Santa Anna Biography

Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón was born Febuary 21, 1794 and died June 21, 1876. He was the President of Mexico during the Mexican American War and was a general during the Texas War of Independence. He started his military career at the age of sixteen and was an infantryman for the Mexican Army. Santa Anna also joined the Spainish Colonial Army to fight against the Mexican nationalists during the Mexican War ifIndependence. Santa Anna and his comrades were ruthless to the nationalists and this affected his opinion of the Texan nationalists later. Santa Anna Later swiched sides and drove the Spainish away in order to gain the loyalty of the Mexican people. Somethime during his presidency he was exiled to the United States but came back. During the Mexican American war he stepped down from power several times until he lost the war.

http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/Mexico/Arts_and_Humanities/Humanities/History/People/Government_Officials/Presidents/Santa_Anna__Antonio_Lopez_de__1794_1876_/

Zachary Taylor Biography

Zachary Taylor was born in Virginia in 1784 and was raised on a Kentucky plantation. Taylor had a career in the army but wanted to raise cotton because he owned a plantation in Mississippi. He would later become the twelfth president of the United States. Though he owned a plantation, he did not support slavery or Southern succession. He spent most of his career guarding the frontier borders from Indians and he fought in the major battles in the Mexican American War and was also Ulysses S. Grant’s general during that war. President Polk would not allow him and his men to fight in Mexico City in order to deprive him of fame because he was of the Whig Party. Taylor was nicknamed “Old Rough and Ready” due to the casual nature by which he ran his military but was also very successful in all of his battles. Once Taylor was elected president, he did not want to be controlled by his party so he put his partisanship aside in order to run the country properly. One of the key issues during his presidency was whether slavery would be legal in the newly acquired territories. Taylor decided to make the territories states and have the new states decide for themselves whether slavery would be legal or not. This made the Southerners furious and they threatened succession but Taylor said that if the South decided to rebel, he would personally lead an army to fight them. Taylor later became fatally ill and died after five days of becoming sick. He would never see the war that he predicted but his son would serve as a general for the South.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/zacharytaylor

Ulysses S. Grant Biography

Ulysses S. Grant was a general during the Civil War and fought under General Zachary Taylor during the Mexican American War. Grant was also the eighteenth president of the United States and a member of the Republican Party. Grant was born in Ohio, Grant went to West Point Academy and he and the rest of the graduates were the first to test the school’s teachings in battle during the Mexican American War. Grant was chosen to command a volunteer regiment during the Civil War and rose through the ranks. Grant played a major role to win the war and attacked Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. He was the one to force the Confederate commander at the fort to an immediate and unconditional surrender; Grant was then promoted to major general. Grant separated the Confederacy by taking Vicksburg, Mississippi. Lincoln then promoted him to General in Chief and soon forced Robert E. Lee to surrender and end the Civil War. During his presidency, Grant was known to have accepted several bribes and attempted to foil the plans pf two rich gold speculators by selling large amounts of gold, which proved horrendous for the economy. When Grant retired and partnered with a financial firm, which became bankrupt. Grant later acquired throat cancer and wrote recollections to pay off his debt; he finished his last page just before he died.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/UlyssesSGrant

James Knox Polk Biography

James K. Polk was the Eleventh President of the United States and was a member of the Democratic Party and considered the last of the Jacksonian Presidents. Born in North Carolina in 1795, he graduated in 1818 fron the university of North Carolina and started his politics career as a lawyer. He soon gained a seat in the Tennesee legislature and befriended Andrew Jackson. With his experience and connections, he became Speaker of the House between 1835 and 1839, he then resigned to become the govener of Tennesee. It first he wanted to run for Vice President for the Democratic Party and became the leading canidate. Polk supported expansion and wanted to expand to Oregon and annex Texas. Jackson encouraged Polk to run for president. As the elections heated up, Congress voted to annex Texas which ultimately meant war with Mexico because Mexico had severed diplomatic ties with the United States. In 1844, Polk attempted to claim Oregon and California once he was in office. Polk made an offer with the British and after much debate, Polk was victorious. Polk also sent troops into Texas which the Mexicans believed was their territory and attacked but Polk led America during the two year war and won in 1848. Mexico released New Mexico and California and in return Polk gave them $15,000,000. Polk later died in June 1849.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/jamespolk

InfoTrac Bibliography

Bibliography

Achorn, Edward. "Polk's Empire; The president who did what he said he would do--and in one term." The Weekly Standard 9 Nov. 2009. General OneFile. Web. 3 Dec. 2009. .

"Eagles and empire; the United States, Mexico, and the struggle for a continent." Reference & Research Book News (2009). General OneFile. Web. 3 Dec. 2009. .

Murphy, Tim. "One-term wonder: what Barack Obama can learn from James K. Polk." Washington Monthly Nov.-Dec. 2009: 62+. General OneFile. Web. 3 Dec. 2009. .

Freeman, Jay. "A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War, and the Conquest of the American Continent." Booklist 1 Oct. 2009: 17. General OneFile. Web. 3 Dec. 2009. .

"Clary, David A.: EAGLES AND EMPIRE." Kirkus Reviews 1 June 2009. General OneFile. Web. 3 Dec. 2009. .

Harris, Joseph A. "The Traning Ground: Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Davis in the Mexican War, 1846-1848." AudioFile Magazine Oct.-Nov. 2008: 38. General OneFile. Web. 3 Dec. 2009. .

Fullerton, Dan C. "Civil War Leadership and Mexican War Experience." Military Review 88.1 (2008): 127+. General OneFile. Web. 3 Dec. 2009. .

"A Glorious Defeat." California Bookwatch July 2007. General OneFile. Web. 3 Dec. 2009. .

"Saint Patrick's Battalion." Publishers Weekly 253.25 (2006): 41. General OneFile. Web. 3 Dec. 2009. .

Weiner, Tim. "War & remembrance: the U.S. and Mexico share a long, sometimes-troubled history that goes back to the Mexican-American War--which still resonates on both sides of the border." New York Times Upfront 5 Apr. 2004: 10+. General OneFile. Web. 3 Dec. 2009. .

This video is part of a six part History Channel show on the Mexican American war. The video describes how contraversial the war was and the famous people who fought in it.



You can watch this and the rest of the series at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjUEBDOOSDM

Ebooks Online Database Bibliography

Works Cited

Englekirk, Allan, and Marguerite Marín. Mexican Americans. Detroit: Gale Group, 2000. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 2 Dec. 2009.

Mexican Cession (1848). Detroit: Gale Group, 2000. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 2 Dec. 2009.

Texas. Detroit: Gale Group, 2000. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 2 Dec. 2009.