felt pleased and believed …show more content…
Invasion.” From Mexico’s point of view, the annexation of Texas to the United States was unacceptable; they didn’t consider it valid. So when Texas and the United States signed a treaty, in the eyes of Mexico, that action was considered a declaration of war – especially after issuing that they did not want Texas to be a part of the United States. Jesus Velasco-Marquez refers to when Polk sent troops into the disputed territory and says that to the Mexican government, it seemed that Polk was provoking them with an invasion. As a result, the Mexicans insisted in protecting themselves and their land, leading to battles between both armies. This idea supports the previous paragraph. (Document