Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Mexican War 1846-1848
Causes of the Mexican War
Manifest Destiny
Annexation of Texas
Slavery
Economics
Dispute over the Rio Grande Border
What is the controversy over Texas?
Texas Annexation
Texas declared their independence in 1836, which Mexico did not recognize
Texas Annexation
Texas asked Jackson and Van Buren to annex them, they refused. Why?
Tyler was leaving office in and he agreed. Why?
February 1845 Congress approved the Texas Annexation
Problem of Texas
The Republic of Texas hoped annexation would solve the republic’s financial & military problems
Texas becomes the 28th state in December of 1845.
Mexico reacts by cutting off all diplomatic ties with the U.S.
Slavery was a key issue in the case of Texas and the Mexican War
• Enforcement of Mexico’s law on slavery was a cause of the Texas revolt
• Slavery was major issue in annexation debate
Other factors that were unrelated to slavery
• Ambition to acquire California—land and sea ports
• Gadsden Purchase—railroads
War Powers of the President
1827 Martin v Mott - Constitutional for Congress to vest the
president with the discretionary authority to decide whether an emergency has arisen and to raise a militia to meet such a threat of invasion or civil insurrection.
Did such a threat exist in winter of 1845-46?
Boundary Dispute
Texas and U.S. claim that the Rio Grande marks the southern border of Texas
Mexican government rejects this idea and argues that the real southern border is the Nueces River
Nueces River boundaryRio Grande boundary
Steps to War
June 1845- President Polk ordered General Zachary Taylor to take U.S. troops into disputed border region
Polk claims this action is to protect Texas from possible Mexican attack
Steps to War
Meanwhile, Polk sent diplomat John Slidell to Mexico City to negotiate the purchase California & New Mexico for $30 million
Mexican officials refused to meet with Slidell
John Slidell
Steps to War
March 1846 – General Taylor’s troops made camp at the Rio Grande in disputed territory
April 1846 – Mexican commander insisted U.S. troops must leave area and Taylor refused to move
Mexican forces crossed the Rio Grande and attacked a group of 63 U.S. soldiers
11 Americans killed
Steps to War
May 11, 1846 – Polk addressed CongressHe declared that “Mexico has shed American
blood upon the American soil.”Two days later Congress declared war on
MexicoWar Votes:
House: 174-14 and Senate:40-2
Support of the War
Many people who supported the war believed it would spread republican values—what are they?
Many southerners supported the war, thinking any territory won would be organized into slave states
For many Americans the war led to greater national pride—thousands of young men rushed to volunteer
Support of the War
“Yes: Mexico must be thoroughly chastised!...Let our arms now be carried with a spirit which shall teach the world that, we are not forward for a quarrel, America knows how to crush, as well as how to expand!”-Walt Whitman
“The universal Yankee nation can regenerate and disenthrall the people of Mexico in a few years; and we believe it is a part of our destiny to civilize that beautiful country.”—NY Herald
“(The Mexicans are yielding) to a superior population, insensibly oozing into her territories, changing her customs, and out living, out-trading, exterminating her weaker blood.”—American Review
“Shall this garden of beauty (California) be suffered to lie dormant in its wild and useless luxuriance?...myriads of enterprising Americans would flock to its rich and inviting prairies; the hum of Anglo-American industry would be heard in its valleys;…and the resources of wealth of the nation be increased in an incalculable degree.”—Illinois State Register
Opposition to the War
Many members of the Whig Party thought the conflict was unjustified
Northern abolitionists feared any territory gained in the war might be organized into slave states
Illinois Congressman Abraham Lincoln wrote the “Spot Resolutions” in 1848– asking Polk to show the spot where American blood had been shed on American soil
Famous Opposition
Tom Corwin of Ohio accused Polk of involving the US in a war of aggression.
Daniel Webster: Doubts about the constitutionality of Polk’s action, believed that Congress had not been adequately consulted.
Henry David Thoreau: refused to pay $1.00 poll tax because he believed that the war was an immoral advancement of slavery.
John Quincy Adams: described war as a southern expedition to find “bigger pens to cram with slaves.”
Charles Sumner: a noted abolitionist, also condemned the war from pacifist principles.
Quote from a Freshman Representative
“If to say “the war was unnecessarily and unconstitutionally commenced by the President” be opposing to war, then the Whigs have very generally opposed it. . . . The marching an army into the midst of a peaceful Mexican settlement, frightening the inhabitants away, leaving their growing crops and other property to destruction, to you may appear a perfectly amiable , peaceful, unprovoking procedure; but does not appear so to us…..”
Abraham Lincoln, April 1846, Speech in the House of Representatives
Mexican War
Polk sets precedent for Presidents in war
Three Theaters of the WarNorthern Mexico Gen. Zachary TaylorBattle of MonterreyBattle of Buena Vista
New Mexico- CaliforniaCol. Stephen KearneyGen. John C. FremontBear Flag Republic-CA
Central MexicoGen. Winfield ScottBattle of Vera CruzBattle of Mexico City
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)
Mexico: 1) Gave up NM, CA and AR
2) Recognize the Rio Grande as the Border
USA: 1) Pay Mexico $15 million
2) Pay all outstanding debt between
owed to Mexico--$3.5 Million
Ends the war, but no one is really happy:
President Polk wanted more land, the Whigs thought we took too much land.
The Results of the Mexican War
• Get 1 Million sq miles for $118.5 Mill• 13,000 Americans killed (1,800 in battle, 11,200 from disease).
• Trained soldiers for the Civil War
How did the Mexican War start the nation on the Road to the Civil War?
Issue of Slavery is raised again!
Wilmot Proviso ---Beginning in 1846 it stated that slavery
should not be allowed in any territory acquired from Mexico.
--While it never passed, the Wilmot Proviso provided a well-defined proposal that allowed the free-soil forces to attract thousands of followers.
Southern Manifest Destiny in the 1850’s
South wants to gain more land for slavery
• Ostend Manifesto-Cuba• Walker Expedition-Nicaragua• Clayton-Bulwer Treaty-Panama Canal
Review Questions
What were the reasons for American Expansion?
Who specifically was in favor of this? Opposed?
What was controversial about the Texas annexation?
What were the problem(s) between Texas and Mexico?
How did Polk win the Election of 1844?What were his goals?What issues were involved with the Oregon
Territory?What were the factors that led to the Mexican
War?Who specifically was in favor of the war?
Opposed?
