Introduction
I. Events Leading Up to the War.
a. The Mexican War of Independence.
The Mexican War of Independence began in the year 1810 and continued till 1821. Spanish explorers came to Mexico in search of land and gold, in the early 1500s and the land became New Spain. The Spanish colonizers enslaved the locals. The New Spain had a class society. At the top of the hierarchy were the Spaniards. They were followed by the Creoles, people born to Spaniards in Mexico. Then were the Mestizos, children born from a Spaniard and a Native. At the end of the hierarchy were the native Indians. This caused unrest among the Creoles who could not hold office, and triggered the need for independence. The Mexican War of Independence began on September 16, 1810, initiated by a Roman Catholic priest, Miguel Hidalgo Y Costilla, who is also known as the founder of the Mexican War of Independence Movement. Hidalgo was very upset with the oppressive Spanish colonial government for its treatment of the lower class. He and his followers captured large portions of Mexico but could not take Mexico City. Hidalgo was executed. Jose Maria Morelos, another Roman Catholic priest, took up the leadership of the struggle for independence. Morelos, who declared the official document of independence, which provided equal rights to the native-born Mexicans. In the year 1820, the Viceroy of New Spain ordered Agustin de Iturbide, a loyalist Creole, to defeat the revolutionaries, at the same time, King Ferdinand VII, was forced to sign a liberal Spanish constitution with its republic values and practices. Iturbide felt that it might affect the status of the Creoles in Mexico and also realized that if Mexico achieves independence from Spain, the Creoles might get a chance to rule the country. This made him join forces with the revolutionaries and he came up with the 'Plan of Iguala'. The Plan of Iguala read that Mexico would get its independence from Spain; Roman Catholicism would be its official religion; and all the Spanish-born people in Mexico would gain equal status With Agustin’s support, the revolutionaries won in 1821. It was only in 1836 that Spain declared Mexico as an independent country. Mexico celebrates its independence day on September 16, the day when Hidalgo summoned his followers to fight.
b. The Texas Revolution:
American settlement in Texas began with the encouragement of first the Spanish, and then Mexican, governments. In the summer of l820 Moses Austin asked Spanish authorities for a large piece Texas land, which he would promote, and sell to American pioneers. Early in l82l, the Spanish government gave him permission to settle 300 families in Texas. Spain welcomed the Americans in order to provide protection to illegal immigration. Mexico imposed two conditions on land ownership: settlers had to become Mexican citizens and they had to convert to Roman Catholicism. By l830 there were l6, 000 Americans in Texas. Mexico feared that the U.S. would use the settlers to gain the territory through a revolution. In order to avoid this, Mexico placed further restrictions on the settlers. Settlers hoped Santa Anna would make Texas a self-governing state in Mexico but instead he made himself dictator. On November 3, 1835, colonists wanted made a constitution to abolish the dictator. While wanting a compromise, the Texans prepared for war by electing Sam Houston commander of the military in Texas. Then, suddenly, in 1829 scandal struck. Houston married a woman 17 years younger than himself. Depressed and humiliated, Houston resigned as governor. Houston was instrumental in forging peace treaties among several warring Indian nations. A band of 300-500 Texas riflemen attacked and captured Mexico's military headquarters in San Antonio. After a series battles, including the Alamo, the Texans surprised Santa Anna's army on April 21, 1836 The next day, Houston's (who had once again became the military leader of the Texans) army captured Santa Anna himself and forced him to sign a treaty granting Texas its independence
c. The Alamo.
The construction for the Alamo began in 1724 and served as a missionary to Indian converts for seventy years until the Spanish secularized it and four other missionaries and distributed the land to the locals. This eventually grew into the city of San Antonio. The Alamo was given its name by a Spanish military unit after their hometown Alamo de Parras, Alamo meaning “cottonwood” in Spanish. The Alamo was used as a base by both sides during the Mexican War of Independence. December 1835, Ben Milam led his group of Texan volunteers against Mexican troops quartered in the city. They fought in the city for five days against Mexican General Marín Perfecto de Cós and forced him to surrender. The rebels then fortified themselves in the Alamo. Among the rebels were David Crockett, a famous pioneer and Tennessee congressman, and Jim Bowie, a well-known knife fighter. Crockett even said in a letter that he would rather be defending the Alamo than being in congress. All the men stationed at the Alamo decided to stay and fight because they knew it was a crucial position in the defense of Texas. General Antonio López de Santa Anna's Army caught the defenders by surprise and began the invasion only to be beat back by cannon and rifle fire several times. The fight continued for 13 days. On March 6, 1836, the Mexican forces finally scaled the walls and blasted open the barricade, eventually overwhelming the rebels. To this day, the Alamo is considered the Shrine of Texas Liberty.
d. Manifest Destiny.
