Mexican-American+War

The Mexican-American war was an armed war started in 1846, when the United States annexed Texas. It ended with the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo signed February 2, 1848. The Mexican-American War was the first major conflict driven by the idea of "Manifest Destiny"; the belief that America had a God-given right, or destiny, to expand the country's borders from 'sea to shining sea'. This belief would eventually cause a great deal of suffering for many Mexicans, Native Americans and United States citizens. Following the earlier Texas War of Independence from Mexico, tensions between the two largest independent nations on the North American continent grew as Texas eventually became a U.S. state. Disputes over the border lines sparked military confrontation, helped by the fact that President Polk eagerly sought a war in order to seize large tracts of land from Mexico.

Cause The causes of the Mexican-American War can be traced back to Texas winning its independence from Mexico in 1836. After the end of the war, Mexico refused to acknowledge the new Republic of Texas, but was prevented from taking military action due to the United States, Great Britain, and France conferring diplomatic recognition. For the next nine years, many in Texas favored joining the United States, however Washington did not take action due to fears of increasing sectional conflict and angering the Mexicans.

Thornton Affair

On the evening of April 25, 1846, while leading 70 US Dragoons to investigate a hacienda in the disputed territory between the rivers, Captain Seth Thornton stumbled upon a force of 2,000 Mexican soldiers. A fierce firefight ensued and 16 of Thornton’s men were killed before the remainder was forced to surrender. On May 11, 1846, Polk, citing the Thornton Affair asked Congress to declare war on Mexico. After two days of debate Congress voted for war—not knowing that the conflict had already escalated.

Famous Battles All famous battles could be found here. []

Here is a map of where the fighting took place. []



Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed on February 2, 1848 by American diplomat Nicholas Trist, ended the war and gave the U.S undisputed control of Texas, established the United States–Mexican border of the Rio Grande River and ceded more than forty two percent of its pre-war territories to the United States. California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Wyoming were given to the U.S. In return, Mexico received $15,000,000. This exchange is known as the Mexican Cession. Mexicans living in the conquered lands were given the option of returning to Mexico or staying and become American citizens. Part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hildago, notably Article X, was struck from the treaty before it was ratified by the United States Senate. These articles had promised that the United States would recognize Mexican and Spanish land grants.

Five years later, negotiations began to complete the purchase of what is modern day Arizona and New Mexico. The Gadsden Purchase provided for the payment by the United States of $10,000,000 to the Mexican Government for more than 29,000 square miles. By contrast the Mexican Cession yielded approximately 554,000 square miles.

Results

Mexico lost more than 500,000 square miles of land, almost half of its territory. The annexed territories contained about 1,000 Mexican families in California and 7,000 in New Mexico. A few moved back to Mexico; the great majority remained and became U.S. citizens. In much of the United States, victory and the acquisition of new land brought a surge of patriotism (the country had also acquired the southern half of the Oregon Country in 1846 through a treaty with Great Britain). Victory seemed to fulfill citizens' belief in their country's Manifest Destiny. While Whig [|Ralph Waldo Emerson] rejected war "as a means of achieving America's destiny," he accepted that "most of the great results of history are brought about by discreditable means." Although the Whigs had opposed the war, they made Taylor their presidential candidate in the election of 1848, praising his military performance while muting their criticism of the war itself. Sources [] [] [] Pictures provided by Wikipedia By Danny Ortiz, and Alex Loya ﻿ AbPsUdKo Rawr