Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Sydney Kitchen Mexican American War PP
Sydney Kitchen Mexican American War PP
By Sydni Kitchen
Who was involved in the
Mexican American War?
The Mexican-American War was a war fought between the
United States and Mexico between 1846 and 1848.
Manifest Destiny was the widely held belief that American settlers
were predestined to expand and occupy the entire North American
continent from the east coast to the west coast. This concept generated
by the potential of a new earth for building a new “heaven”. The
phrase itself meant many different things to many different people,
and was rejected by many people. The democrats strongly supported
Manifest Destiny and most Whigs strongly opposed it. The Manifest
Destiny provided America the largest acquisition of U.S. territory.
President James K. Polk used this to justify the war with Mexico.
The Mexican American war
begins
On April 25, 1846, the Mexican cavalry attacked U.S.
soldiers under the command of General Zachary Taylor
killing or wounding 16 men. They then laid siege to an
American fort along the Rio Grande. General Taylor
called for reinforcements, and with the help of the
superior rifles and artillery, they were able to defeat the
Mexicans at the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la
Palma.
On May 9, 1846, President Polk announced that “Mexico
has shed American blood on American soil.” He asked
congress for an official declaration of War! On May 13,
1846 both houses of congress voted by a large majority to
declare war on Mexico.
The Mexican American War
When war broke out against Mexico in May 1846, the
United States Army had 8,000 men, but soon 60,000
volunteers joined.
The “Bear Flag Republic” was not taken seriously, but Fremont and
his followers did march to Monterey to capture the Mexican
Presidio, or fort. By 1847, California was secure.