Why were the Americans so aggressive towards the Mexicans?   What was the cause of the Americans attacking the Mexicans? When did all of this take place?  Where did this war take place?  How did the Mexican-American War affect Mexico and the United States?  Who were the people mentioned document? Reflections Sources

Why were the Americans so aggressive towards the Mexicans? 

     President John Quincy Adams made an effort on purchasing Texas for a million dollars, but Mexico refused the offer. Then in the 1820s Americans were crossing into Mexico's territory. Many Americans were in search of land for cotton. The Americans were taking over the best lands, and started to buildhomes on it. They immigrated constantly. On a diary Lieutenant Jose Maria Sanchez wrote that, "The Americans from the north has taken possession of practically all the eastern part of Texas, in most cases without the permission of the authorities," in other words Americans were taking over everything that belonged to the Mexicans. In 1830, Mexico outlawed slavery and they outlawed Americans from entering into Mexico. The Americans were angry of the fact that Mexico didn't want them in their lands and didn't like slavery at all. The Americans kept on crossing the border illegally. There were more Americans than Mexicans in 1835. Many of the Americans wanted to take over Texas because they felt that American need to expand or that "Texas" as Stephen Austin said needed to be "redeem it from the wilderness." President Polk  tried to buy California but he didn't succeed. So President Polk send out General Zachary Taylor and his troops into Texas. The war between America and Mexico begins in 1946. The American soldiers were aggressive to Mexican people. Poor farmers were robbed, mothers and daughters were raped in the presences of their husbands and fathers, innocent people were murdered and robbed. The reason that this war started was because America insited on expanding their land by taking over parts of Mexico's land when they were told no in the first place and discrimintaion was involed which caused the an argument between the two nations.  

 What was the cause of the Americans attacking the Mexicans?

      There was many things that made the Americans attack, but the most was that America wanted to add to the nation. During the 1820's many Americans crossed into Mexico and started to settled in the south. At the time Texas was part of Mexico so many of the Mexicans got mad at the settles coming into their country. The territory that they were entering was called Tejas. Many of the people that were crossing were slaveholder and many of them were taken the Mexicans making them into slaves. The main reason that they were crossing was that the cotton was very big in the state of Texas at the time of this may Americans wanted cotton to earn money. The Mexicans did not like this and in a diary wrote by Lieutenant Jose Maria said " the Americans from the north have taken possession of practically all the eastern part of Texas. This was the start. So with this the Mexican goverenment outlawed slavery and this made all the American settlers were mad. With this law it also outlawed more Americans to enter Texas so with this many Americans with guns went into Mexico nothing just walk right in and killed many Mexicans with this it started the fight between the Mexicans and the Americans over land,cotton, and their nation. But with all of this was manifest destiny exuse to move westward and take Mexico's land.

When did all of this take place? 

        The war against Mexico took place in between around the 1820s and 1920s. People from the United States settled in Mexico's territory and tried to by the territory from Mexico refused the offer in the 1820s. In 1830, Mexican government outlawed slavery and prohibited immigration but that didn't stop Americans from crossing the border. In 1836, a war started due to Americans in Texas revolting with weapons. In 1848 a treaty was signed by Mexico. Mexico accepted the new territory lines. A gold rush was also started in 1848 in United States territory and they put tax on Mexicans. The Mexicans, who at this point were in Anglos territory, were getting fewer rights in voting by 1920. The Mexicans were highly taxed on ranch land, so the majority of them lost their land and ended up having to work on railroads or mines. When their wages were cut and discrimination got worse, it started protests. By 1911, there was a statewide convention in Texas that was concerned about hostility and violence towards Mexicans. ¹The war didn't actually start until 1846 but all of this, especially discrimination and America wanting the land so bad, caused the war (The History Guy).

Where did this war take place? 

     The Mexico American War took place in what now days is called the United States, but back then it was known as part of Mexico. America saw Mexico's land and decided to take it for themselves. In 1846 General Zachary Taylor marched over the Nueces River to the Rio Grande River. America thought this was the border between them and Mexico. This sparked a battle to start between Mexico and America. President Polk saw this as a reason to declare war on Mexico. He ordered General Taylor to march on to Monterrey, Mexico and then to Buena Vista. Meanwhile General Stephen W. Kearny with about 1,700 entered New Mexico and took control without a bullet being shot. Next General Kearny marched into California and fought battles around San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego. President Polk not happy with General Taylor appointed General Scott to invade Veracruz, Mexico. Then General Scott fought a couple battles ending up in Mexico City where the war ended (Stout, Joseph). When the war ended in 1848 in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico ceded the southwest territories to the United States for 15 million dollars. The states that made up that territory was New Mexico, California, Nevada, Utah, most of Arizona, parts of Colorado and Wyoming. This was one half of Mexico's land. Mexico lost one million square miles to the United States (pg 163). 

How did the Mexican-American War affect Mexico and the United States? 

