War+with+Mexico

=Should the U.S. go to war with Mexico?= It has been called one of the most controversial conflicts in United States history. It was a war that lasted only 20 months but resulted in 14,000 American and 25,000 Mexican dead and wounded.

After Texas gained independence from Mexico, it was an independent country. Texas wasn't added immediately to the United States because adding a state could upset the balance of Free and Slave states. When Texas was annexed (added) to the United States in 1845, Mexico was outraged. One of the conditions of independence for Texas was they wouldn’t become part of the United States.

In the United States, a new president was taking over: James K. Polk. Polk took office in 1845 and he promised that he would help the United States achieve its Manifest Destiny even if it meant going to war!


 * President Polk believed that the southern boundary of Texas was the Rio Grande River.
 * Mexico believed it was the Nueces River.
 * Trace/highlight both rivers on your handout.

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 * Question: President Polk sent the U.S. army south to defend what he believed was the U.S. boundary at the Rio Grande River. When U.S. troops were sent to the Rio Grande, Mexico sent its own troops as well. Why did Mexico send troops to the Rio Grande?**

=**You Decide: When American and Mexican troops clashed at the Rio Grande, Polk used the opportunity to as Congress for a declaration of war. Imagine you are a member of the U.S. Congress in 1846. President Polk has asked you to approve a declaration of war against Mexico. You have 4 choices.**=
 * I strongly agree that the United States should declare war on Mexico because....
 * I agree that the United States should declare war on Mexico because....
 * I strongly disagree that the United States should declare war on Mexico because....
 * I disagree that the United States should declare war on Mexico because.....

=War with Mexico!= Some historians refer to the Mexican-American War as one of the most controversial conflicts in American history. Read the opposing viewpoints below and answer the questions that follow.

Document #1- In May 1846, President Polk spoke before a special meeting of Congress to ask for a declaration of war against Mexico. This is a modified excerpt of his speech.
The existing start of the relations between the United States and Mexico renders it proper that I should bring this subject to the consideration of Congress.....The Mexican government has invaded our territory, and shed the blood of our fellow-citizens on our own soil....Mexico has proclaimed that hostilities have commenced, and that the two nations are now at war.

War exists despite all our efforts to avoid it, it exists due to the acts of Mexico itself, we are called upon our sense of duty and patriotism to defend the honor rights, and interests of our country.


 * Question: In his war message to Congress, what does Polk say Mexico did to start the war? Why should we go to battle with Mexico?**
 * Cite evidence from his speech in your answer.**

==**Document #2- One of the members of the U.S. House of Representatives who voiced his opposition to the Mexican War was Abraham Lincoln. He made a speech to Congress in opposition to the Mexican War. This is a modified excerpt of his speech.**==

The President sent the army into the midst of the Mexican people who had never submitted to the authority of Texas or the United States and...thereby the first blood of the war was shed...Let the President answer the questions I proposed....And, if, he can show that the soil was ours where the first blood was shed- that it was not within another country, or if it was, that the people there had submitted themselves to the authority of Texas or the United States, then I am with him...

But if he can't or won't do this, then I shall be fully convinced of what I already suspect- that he is deeply conscious of being in the wrong; that he feels the blood of this war...is crying to Heaven against him...and he is trying to escape the scrutiny by calling the public's attention to the military glory, that attractive rainbow that rises in showers of blood.


 * Question: In his message to Congress, what is Lincoln's argument against the Mexican War? Cite evidence from his speech in your answer.**

= = =**Results of The War with Mexico**=

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=**The Mexican-American War Today**=


 * [|Click here to go to the video.]**

=**California-**=

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