What Caused The Mexican American War

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The Mexican American War was the first war that the United States primarily fought on foreign soil of which led to great amounts of bloodshed at the detriment of Mexico. The United States originally provoked the war as U.S. president James K. Polk set his eyes on expanding west as he believed in “Manifest Destiny”. The War was a result of the United States Annexation of Texas. Texas was its own Republic from 1836 through 1845 after winning it war for Independence. Mexico although never recognized its independence while the United States did recognize Texas as a sovereign country in 1837 but it did decline to annex the territory. Mexico originally permitted a few hundred Americans to move into its territories of which settled in some areas of Texas and New Mexico. It was the Austin Family who originally asked Mexico for permission to create an American colony in the heart of Texas. Mexico granted the permission with the condition that they would all learn Spanish, converted to Catholicism, and they were officially Mexican citizens. All of this eventually led to the Mexican American War and changed the history of the United States and Mexico forever. In September 1836 Texas held a vote on a possible annexation of itself to the United States of which it voted tremendously in favor of. The Texas Minister in Washington D.C. proposed annexation to the Martin Van Buren administration in August 1837, the minister was told that the proposition wouldn’t pass due to the fear of war with Mexico and antislavery politicians from the north feared that adding another slave state would shift the power in congress to slave states. In 1838 Texas reversed its annexation offer. Great Britain was opposed to the annexation of Texas to the United States and had considered using force to ensure that it didn’t happen. …show more content…
The British didn’t want to add Texas to the British Empire, but they did want to halt the westward expansion of the United States, secure commercial advantages from Texas Trade, and they wanted to mess with the tradition of slavery.2 President John Tyler decided that it was important for Texas refrain from becoming a satellite of Great Britain and proposed annexation. This attempt at annexation failed once again when it was rejected by the U.S. senate in June 1844. President John Tyler was worried that the annexation of Texas needed to occur soon if Texas were to remain out of British influence so he suggested that annexation would occur only in a joint resolution in which Texas would be awarded Statehood on certain conditions. In February 28, 1845, the United States Congress passed the annexation resolution and Andrew Jackson Donelson went to Texas to support its approval. October 1845 the Texas State Constitution was ratified by popular vote and accepted by the U.S. in December 29, 1845. 2 In order to instigate conflict with Mexico, President Polk told Zachary Taylor’s army in Corpus Christie to march to the Rio Grande River which was well passed the Nueces River boundary that was tolerated by the Mexican government. Mexico viewed this as an act of war and on April 25, Mexican troops at Matamoros crossed the river and trapped a U.S. patrol. Polk used this instance as a way to secure a declaration of war on May 13 on the foundation that Mexico shed American blood on American soil. 3,700 Mexicans under General Mariano Arista in the Battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma were defeated on May 9 by a 2,200 man army commanded by Taylor. 11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 Originally the American strategy required that U.S. ships would create a blockade of the Mexican coast and seizing control of the northern Mexican states with the belief that these acts would lead to an appropriate compromise on territorial boundaries. Strengthened by an enormous body of volunteers, President Taylor took over Monterrey in September and declared a ceasefire with General Arista. Colonel John Coffee Hays’ Texas Mounted Rifles played a huge role in taking the city’s defenses. Polk rejected the ceasefire causing Taylor to rush out down south to Saltillo and east to Victoria. Another force under General John E Wool headed to Chihuahua from San Antonio to threaten it but ended up joining Taylor.

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