The war between the United States and Mexico had two basic causes. First, the desire of the United States to expand across the North American continent to the Pacific Ocean caused conflict with all of its neighbors but especially the Mexicans in the south. Ever since the purchase of the Louisiana territory in 1803, Americans had been pouring into the west in increasing numbers, often into lands not belonging to the United States. By the time President Polk came to office in 1845, an idea called manifest destiny had taken root among the American people, and Polk was a firm believer in the expansion to the west. The fact that most of those areas already had people living in them was usually ignored, with the attitude that everything needed to be civilized by the American culture. At first, the United States tried to buy California from Mexico for 5 million dollars and then 25 million dollars. Both times the Mexican government refused; The American people, not willing to take no for an answer, began looking for other ways to acquire the territory it wanted. One of their biggest mistakes was letting Santa Anna back into Mexico after he promised to make a peaceful deal with the Americans for the territory they wanted. Once Santa Anna was there, he forgot all about the agreement.
The second basic cause of the war was the annexation of Texas to the United States. As stated earlier, many Mexican’s did not accept the legality of the treaty signed by Santa Anna giving Texas it’s freedom, as it was never put in front of the Mexican government to ratify. Because of this, Mexico made it clear that if the United States took in Texas, it would be considered as a hostile act. Despite of this however, after many negotiations between many other countries, Texas accepted the United States offer to pay all of Texas’s taxes if it would give all land to the United States government and become a state. Mexico, of course, stuck to their promise; and now a major international issue arose between the United States and Mexico on where the borders actually where. The Mexican’s believed the border to be at the Nueces River while the United States claimed the border at the Rio Grande River. The American’s sent troops to the Rio Grande River as did the Mexican’s. Eventually tensions broke, since to the Mexican’s America had already invaded, and the Mexican-American War had begun.
After the beginning of hostilities, the United States military embarked on a three-pronged strategy designed to seize control of northern Mexico and force an early peace. Two American armies were to move south from Texas while a third force traveled west to Sante Fe. The army traveling west, under Colonel Stephen Kearny, quickly conquered the areas of California and New Mexico. In almost every battle, the American troops were severely outnumbered. Their key to victory was their intuitive generals and their superior technology on the battlefield. Technologies such as grooved barrels and the revolver gave the American’s superior firepower. It could be said that the Mexican-American War was a training ground for the men who would fight in the Civil War and a chance for the newly developed technologies to be test. The final and most important campaign of the war saw the conquest of Mexico City itself. In March 1847, Winfield Scott landed near Vera Cruz. This is important because it was America’s first amphibious landing by a U.S. force in history. Scott took his 12,000 men and fought a bloody battle against Santa Anna’s 25,000 men. Many of America’s famous Civil War patrons made a name for themselves during this campaign against Mexico City. One was Robert E. Lee, future commander of the Confederate States of America, who helped find a trail that led around the Mexican flank to a small peak overlooking the Mexican fortification. Due to this, Scott was able to plant artillery on the hill and blast the fortifications in the mountain pass, saving thousands of lives. The other was Ulysses S. Grant, future commander of the Union troops, who was cited for bravery during the taking of the fortress at Chapultepec. With these key victories, Scott took Mexico City on September 14, 1847. Following the cities occupation, Santa Anna resigned the presidency but retained command of his army. He attempted to continue the fight but his troops, exhausted, deserted him. On February 2, 1848, The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalggo was signed. The treaty called for the annexation of the northern portions of Mexico to the United States. In return, the United States, being so generous, agreed to pay 15 million to Mexico as compensation for the territory. Thus the American’s had conquered their weaker neighbor and the Mexican-American War was over.
In the aftermath of the war, the American’s did pay a price. The war cost over 100 million dollars and 13,780 U.S. servicemen were lost. It is obvious now, however, that this war was about one thing and one thing only…land. Historian Miguel Angel Gonzalez Quiroga stated, “After a century and a half, we are far enough away from the conflict to analyze it with serene intelligence, conscious of its many complexities, mindful of the passions it has raised, but steadfast in our mission to seek the truth”(1). There are many different stories out there that state why the Mexican-American War was fought. Hopefully now, since so much time has gone by, we will be able to look at the facts, and the facts only, and see that the Mexican-American War was a war that was fought mostly out of greed for land just like the Indian removals of the Jackson era. However, without that greed, the American civilization would be in no way the great nation that it has become today.
