Week 3 Discussion: Manifest Destiny and the Mexican War of 1846
Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
Textbook:
... [Show More] Chapter 8 (section 8.3), 11
Lesson
Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)
Initial Post Instructions
For the initial post, pick two (2) of the following historical events:
• The Lewis and Clark Expedition
• The Missouri Compromise
• Independence of Texas
• Mexican War of 1846-1848
• The California Gold Rush
Then, address the following for your selections:
Which of your two selections do you consider most impactful on Westward Expansion during 1800-1848? Explain why.
Analyze the effects of the ideology of Manifest Destiny on the two historical events that you chose from the list.
Answer
For this week’s discussion the two historical events I choose are the Missouri Compromise and Mexican War (1846-1848). The reason I pick the Missouri compromise was to find out more of how a new state got permission to have slavery when slavery was dying out. As for the reason for choosing the Mexican War was curiosity for that piece of history since I am Mexican.
Before we get into which was more impactful on the western expansion let's talk about what each of these are The Missouri Compromise. “Conflict over the uneasy balance between slave and free states in Congress came to a head when Missouri petitioned to join the Union.” (Corbett, 2014). Already uneasy about the state balance Missouri proceed to petition. According to Alan, The Missouri compromise was a compromise between Missouri and the other states. Missouri would be submitted into the union of other states as a slave but to balance they would admission of Maine which was a free State. Reason for that is Maine wanted to be separated from Massachusetts. Slavery would be excluded from all new states in the purchase of Louisiana the North of the southern boundary. Many saw this as flawed, but it lasted for 30 years. In the future this was abolished by stating if a state chooses to have slavery it should be that states choice. (2006). In my opinion this was a step backwards allowing a state to have slavery when we are already working on abolishing it.
As for the Mexican war this war was over land between Mexico and America. According to Independence Hall association, United States did win this war against Mexico in doing so they created a treaty called the Trinity of Guadalupe Hidalgo. In these terms United States would receive California, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and part of Wyoming. Mexicans living in these areas would be allowed to become US citizens. As for Mexico they lost a lot of lives, their economic was in ruins and a large amount of property was a damage. (2008). For America this was a great gain on their coastal line for Mexico was a grave loss.
From my two selections of historical events I would have to say the Mexican American war was the most impactful on the western expansion during the 1800s to the 1848.the reason being is fairly obvious we gained almost six states in a matter of fighting a 2-year war. The amount of revenue that we were able to receive after receiving these states was monumental.
As for the ideology of the manifest destiny for these two historical events as for the Missouri compromise it still allowed for the United States to add another state although they were not so happy that they were a slavery state. They still allowed them to pass to expand their ground. As I mentioned in the previous paragraph the Mexican American war provided more states to America provide a more coastal line.
References
Alden, J. (2006). Effects of the Mexican-American War . Retrieved from http://bookbuilder.cast.org/view_print.php?book=24492.
Corbett, P. S., Janssen, V., Lund, J. M., Pfannestiel, T., & Vickery, P. (2014). U.S. History. Retrieved from https://d3bxy9euw4e147.cloudfront.net/oscms-prodcms/media/documents/USHistory-OP_IdjNctE.pdf
Independence Hall Association. (2008). The Missouri Compromise. Retrieved from http://www.ushistory.org/us/23c.asp.
Floye,
I chose these to topics as well I can understand the Mexican War but I just don’t understand the Missouri compromise. Corbett explains, that there was a conflict because of the fact their was be free states and slave states. Congress soon had to come up with a solution for this issue because Missouri was going to submit a petition to join the union. This lead to more debates of not just this issue but the morality of slavery the fear the future. As we know the compromise was that Missouri and Maine would enter the union at the same time Missouri slavery and Maine free. The rest of the Louisiana territory would have a line drawn and the slavery was forbidden north of. (2014). Even those Missouri was another slave state in the union the fact that Maine and Missouri had to compromise within themselves to create any decisions. The reason they balanced each other out slave and free state. Does not make Missouri having slaves correct but in their heads having two balancing factors in the union was something that needed to be.
Corbett, P. S., Janssen, V., Lund, J. M., Pfannestiel, T., & Vickery, P. (2014). U.S. History. Retrieved from https://d3bxy9euw4e147.cloudfront.net/oscms-prodcms/media/documents/USHistory-OP_IdjNctE.pdf
January of 1846 the U.S. decided to build a station on their territory while doing so they confronted a Mexican cavalry patrol. Shots were exchanged due to this interaction sixteen U.S. soldiers were killed or wound. Furious about this violation America quickly declared war on Mexico stating, “Mexico has invaded our territory and shed American blood upon American soil.” Congress deliberated and came to the conclusion that U.S. would go to war with Mexico. (2014).
In January 1846, the U.S. force that was ordered to the banks of the Rio Grande to build a fort on the “American” side encountered a Mexican cavalry unit on patrol. Shots rang out, and sixteen U.S. soldiers were killed or wounded. Angrily declaring that Mexico “has invaded our territory and shed American blood upon American soil,” President Polk demanded the United States declare war on Mexico. On May 12, Congress obliged. The small but vocal antislavery faction decried the decision to go to war, arguing that Polk had deliberately provoked hostilities so the United States could annex more save territory. Illinois representative Abraham
Lincoln and other members of Congress issued the “Spot Resolutions” in which they demanded to know the precise spot on U.S. soil where American blood had been spilled. Many Whigsal so denounced the war. Democrats,however,supportedPolk’sdecision,andvolunteersforthearmycameforwardindrovesfrom every part of the country except New England, the seat of abolitionist activity. Enthusiasm for the war was aided by the widely held belief that Mexico was a weak, impoverished country and that the Mexican people, perceived as ignorant, lazy, and controlled by a corrupt Roman Catholic clergy, would be easy to defeat. (Figure 11.15).
Corbett, P. S., Janssen, V., Lund, J. M., Pfannestiel, T., & Vickery, P. (2014). U.S. History. Retrieved from https://d3bxy9euw4e147.cloudfront.net/oscms-prodcms/media/documents/USHistory-OP_IdjNctE.pdf [Show Less]