The Mexican American War A Forgotten Fight - 2241 Words

The Mexican-American War: A Forgotten Fight Thesis: The Mexican-American War was a leading factor in the cause of the American Civil War through the acquisition of new territory along with the concept of Manifest Destiny and the effects of this war can even be felt to this day. There were several factors that lead to the beginning of the war, some of which were political and others were violent. One of the political factors involved the relations between the United States and Mexico in the years leading up to the war. These relations were becoming increasingly strained as time went on. This was due to the fact that Texas, which was still independent at this time, rejected Mexico’s offer of recognition and instead accepted the U.S.’s offer†¦show more content†¦(27). Santa Anna was not only power hungry, but also very egotistical. Kelly Howes proves this in Mexican-American War by describing the time he lost his left leg in 1838 when fighting the French. He had the leg buried with full military honors to show that he was a war hero (61). Auburn University Montgomery professor of history Timothy Henderson gives two reasons in the text A Glorious Defeat pertaining to why Mexico did not just negotiate from the beginning. The first was that it would be allowing the U.S. to get away with expanding at will, and it seemed it would be mean having to negotiate with political opponents (191). The violent causes of the war included many revolutions and changes of leaders in Mexico in the years preceding the war. There were revolts in 1810 and 1821. The Mexican Empire was overthrown in 1824. After this, many leaders and governments rose and fell. Santa Anna held power from 1832-1837 and was then exiled. As mentioned previously, he returned to power in 1846 (Singletary 17-18, 27). Santa Anna himself was a cause of American distrust of Mexico, as he was the one who led the slaughter of the defenders of the Alamo in Texas years earlier (Singletary 15). He also ordered the execution of the three-hu ndred American soldiers under General James Farrin at Goliad, who