The Mexican-American War was a "question of righteousness". On May 9th, 1846 President James K. Polk delivered a war message to Congress, stating that "Mexico has passed the boundary of the United States, has invaded our territory, and shed American blood upon the American soil." President Polk sent John Slidel to Mexico to negotiate a settlement. Slidell was authorized to purchase California and New Mexico, part of which was claimed by Texas, and to offer the U.S. government's assumption of liability for the claims of U.S. citizens in return for boundary adjustments. When Mexico declined to negotiate, the United States prepared to take by force what it could not achieve by diplomacy. The war between the United States and Mexico had two basic causes, Manifest destiny and the U.S. annexation of Texas, which led to further conflict between the North and the South and indirectly caused the Civil War.
Loss of California, Nevada, Arizona and other regi...
Mexican Cession in Mexican View
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Exchange Copy, cover....Americans believed that the United States was destined to expand across the continent, by force, as used against Native Americans, if necessary. The desire of the U.S. to expand across the North American continent to the Pacific Ocean was named Manifest Destiny. . Who is to say that it was trully destiny for the U.S. to expand westward towards the Pacific? If it was destiny to take force and kill Native Americns for no apparent reason, but to feel powerfull and in control, then a Murderer should be able to get away with killing another person. Could a Murderer kill someone and say he was just in doing so, because it was his destiny? The controversy over slavery further stressed Manifest Destiny. The North and South each wanted the nation to admit new states that supported its section's economic, political, and slave policies. So in order to do so, they...