The Mexican American War

Big Idea: The Ideals of Manifest Destiny and the outcome of the Mexican American war led to the U.S. expansion to the Pacific Ocean. 1840s: The U.S. had a booming economy. Many Americans believed that the nation had a manifest destiny(= obvious fate) to claim new lands in the west. 1840s-1850s: The ideals of manifest destiny had to confront the issue of slavery. If America expanded would slavery be allowed in the new territories? President John Tyler, a pro-slavery Whig, wanted to increase the power of the southern states by annexing Texas. His party disagreed. Elections of 1844: Henry Clay run for the Whigs, James Polk for the Democrats. Both candidates wanted to Annex Texas and Oregon. Polk won the elections.

Oregon Through the Oregon Trail more Americans settled in Oregon. They asked to annex the territory to the U.S. President Polk wanted to annex Oregon because it would give the U.S. a Pacific Port that would facilitate trading with China. U.S. and British Canada were again disagreeing over the borders. The Americans made a slogan, “54 40 or fight”, to indicate the will to go to a war in order to establish the border at that latitude. 1846: the two countries signed treaty that established the border at the 49th parallel. 1848: Oregon became U.S. territory.

Texas 1846: March: the U.S. Congress approved the annexation of Texas. (Americans continued moving to Texas) June: Texas Congress approved the annexation. December: Texas became part of the U.S.

California Mexico had settlements in present day New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California. California still used the Mission System: they carried out huge farming and ranching operations using Indians. They sold their goods to local towns. 1833: Mexico ended the mission system in California. The land was broken apart and huge grants were given to the wealthiest California settlers. They created ranches were cowboys managed cattle and sheep. California was far away from the center of the Mexican government, and the early settlers, the Californios, felt no connections with the government. A number of settlers also arrived from the U.S.. They were called Anglos, by the Californios.

Mexican American war U.S. involvement in California and Texas created tension between Mexico and the U.S. They disputed over the Mexican northern border: Mexico claimed the border was along the Nueces River, the U.S. claimed it was along the Rio Grande. 1845: President Polk sent General Taylor in the disputed region and a diplomat to Mexico City to buy New Mexico and California for $30 million. Mexican officials refused to speak with the American diplomat. In 1846 General Taylor was by the Rio Grande; a Mexican commander told him to move out of Mexican territory. Taylor refused and they engaged in battle: many U.S. soldiers died. U.S. Army: it had better weapons and equipment but it was outnumbered and poorly prepared. The U.S. government asked America for 50,000 volunteers and 250,000 responded.

Home front Many Americans supported the war. Many Whigs thought that the war was unjustified and avoidable. Northern Abolitionists were against the war because they feared the potential spread of slavery.

Battles General Taylor won several battles south of the Nueces River, crossed the Rio Grande and occupied Matamoros, Mexico. He waited there for more men. Polk sent General Kearny to attack New Mexico: in August of 1846 he took Santa Fe, claimed the region for the U.S. and marched to California. 1846: American settlers in California took Sonoma, located north of San Francisco. In the “Bear Flag Revolt” Americans declared California an independent nation. A U.S. Army captain, Fremont, joined the settlers 'fight. In July U.S. forces came on the shore of California and Kearny’s army arrived from the east. In August a U.S. Navy commodore, Stockton, claimed California for the U.S.

General Taylor finally received reinforcements. In 1846 Santa Anna was back in power and in 1847 fought against Taylor’s troops at Buena Vista. The Mexican Army was forced to retreat. Polk sent General Scott to the port of Veracruz, the strongest fortress in Mexico. After a battle Veracruz fell. Scott moved to Mexico City where he order a massive attack on the city. Also Mexico City fell. Feb. 1848: the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war. Mexican cession: California, Nevada, Utah, most of Arizona, New Mexico, parts of Colorado and Wyoming became U.S. territory. The U.S. agreed to pay Mexico $15 million and to protect liberty, property and religion of the Mexicans that lived in these territories. Gadsden Purchase: after the war to guarantee that any southern railroad to California would be built completely on American soil, the U.S. government paid Mexico $10 million for the southern parts of what are now New Mexico and Arizona.

Surge of American Settlers After the war many Americans moved to the Southwest. Longtime residents fought to keep control of their land and resources. The U.S. govt. often made Mexican American land owners go to court to prove that they had titles to their lands. They had to pay attorneys, interpreters, and travel costs for themselves and their witness. Many legal battles bankrupted landowners. The white settlers soon outnumbered southwestern Native Americans and tried to control water resources. They attacked each other to protect their interests. In settlements with a large Mexican population laws were printed in English and Spanish. These communities celebrated both Americans and Mexicans holidays. Mexican Americans taught Anglo settlers about mining in the mountains and introduced them to new type of equipment to be used on ranches

Water rights Laws in the east prohibited land owners whose land bordered streams to built dams because they would limited the water for their neighbors downstream. In the dry climate of the west dams and canals were necessary to irrigate the land. This caused conflicts. Brigham Young established a code for the Mormon community: the good of the community would outweigh the interest of individuals.