Mexican–American War

Examples of Mexican–American War in the following topics:

• The Breakdown of Sectional Balance

  • The Mexican–American War was a source of conflict in the 1840s, compounding the sectional divides that already split political coalitions.
  • The Mexican–American War was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846-1848 (following the U.S. annexation of Texas), which ended in U.S. victory.
  • The war also inflamed the slavery issue and sectional splits in the United States.The new territories in the west (particularly California) meant that the westward expansion of slavery became an increasingly central and heated theme in national debates preceding the American Civil War.Furthermore, in extending the nation farther toward the Pacific Ocean, the Mexican–American War contributed to the massive migrations of Americans to the West, which culminated in transcontinental railroads and the Indian wars later in the same century.
  • Map of the Mexican-American War, with routes of both Taylor and Scott's campaigns.
  • Examine the role that the Mexican American War played in increasing sectional tension

• Victory in Mexico

  • American victory in the Mexican–American war yielded huge acquisition of land and increased domestic tensions over slavery.
  • While the Mexican–American War marked a significant point for the nation as a growing military power, it also served as a milestone especially within the U.S. narrative of manifest destiny.
  • In doing much to extend the nation from coast to coast, the Mexican–American War was one step in the massive westward migrations of Americans, which culminated in transcontinental railroads and the Indian wars later in the same century.
  • The first page of the handwritten Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican–American War.
  • Identify the territories that the United States acquired at the end of the Mexican–American War

• The Mexican Borderlands

  • Mexico and the Republic of Texas engaged in an ongoing border dispute for several years that eventually led to the Mexican-American War.
  • This quickly led to the Mexican-American War, during which the U.S. captured additional territory (known as the Mexican Cession of 1848), extending the nation's borders all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
  • Taylor moved into Texas, ignoring Mexican demands to withdraw.
  • The Mexican government regarded this action as a violation of its sovereignty.

• The Mexican–American War, 1846–1848

  • The Mexican–American War was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico that took place in 1846–1848.
  • In response, Polk asked for a declaration of war.
  • The US War Department sent a cavalry force under General Stephen W.
  • The next day, January 9, 1847, the Americans fought and won the Battle of La Mesa.
  • In exchange, the United States agreed to assume $3.35 million worth of Mexican debts owed to U.S. citizens, paid Mexico $15 million for the loss of its land, and promised to guard the residents of the Mexican Cession from American Indian raids.

• Changing Demographics

  • In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Mexican population in the U.S. grew and African-Americans migrated to the North.
  • Following the end of the Mexican-American War from 1846 to 1848, migration from Mexico was not subject to restrictions and Mexicans moved freely and frequently across the border into the United States.
  • Conservative estimates put at 400,000 the number of African-Americans who left the South from 1916 through 1918 to take advantage of a labor shortage following the First World War.
  • This later painting, titled "During World War I there was a great migration north by southern Negroes" by the artist Jacob Lawrence, depicts African-American migration north via abstract images.
  • Analyze the causes and challenges of both the Great Migration of African Americans and the immigration of Mexicans in the United States

• In the West: The Native Americans

  • To encourage permanent settlement, the Mexican government began to attract American settlers to Texas with generous terms.
  • One such American, Stephen F.
  • Austin, became an "empresario," receiving contracts from the Mexican government to bring in immigrants.
  • William Travis, leading the "war party," advocated for independence from Mexico, while the "peace party" led by Austin attempted to get more autonomy within the current relationship.
  • Mexico, however, viewed the US annexation of Texas as a direct attack on Mexican sovereignty, which precipitated the Mexican War in the 1840s.

• Latino Rights

  • The Chicano Movement was the part of the Mexican Civil Rights Movement that sought political and social empowerment for Mexican Americans.
  • The Mexican American Movement was part of the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and 1970s seeking political empowerment and social inclusion for Mexican Americans.
  • When Mexican-American Edward R.
  • The term "Chicano" was originally used as a derogatory label for the children of Mexican migrants; people on both sides of the border considered this new generation of Mexican Americans neither American nor Mexican.
  • Proudly reclaiming and adopting a derogatory term as a symbol of self-determination and ethnic pride, Chicano activists demanded increased political power for Mexican Americans, education that recognized their cultural heritage, and the restoration of lands taken from them at the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848.

• Intervention in Mexico

  • Over time, the Revolution changed from a revolt against the established order to a multi-sided civil war, and finally ended after the Mexican Constitution was created in 1917.
  • Prior to Woodrow Wilson's inauguration, the U.S. military focused mainly on just warning the Mexican military that decisive action from the U.S. military would take place if the lives and property of North Americans living in the country were endangered.
  • An increasing number of border incidents early in 1916 culminated in an invasion of American territory on March 8, 1916.
  • War would probably have been declared but for the critical situation in Europe.
  • This political cartoon depicts American attitudes towards the expedition over the Mexican border in pursuit of Pancho Villa.

• Annexing Texas

  • Anglo-Americans, primarily from the southern United States, began emigrating to Mexican Texas in the 1820s at the request of the Mexican government, which sought to populate the sparsely inhabited lands of its northern frontier and mitigate attacks from American Indian tribes in the region.
  • Anglo-Americans soon became a majority in Texas and quickly became dissatisfied with Mexican rule.
  • However, American slaveholders in Texas distrusted the Mexican government and wanted Texas to be a new US slave state.
  • In keeping with the program of ethnic cleansing and white racial domination, Americans in Texas generally treated both Mexican Tejano and American Indian residents with contempt, eager to displace and dispossess them.
  • Believing that annexation would lead to war with Mexico, the administration declined Hunt's proposal.

• Wilson and Latin America

  • Economic concerns primarily drove these conflicts, known as "Banana Wars" due to the connections between interventions and American commercial interests in the region.
  • Over time, the revolution changed from a revolt against the established order to a multi-sided civil war, with an end coming into sight only after the Mexican Constitution was drafted in 1917.
  • The revolution hurt the Mexican economy and pushed Wilson to intervene in order to protect American interests.
  • War would probably have been declared between the two nations if not for the critical situation in Europe.
  • This political cartoon depicts American attitudes toward the expedition over the Mexican border in pursuit of Pancho Villa.