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Mexican-American War, known in the United States as
The Mexican War and in Mexico as
la intervención norteamericana (the North American Intervention) or
la guerra del 47 (the War of '47), was a military conflict fought between the
United States and
Mexico from 1846 to 1848, in the wake of the 1845 U.S.
annexation of
Texas. Mexico had not recognized the
secession of Texas in 1836 and announced its intention to take back what it considered a rebel province.
In the United States, the war was a partisan issue, supported by most
Democrats and opposed by most
Whigs, with popular belief in the
Manifest Destiny of the United States ultimately translating into public support for the war. In Mexico, the war was considered a matter of national pride.
The most important consequence of the war was the
Mexican Cession, in which the Mexican territories of
California and
New Mexico were ceded to the United States. In Mexico, the enormous loss of territory which resulted from the war encouraged the central government to enact policies to colonize its northern territories as a hedge against further losses.
Background
thumb|250px|right|Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna attempted to assert Mexican control over that country's most distant provinces in the years preceding the war.Prior to the Mexican-American War, what is now Texas was the northernmost province of Mexico. Texas and other northern territories of Mexico were visited by
mountain men from the U.S. and tradesmen who traversed the
Santa Fe Trail. U.S. citizens were already in
California, coming by way of the
California Trail, and U.S. ships had been exchanging goods for hides and
tallow along the coast of California. For the 25 years subsequent to Mexico's independence from the
Spanish Empire, this area had been a part of the first Mexican republic (1823-1861) or the
First Mexican Empire (1822-1823) that preceded it. The Spanish Empire had acquired these territories by conquering of the
Aztec Empire and various other
Native American peoples.
In the years following the
Louisiana Purchase by the United States, U.S. settlers began to move westward into Spanish territory, encouraged by Spanish land grants and the United States government. After the
Mexican War of Independence, Mexico inherited ownership of the provinces of Alta California, La Mesilla, Nuevo Mexico and Tejas, from Spain, and the westward migration of U.S. settlers continued. Since the times of New Spain, the Spanish Crown gave permission to U. S. settlers to obtain land in Texas provided they declared themselves to be
Catholic and manifested their obedience to the king.
In the mid-1830s, the government of Mexico, under
General Santa Anna, attempted to centralize power. However, several Mexican states rebelled against his government, including Texas, California,
San Luis Potosí,
Querétaro,
Durango,
Guanajuato,
Michoacán,
Yucatán,
Jalisco and
Zacatecas. Texans had multiple grievances, including the abolition of slavery by Mexico in 1829 and the abolition of the federalist Constitution of 1824 for a centralist government under Santa Anna. The violent insurgency started in Texas is known as the
Texas Revolution.
The new Mexican government, weakened and virtually bankrupt from the Mexican War of Independence, found it difficult to govern its northern territories, which in any case were hundreds of miles from the capital of
Mexico City.
Republic of Texas
200px|thumb|right|The [Republic of Texas. The present-day outlines of the U.S. states are superimposed on the boundaries of 1836–1845.]In the successful 1836 Texas Revolution, Texas won its independence after defeating Santa Anna and the Mexican army. General Santa Anna was taken captive by the Texas
militia and only released after he promised to recognize the sovereignty of the
Republic of Texas. However, when Santa Anna returned to Mexico, the government refused to recognize the loss or independence of the Republic of Texas, the rationale being that Santa Ana was not a representative of Mexico and that he signed away Texas under duress. Mexico declared its intention to recapture what it considered a breakaway province.
In the decade after the war, Texas consolidated its position as an independent republic by establishing diplomatic ties with the
United Kingdom and the United States. Most Texans were in favor of annexation by the United States, but anti-slavery
Northerners feared that admitting another slave state would tip the balance of national power to the slave-holding
South, and they delayed Texas's annexation for almost a decade. Consequently, Texas was not admitted to the union until 1845, when it became the 28th
state.
The Mexican government complained that by annexing its "rebel province," the United States had intervened in Mexico's internal affairs and unjustly seized its sovereign territory. The major European powers, led by Britain and
France, recognized the independence of Texas and repeatedly tried to dissuade Mexico from declaring war. British efforts to mediate were fruitless because additional political disputes (particularly the
Oregon boundary dispute) arose between Britain and the United States.
In 1845, the new
U.S. President,
James K. Polk, sent diplomat
John Slidell to Mexico City in an attempt to purchase Mexico's California and New Mexico territories. U.S. expansionists wanted California to thwart British ambitions in the area and to have a port on the
Pacific Ocean, which would allow the United States to participate in the lucrative trade with
Asia. Polk authorized Slidell to forgive the $4.5 million owed to U.S. citizens from the Mexican War of Independence and pay another $25 to $30 million in exchange for the two territories.
However, Mexico was neither inclined nor in a position to negotiate, largely because of political turmoil. In 1846 alone, the presidency changed hands four times, the war ministry six times, and the finance ministry sixteen times.
[Donald Fithian Stevens, Origins of Instability in Early Republican Mexico (1991) p. 11 ] According to historian D.F. Stevens, both Mexican public opinion and Mexican political factions and leaders were hawkish on the issue of North American territories, advocating a policy of war
[ Miguel E. Soto, "The Monarchist Conspiracy and the Mexican War" in Essays on the Mexican War ed by Wayne Cutler; Texas A&M University Press. 1986. pp 66-67]. Mexicans opposing open conflict with the United States such as President
José Joaquín de Herrera and others were considered traitors. When President de Herrera considered receiving Slidell in order to peacefully negotiate the problem of Texas annexation, he was deposed after being accused of treason and trying to hand over part of national territory.
