The Mexican-American War: An Unprepared Mexican vs. U.S. President Polk - Essay Sample

Introduction

The Mexican American War had begun on April 25 in 1846, when the Mexican troop went forth towards the north of the Rio Grande River and started firing the United States. This led to the massacre of many American citizens. Besides, others mistreated elsewhere. Turkish Navy brought about this indifference. This was the first armed conflict to be experienced in the United States. (Samora, 2019)The Mexican was not prepared against the President of the United States, James K.Polk.The United States was determined to spread all over the Pacific Ocean. The onset of the fight at the Rio Grande was followed by a series of victories by the United States. Mexico lost a large part of its territories, such as Utah, New Mexico, California, Nevada, and Arizona. The consequence of the war was more dramatic in the field of politics than any other.

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James K. Polk and Triumphant Expansion

One of the primary causes of the Mexican-American war was after Texas Independence in 1936. The United States government refused the annexation of Texas into the union. Furthermore, the government of Mexico was threatening to start a war if Texas would be incorporated into the union. Despite all these, Texas was successfully annexed after Polk won the election. He aimed to buy the land of Texas, but the offer was rejected(Greenburg,2019). He became angry, which later led to the war. He declared the war despite opposition from some of the Members of the Parliament. United States military was able to defeat the Mexicans with the least resistance. Mexican troops went and sought assistance from their general Antonio Lopez de Santa. Lopez later withdrew after being defeated by the United States president.

The Treaty of Guadalupe

Mexico City was captured in 1847, which led to the formation of a peace treaty between the United States and Mexico(Perez et al., 2019). The chief clerk of the Mexico state sought negotiations with the United States president, Polk. The terms of the treaty were just the same with that which Slidell did in the previous year. Trist was a good friend of General Winfield Scott, who contended with Polk in the 1848 election. This made Polk care more about Trist. Besides, the war motivated those who fight for democracy for the completion of Mexico annexation. Trist gave him the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. The treaty was signed in February 1848. The terms stated that the United States was to exchange money with the territory of Mexico. It was also said that the Mexican government owed the United States some money.

Polk realized the importance of this treaty. He discovered that prolonging the war would make matters worse; for instance, it would harm politics. He submitted the agreement to the Senate for clarification, though it faced some opposition, It was finally approved. Congressman David Wilmot also came up with a bill that stated that the United States had no more slavery during the war. Wilmot bill led to a political firestorm, which led to the loss of Confederacy in 1865. Some senators from the South managed to hinder this bill from operating. The quote of the law was this "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any territory acquired by the United States "The treaty established the United States and Mexico's boundary in the Rio Grande.

James Polk's leadership indeed led to the Expansion of the United States. His negotiations with Great Britain led to the ownership of Oregon, which now is referred to as Washington DC. He made sure that he had gone through the details concerning annexation of Texas from Mexico. Acquiring lands from Mexico was not that very easy as people may have thought. The United States took half of Mexico's territory. The California Gold Rush led to a dense population in the new land. This also led to increased immigrants from foreign countries such as China. Some Americans refused to participate in this war because they considered it as aggressive, unjustified inversion of another nation.

Conclusion

Concisely we can deduce that the Mexican American war was one of the civil wars experienced globally. The paper has talked about the leading causes of that war included the following; the independence of Texas, which led to the refusal of annexation. It has also tried to explain how the United States was able to defeat Mexico. The paper has also discussed how the war ended. It has addressed the treaty of Guadalupe and how it brought to an end to this war. This treaty was to bring a good understanding between the two nations, Mexico and America. To some extent, the paper has talked about Polk's administration and how it influenced the war. IF we can elect leaders who are of sound mind, we cannot clash or civil wars. We will enjoy peace and tranquility,

References

Greenberg, A. S. (2019). Lady First: The World of Mrs. James K. Polk. Knopf.

Perez Allison, A. N., & Palacios, A. A. (2019, August). The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the US Mexico Border: Text and Map Analysis Assignment. In Congress of the United States of America, 2019," Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Raw text, 1848 February 2", https://doi. org/10.18738/T8/SHLESE, Texas Data Repository Dataverse, V1.

Samora, J. (2019). The History of the Mexican-American People: Revised Edition. University of Notre Dame Press.