Alondra Flores Period 5

U.S history 4.7.16

Was the United States Justified in Going to War With Mexico?

“American blood on American soil” or was it “United States soldiers trespass”? In 1836,
Texas won their independance from Mexico. The main cause for Texas wanting to break free
from Mexico in the first place was their opposing beliefs, religion and slavery. Once they got
their independence, Texas wanted to join the union but the U.S rejected them to keep the peace
with Mexico. Only a few years later, the union finally annexed Texas, adding another slave-state
to the south. After the U.S took in Texas, there was debate between Mexico and the U.S based
on the border between Texas and Mexico. Mexico wanted the border to be the Nueces River,
but the United States wanted the border to be the Rio Grande. They did not reach a formal
conclusion to this debate before a battle erupted north of the Rio Grande. The Mexicans
believed that the American soldiers started the war by trespassing onto their land, but the
United States blamed Mexicans for being on what they considered their land. Based on this
information, the United States was not justified in going to war with Mexico. They had no right to
declare war with Mexico because neither sides rightfully owned the land the battle commenced
at, they went to war for selfish reasons, and because Mexico never did anything wrong for them
to start a war.
The United States did not have the right to go to war with Mexico because neither
country owned the land the battle took place on. “Mexico has passed the boundary of the United
States, has invaded our territory and shed American blood upon the American soil.”(Document
B). This quote shows how the U.S thought that Mexico trespassed onto their land and Mexico
started it by killing the American soldiers on “their land”. “(Mexican) government, the
mobilization of the U.S army was an outright attack on Mexico...reaffirmed the instruction to
protect border…”(Document C). This quote shows how Mexico thought the U.S was going to
attack them because they had a large army with them and since they considered it their land,
they were told to protect it. These quotes prove that both Mexico and the U.S thought that the
opposing side was trespassing. All of the fighting over who started it would have never occurred
if both countries resolved the issues of the border instead of assuming that the other country
agreed on what they thought was the border. Some, however, may argue that the U.S was
justified in going to war with Mexico because they thought they were attacked on their own land.
Ultimately, the U.S was not justified into going to war with Mexico because Mexico also felt like
the U.S was going to attack them when they overstepped onto “Mexico’s land” and were only
protecting themselves.
The United States had no reason to go to war with Mexico because all they wanted was
the benefits of having the land Mexico owned(California, New mexico, Colorado, Nevada…).
“Polk was a strong supporter of Manifest Destiny. He believed it was God’s plan that America
extend its territory all the way to the Pacific Ocean.” This quote shows that the president of the
United States at the time wanted to expand the U.S in terms of land. Manifest Destiny was the
belief that the expansion of the United States was supposed to happen no matter what because
God wanted the land to belong to them. This quote proves that the United States wanted more
land and used the dispute with Mexico as an excuse to try and take their land. “Mexico never
can exert any real governmental authority over such a country…”(Document A - John L.
O’Sullivan). This quote shows that Mexico, from the American point of view, were not good at
governing their country. From this quote, the take away is that the United States wanted the
Alondra Flores Period 5
U.S history 4.7.16

Was the United States Justified in Going to War With Mexico?

extra land because they don’t think that Mexico is doing a good job at governing the area and
think they can do better. Some may believe that the United States was justified in going to war
with Mexico because they believed in Manifest Destiny. Even though they have the right to
believe what they want(freedom of religion), it should not give them the right to take whatever
they want because their God wants them to have it. Not everyone is the same religion they are,
therefore, not everyone should be forced to follow whatever the God of a certain religion wants.
The United States was not justified in going to war with Mexico because Mexico had
always treated them with respect. In Document E, it says, “...I and my brave companions in
misfortune have been treated with uniform kindness and attention.” What is happening in this
time is that Mexican soldiers took in some American soldiers and generals. Captain William J.
Hardee, who wrote the document, said that they were treated so well, they forgot they were in
captivity. This evidence shows that Mexico, even when they were on bad terms, treated the
Americans with nothing but respect. In Document C, it says “...occupying the territory in dispute
and increasing possibility of a confrontation… outright attack on Mexico… protect border…”.
This explains how Mexico was only doing what they thought was best to protect what they
considered their territory. Both these quotes show that the U.S had no reason to go to war with
them because they were respectful and kind to the Americans even after they thought that the
U.S has trespassed onto their land to attack them. The purpose for Mexico initiating the battle
was because they were told they were under attack and to protect what they considered the
border. The U.S would have done the same if roles were reversed. Some may argue that
Mexico acted out of line by initiating the battle on the disputed territory. Mexico, however, was
only protecting what they considered their border. If it was wrong for them to protect their land
why would it be ok for the U.S to call a war because they thought Mexico killed on “their” land?
United States was not justified in going to war with Mexico because both countries had
not had a set in stone boundary between Mexico and Texas, the U.S called war for selfish
reasons, and because Mexico only showed Americans civility and respect. In the end, if Mexico
and the United States settled on a border there would have never been any problems regarding
trespassing onto each other's land. Based on the president the U.S had at the time, they would
have eventually got into a dispute over the U.S wanting their land but it would not have
happened over something that they could have fixed but didn’t want to.