International borders have always been centers of conflict, and the
U.S.-Mexican border is no exception. With the European colonizing the New
World, it was a matter of time before the powers collided. The Spanish
settled what is today Mexico, while the English settled what is to day the
United States. When the two colonial powers did meet what is today the
United Statesù Southwest, it was not England and Spain. Rather the two
powers were the United States and Mexico. Both Counties had broken off from
their mother countries. The conflict that erupted between the two countries
where a direct result of different nation policies. The United States had a
policy of westward expansion, while Mexico had a policy of self protection.
The Americans never had a written policy of expansion. What they had was
the idea of 'Manifest Destiny.' Manifest Destiny was the belief that the
United States had the right to expand westward to the Pacific ocean.
On the
other hand, Mexico was a new country wanting to protect itself from outside
powers. Evidence of U.S. expansion is seen with the independence of Texas
from Mexico. The strongest evidence of U.S. expansion goals is with the
Mexican-American War. From the beginning, the war was conceived as an
opportunity for land expansion. Mexico feared the United States expansion
goals.
During the 16th century, the Spanish began to settle the region. The
Spanish had all ready conquered and settled Central Mexico. Now they wanted
to expand their land holdings north. The first expedition into the region,
that is today the United States Southwest, was with Corando. Corando
reported a region rich in resources, soon after people started to settle the
region. The driving force behind the settlement was silver in the region.
The Spanish settled the region through three major...