According to William E. Weeks, manifest destiny contains three key features: that it is the virtue of the American people and their institutions, the mission to spread these institutions and remake the world in the image of America, and that all this was God’s destiny for America to fulfill this work. Today, this idea seems radical to many but almost all of our founding fathers and the key figures in shaping America supported this idea. Thomas Paine wrote about it in his Common Sense pamphlet, Abraham Lincoln even said that the U.S. was “the last, best hope of Earth.” The Whigs were opposed to this ideology but one of their major supporters, Thomas Jefferson, even believed that republics would be founded in North America to create an empire for liberty. Though many agreed on the idea of spreading freedom, the major split was on whether these new states would allow slavery or not. This issue made John Adams, an advocate for manifest destiny, switch sides due to the slavery policies of the new states. Manifest destiny required territory expansion, this happened westward rather than North or South. The United States established a border with Canada in the Treaty of 1818 and warned Europe in the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 that North America was no longer open for European colonization. These precautions were mostly geared towards the Mexicans and Indians but fear of British Expansion from Canada was ever growing. Canada began having small rebellions and the U.S. supported them and some people even volunteered to help liberate Canada from the British and establish a Republic in what was called the Patriot War. The U.S. arrested these volunteers in order to prevent war with Canada. Another heated topic was whether to split Oregon with the British or not but a majority of the American people would rather fight Britain for Oregon than divide it. Eventually this led to the annexation of the Republic of Texas into the Union and sparked the Mexican American War in which America claimed a vast amount of territory around Mexico.
e. Westward Expansion.
In 1803, Thomas Jefferson asked congress to send a few handpicked men to explore the west. Jefferson did this in secret because the French owned the land and sending men into it would cause at least some sort of conflict with France. That same year, Napoleon offered the Louisiana Territory to the United States for only fifteen million dollars. Overnight, America grew over one million square miles. Jefferson had picked Meriwether Lewis to lead the expedition and Lewis recommended that his friend William Clark be second in command. After over two years and 8,000 miles, Lewis and Clark were welcomed back to St. Louis, Missouri where they started as heroes. Land disputes with the British in Canada almost resulted in war but was resolved by setting up the 49th parallel and the territory conflict with Mexico was resolved by the Mexican American War. All this new land was free and drew many settlers. The settlers wanted to return to a peaceful country life and to have their own land that they put work into. It was possible to buy good land cheap from the federal government as long as you farmed the fields. Hardships of pioneer life included Mexican bandits, dangerous wildlife, brushfire, and generally hard conditions during travel, but the pioneers were persistent and eventually, log cabins turned into small communities and then to towns and cities.
II. The Factions:
a. James Polk.
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 from the university of North Carolina and started his politics career as a lawyer. He soon gained a seat in the Tennessee 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 governor of Tennessee. It first he wanted to run for Vice President for the Democratic Party and became the leading candidate. 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.
b. Zachary Taylor.
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.
c. Ulysses Grant.
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.
d. Robert E. Lee (Need article)
e. Military History.
Before America gained independence, it's soldiers fought for England in the French and Indian War and many of the same people also fought in the Revolutionary War.The Continental Congress in 1775 created the Continental Army and named General George Washington its commander. The new Constitution in 1788 made the president the commander in chief. The military consisted of a regular army, state and town militias, and a modest navy. John Adams was president after Washington and built up the small, but efficient navy. The power of the U.S. Navy was shown under Jefferson when he used it to end the Barbary wars. One of he largest military action in America during the period was the War of 1812. The War of 1812 was the first time the U.S. declared war on another country even though the militaries previous goal was to remain completely neural to the European powers. The regular army and the militia did an outstanding job at the battle of New Orleans, killing over 2000 British and only losing 71. The U.S. Navy also performed well against the British Navy, which was considered one of the most powerful navies. After the war of 1812, the U.S. military focused on expanding the borders of America to the edge of the continent, this was a part of manifest destiny. The United States Army which was well equipped with the newest cannons, muskets, carbines, and the some of the best trained soldiers and generals of the time, fresh from the new military academy: WestPoint.
III The Factions: Mexico.
a. Santa Anna.
b. St. Patrick's Battalion.
