Was it right or wrong for the USA to use ambiguity to wage war against Mexico in 1846-1848, which resulted in the USA taking almost 1/3 of northern Mexico for its own?
It was wrong for the United States to use ambiguity to wage war against Mexico. The U.S. government provided two reasons for invading Mexico: attitude of the Mexican government and national security and interests (Mahin 34). The United States accused Mexico of exaggerated aggression following biased interpretations of newspaper articles and some official declarations. It is noteworthy that although Texas had its own administration the Mexican government never acknowledged Texas as an independent nation. As such, any invasion by the United States would be an act of war against Mexico.
The United States took the advantage of the fact that Mexico was undergoing a period riddled with internal hostilities therefore Mexico could not provide a formidable resistance. Throughout the 1840s, politicians and leaders used the phrase ‘Manifest Destiny’ to describe the expansionist approach adopted by the U.S. government. During the time that United States invaded Mexico the latter was undergoing a period of tumult, political machinations, and military uprisings that led to overthrowing of successive governments especially between 1844 and 1847. Because of the successive coups, the U.S. government seized the opportunity to undermine the legitimacy of the Mexican government. Efforts by the Mexican government led by José Joaquín de Herrera attempted to negotiate with the leadership in Texas to prevent the annexation of Texas to the United States. However, a negotiated solution was not forthcoming because U.S. was aware of the fragile authority of the Mexican government due to internal wrangles. In 1844 the U.S. representatives began characterizing and undermine the capacity of the Mexican government to negotiate.
The reluctance of the U.S. government to negotiate with the Mexican government was followed by the alterations to the 1824 Federal Constitution. The amendment sought to prohibit the executive from ratifying peace pacts and concluding any negotiations with the foreign nations. This is an indication that the United States was only driven by self-aggrandizement. The annexation was an affront against Mexican sovereignty over its territories and was unacceptable either in law or for national security reasons. Ultimately, the U.S. president James K. Polk acted like emperor and the cabinet was usurping the role of the court while making unfounded allegations based on misrepresentation of information. It is worth noting that before the war, President Polk had sent his emissary, John Slidell, to meet with Mexican authorities. Polk’s intention was not to negotiate but to offer the Mexican government a compensation of around five million dollars for the Nuevo Mexico and around forty million dollars for the Alta California territories (Mills 23).
The American Government was wrong because it was propagating an imperialist policy even though it had previously accused Britain of propagating similar policies that it was now inflicting against Mexico. The government of the United States aided by the Congress propagated an expansionist policy that it was now using to invade the Mexican territory (Delay 274). It is notable that although the United States set out to annex Texas the United States had recognized the Mexican territory to include Texas as was evidenced by treaties that dated back from the year 1828 to 1836. The U.S. government claimed that the Texas region extended to the Rio Grande River while Mexico claimed that Texas territory extended up to Nueces River.
There was a general agreement within the U.S. government and even with the opposition factions that Mexico had never committed an act of aggression against the United States (Tucker 476). However, President Polk managed to convince the cabinet and the Congress that there was a danger of imminent aggression by the Mexican army hence there was sufficient reason for war. This is evidence that President Polk and the Congress were propagating a pre-emptive war. The subsequent sending of American troops to the disputed border between United States and Mexico was aimed at provoking Mexico into a war. The result of the provocation was an aggressive war of conquest and imperialism. The invasion and conquest of Mexican territories enabled the United States to acquire the states of Texas, California, and other Mexican regions. The greed of the American government before during and after the Mexican War (1846-1848) is obvious because although the initial intention of the United States was to annex Texas, it forced the Mexican government to sign away almost half of its territories. These territories included the modern-day states of California Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, parts of Colorado and Wyoming in addition to Texas (Holt 310).
Work Cited
Delay, Brian. War of a Thousand Deserts: Indian Raids and the U.S.-Mexican War. Yale: Yale
Holt, Michael. The Rise and Fall of the Crazy American Whig Party: Jacksonian Politics and the
Onset of the Civil War. Oxford University Press, 2003, p. 310–11.
Mahin, Dean. Olive Branch and Sword: The United States and Mexico, 1845-1848. North
Carolina: McFarland & Company Inc., 1997.
Mills, Bronwyn. U.S.-Mexican War (America at War (Facts on File)). Facts on File, 2003.
Tucker, Spencer. The Encyclopedia of the Mexican-American War: A Political, Social, and
Military History. ABC-CLIO, 2012.