     Mexico was affected more by the Mexican-American War than the United States. Mexico lost forty percent of their land to the United States in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. This huge massive lost caused a huge blow to the Mexican national pride. This is because these territories had been a big part of Hispanic culture and had been a part of Mexico for two hundred fifty years. This caused Mexicans to mistrust and hate Americans for their part in the war. After the war they struggled to reform the government. It had taken almost twenty years to completely reform Mexico. "No one knows how much it cost in terms of lives and money" (Carey, Charles Jr.) While the United States gained enormous amount of land from Mexico. This caused problems with Americans because they could not decide to make the new land slave or free states. This lead to the Civil War. It also created the Republican Party who were anti-slavery. This was the end of Manifest Destiny. Both sides were greatly affected by the Mexican-American War. It still affects us today.   

Who were the people mentioned document?

• President John Quincy Adams- In 1826, tried to purchase Texas for a million dollars, but Mexico refused the offer 
• Commissioner Manuel Mier y Teran- Military commander of Mexico’s eastern interior provinces in 1829
• Stephen Austin
• William Barret Travis- Drew a “line in the sand” Any man that crossed this line would fight to the death
• General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna
• Sam Houston- Organized a counterattack rallying around the cry, “Remember the Alamo”. His troops surprised Santa Anna’s forces at San Jacinto, and forced Santa Anna to cede Texas

• Lieutenant Jose Maria Sanchez
  

• General Mariano Vallejo (Don Vallejo)
• Governor Diego de Borica
• Richard Henry Dana
• Benjamin Ide- Leader of Vallejo’s captors; told his men: “We must be conquerors or we are robbers”
  
• General Winfield Scott
• Walt Whitman
• Antonio Franco Coronel
• Walton Bean- Historian; “The average length of time required to secure evidence of ownership, was 17 years from the time of submitting a claim to the board”
• David Montejano- Historian; “During the ten-year boom of 1875-1885, the King ranch purchased nearly 58,000 acres of Mexican-owned land, but the ranch would acquire nearly as much as, 54,000 acres, in the following five years, a time of market collapse (1886-1891)”
• Victoriano Chapa

Reflections

    Rachel Ickes- I learned a lot about how terrible Mexicans were treated; about how they were promised rights as Americans at first but they were tripped away and they were discriminated against. The new borders made life hard for Mexicans who chose to stay in the new American territory. With the extra taxes and discrimination, Mexicans had very little chance of prospering. This is all important because it shows us things that we might not have known before because we only know things from the American's point of view, not the Mexican's. In order to attempt to understand anything in history people should learn both sides of the story. Reading this has taught me more about the Mexican's side of the story.

Elizabeth Caro- Reading this article made me learn more of what Mexico and America went through. I was surprised that some of the lands that we stand on today, belonged once to Mexico. I think that America should have left Mexico alone, when Mexico turned down their offer. I felt bad that Mexicans were treated badly and that Americans just tookover when they crossed the border illegally. The article showed a little of what both sides did wrong not just one side. America was wrong on taking a land that didn't belonged to them in the first place and taking it by force with violence. Mexico was wrong on giving up their land, just so that America would be happy about it. I was surprised that Americans did horrible things to the Mexicans and still got away with it. We can now understand why there are still racism between Americans and Mexicans.

Shana Means- This subject was really new for me. Before this class I had barely learned anything about the Mexican-American War. I feel mad that America would do something like this. They just saw what they wanted which was Mexico's land and decide to take it for their own. And to do this they came up with the lame excuse of Manifest Destiny to take it away from the Mexicans. Next they just enter Mexico land as illegal aliens and occupied the land without even asking permission. Next they go across the Nueces River into disputed land and start a war on a weaker nation. The things America did to Mexicans makes me ashamed to be American. It like one day they were rich and living the live and then Americans came and ruined their lives. This was important to learn to better to understand what is going on today between the United States and Mexico. I think its only fair that they immigrate here because we pretty much just stole their land. I wonder what it would be like if Mexico still owned everything they gave a way in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. If I could rewrite history I would make sure this war never happened. Now I understand a little better why Mexicans feel the way they do again white people (American).

Sources

"Mexican American War 1of6." Online Posting. Youtube, 28 Sept. 2009. Web. 29 August 2011.

Carey, Charles Jr. The Mexican American War "Mr. Polk's War." New Jersey: Enslow Publishers, 2002. Print.

₁Lee, Roger A. The U.S. Mexican War (1846- 1848). History Guy. N.p. 8 July 2011. Web. 26 August 2011. [http://www.historyguy.com/Mexican-American_War.html]

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/wars_mexican.htmlRickard, J. (1 February 2001), Mexican War (May 1846- February 1848), http://www.historyofwar,org/articles/wars_mexican.html  

Stout, Joseph. "Mexican War." The World Book Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. 2009. Print.

Takaki, Ronald. A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. New York: Little Brown, Co. 1993. Print