During the time of the Mexican-American war, immigrants were constantly coming to America to begin a new life. A majority of Americans were Protestants and have English decent but there was a wave of Irish immigrants coming in. Mexico and Ireland are both primarily Catholic nations. At the beginning of the war, Captain John Riley formed an army of Irish Catholics and other Catholic immigrants who were upset at discrimination in the military and decided to desert the U.S. Army and fight along side the Mexican Army. Mexico also offered a higher pay than the U.S. Army for those who wanted to join. In the U.S. they are called St. Patrick’s Battalion, in Mexico they are called the San Patricios. The San Patricios fought in all of the major battles in the war up until Mexico was defeated. At the end of the war, the deserters were individually tried and most of them were set free but several were executed because the San Patricios caused the highest casualties in the U.S. Army. During the trails, many said they were forced to join after being captured or made their decision to join while drunk. In Mexico, they are celebrated as heroes twice a year, on September 12, the date of the executions, and on St. Patrick’s Day. In Mexico, there are statues, memorials, and towns named after them and the San Patricios are considered martyrs for the Mexican people.
c. Military History. (Need article)
IV. The War.
a. Weapons.
During the Mexican American War, the U.S. soldiers were much better equipped and trained than their enemies. The standard issue rifle for the U.S. infantryman was the .69-caliber, smoothbore flintlock musket. This was accurate up to one hundred yards and there were ten different variations of this kind of musket.. While percussion muskets were more advanced at the time only a few soldiers carried the percussion “Mississippi rifle.” Standard sidearms were flintlock or percussion smoothbore pistols that were inaccurate beyond 10 to 15 yards. Many officers purchased their own Colt revolvers. These revolvers could shoot six rounds before reloading and could shoot all six rounds, and reload in the same time that a standard flintlock or percussion pistol of the time could fire and reload one round. All soldiers carried bayonets for close quarters combat but swords and bowie knives were used too. Officers also carried double-barreled shotguns. The U.S. cavalry was equipped with short-range breach loading carbines. The United States most distinct advantage was its Flying Artillery. The cannons, howitzers, and mortars were top notch and could fire quickly and accurately wherever they were needed. It was noted that the artillery could fire every ten to fifteen seconds. Mexico had no way to make its own arms so it purchased all its weapons from European arms dealers. Most of Mexico’s weapons were outdated British rifles and cannons. The Infantry used the British .753-caliber “Brown Bess” which were used during the Revolutionary War. The sharpshooters and those proven in combat were given more expensive and better quality rifles. After being defeated, it was recorded that many of the Mexican soldiers just threw away their weapons in a hasty retreat and the U.S. soldiers commented that in efficiency, every three Mexican muskets were equal to one U.S. musket and that all of the muskets had a British Tower seal on them. In close quarters combat, the Mexicans had shorter bayonets and sabers. Often times, the ammunition would not fit in the muskets correctly and the poor powder quality caused them to use more resulting in a higher kickback. The Mexican Cavalry was quite experienced with lances. The lances had an eight-inch blade with four sides and at the end was a flag used to frighten the horses. The lances were as deadly as they were intimidating. The Mexican Cavalry was the most revered position in the Mexican Army. The Mexican artillery could not fire explosive shells or canisters, used to take out large amounts of infantry, they could only fire solid cannonballs and their main goal was to take out opposing artillery rather than to punch holes in the infantry. Near the end of the war, the cannons were being forged by local blacksmiths and drawn by mule or civilian carts. These homemade cannons often failed to fire to their maximum range. Due to superior training, weaponry, and tactics of the United States Army, a victory seemed imminent for America but Mexico was able to at least use its cavalry to slow the American advancement.
b. Battles. (Need article)
c. The Outcome. (Need article)
Conclusion.
American historians have generally condemned the Mexican American War as a war forced upon Mexico by the South, greedy for a new slave state. Mexico had imprisoned U.S. citizens in and around Texas, lied to about our diplomatic attempts, could not control bandits and plunderers at its borders, and hostile tensions between the two countries were ever growing. President Jackson was quoted saying that Mexico's offenses "would justify in the eyes of all nations immediate war." Just because the U.S. is stronger than Mexico does not protect Mexico from its expansion. The moral controversy on conquest should not be an issue because Mexico was a result of conquest and gained those territories through conquest and the Texan War of Independence might have reminded them of their own War for Independence from Spain. Texas had already had independence for nine years and Mexico was about to accept that as long as it did not join the U.S. We tried a diplomatic resolution but it was rejected twice. We held off from taking Texas into the Union until Great Britain had persuaded Mexico to recognize the independence of Texas if it refused to join the United States. The moral question is not the war itself, but the annexation of Texas as a slave state. If the war with moral issue is not about harassing Mexico then is within the United States and the decision to accept Texas into the Union as a slave state. The original plan was for Texas to be an independent nation and even annexing Texas was just but the U.S. was in turmoil about slavery and that is where the United States made a terribly unjust and immoral decision.