Military opponents of President José Joaquín de Herrera considered Slidell's presence in Mexico City an insult. After a more nationalistic government under General
Mariano Paredes y Arrillaga came to power, the new government publicly reaffirmed Mexico's claim to Texas, and Slidell left in a temper, convinced that Mexico should be "chastized."
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/mexican_war.htmOpening hostilities
right|thumb|U.S. General President of the United States, commanded forces in Texas in 1846.">[Zachary Taylor, later
President of the United States, commanded forces in Texas in 1846.]Mexico, which had never recognized Texas's independence, claimed the
Nueces River — about 150 miles (240 km) north of the
Rio Grande — as the border between Texas and Mexico. The United States, however, upheld Texas' claim to the land between the Nueces and the Rio Grande. The boundary claimed by Texas was established by the defunct 1836
Treaty of Velasco that ended the Texas Revolution. Mexico argued that General Santa Anna signed the treaty under duress when he was held captive by the Texans, so it was invalid. Moreover, the Mexicans argued, Santa Anna had no authority to negotiate or sign a treaty, and the treaties were never ratified by the Mexican government. In 1846, after Texas was admitted into the Union, Polk sent troops under General
Zachary Taylor to the Rio Grande to protect Texas from a threatened Mexican invasion (Bauer; 6, 17-18).
Taylor ignored Mexican demands to withdraw to the Nueces and began constructing a make-shift fort (later known as
Fort Brown) on the banks of the Rio Grande opposite the Mexican town of
Matamoros. Mexican forces under General
Mariano Arista prepared for war.
On
April 24,
1846, a 2,000-strong Mexican
cavalry detachment attacked a 63-man U.S. patrol that was sent into the contested territory north of the Rio Grande and south of the Nueces River. The Mexican cavalry succeeded in routing the patrol, killing 11 U.S. soldiers in what later became known as the
Thornton Affair, after the slain U.S. officer who was in command. A few survivors escaped and returned to Fort Brown.
On
May 3, Mexican artillery at Matamoros opened fire on Fort Brown, which replied with its own guns. The bombardment continued for five days and expanded as the Mexican forces gradually surrounded the fort. Two U.S. soldiers were killed during the bombardment, including Jacob Brown, after whom the fort was later named.
On
May 8, Zachary Taylor arrived with 2,400 troops to relieve the fort. However, Arista rushed north and intercepted him with a force of 3,400 at
Palo Alto. The Americans used a new artillery method named
flying artillery — a mobile light artillery that was mounted on horse carriages, with all cannoneers mounted as well. U.S. artillery had a devastating effect on the Mexican Army. The Mexicans responded with cavalry skirmishes and its own artillery. The U.S. flying artillery somewhat demoralized the Mexican side, and they felt the need to find a terrain more to their advantage. They retreated to the far side of a dry riverbed (resaca) during the night, which provided a natural fortification, but they also scattered their troops so that communication was difficult. During the
Battle of Resaca de la Palma the next day, the two sides engaged in vicious
hand-to-hand fighting. The U.S. cavalry managed to capture the Mexican artillery, leading the Mexican side to retreat—a retreat that turned into a rout. Because of the terrain and the dispersion of his troops, Arista found it impossible to rally his forces. Mexican casualties were heavy, and they were forced to abandon their artillery and baggage. Fort Brown inflicted further casualties as the withdrawing troops passed by them and swam across the Rio Grande where many drowned.
Declaration of war
By then, Polk had received word of the Thornton affair and added this to the rejection of Slidell as the
casus belli. A message to
Congress on
May 11,
1846, stated that Mexico had "invaded our territory and shed American blood upon the American soil". A joint session of Congress overwhelmingly approved the declaration of war. Democrats overwhelmingly supported the war. 67 Whigs voted against it on a key amendment, but on the final passage only 14 Whigs voted no, including Representative
Abraham Lincoln. The United States declared war on Mexico on
May 13,
1846, and Mexico declared war on
July 7 (sometimes the manifest from President
Paredes on
May 23 is taken as the declaration of war, but only the congress had that faculty).
Whigs in both the North and South generally opposed the war, while Democrats mostly supported it. Whig Abraham Lincoln contested the causes for the war and demanded to know the exact spot on which Thornton had been attacked and U.S. blood had been shed. He was quoted as saying "Show me the spot."
"This war is a nondescript," declared Whig leader
Robert Toombs of
Georgia. "We charge the President with usurping the war-making power . . . with seizing a country . . . which had been for centuries, and was then in the possession of the Mexicans. . . . Let us put a check upon this lust of dominion. We had territory enough, Heaven knew."
Beveridge 1:417After the declaration of war, U.S. forces invaded Mexican territory on two main fronts. The
U.S. war department sent a cavalry force under
Stephen W. Kearny to invade western Mexico from
Fort Leavenworth, reinforced by a Pacific fleet under
John D. Sloat. This was done primarily because of concerns that Britain might also attempt to occupy the area. Two more forces, one under
John E. Wool and the other under Taylor, were ordered to occupy Mexico as far south as the city of
Monterrey.
War in California
right|thumb|300px|Flag of the [California Republic, established in a concurrent rebellion against Mexican rule.]In 1846, the Mexican territory of California was thinly populated, with small and scattered settlements of Spanish-speaking
Californios and
Hispanos, and, living among them, small communities of
English-speaking immigrants; both groups were outnumbered by the Native American populations.
On
June 14,
1846, 30 American settlers in
Sonoma, after a night of drinking, arrested and imprisoned Lieutenant Colonel
Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo and proclaimed an independent republic of California; this proved to be a short-lived "republic," and its influence -- save for the making of the flag of California, which was created during the rebellion -- had little influence, never reaching further than Sonoma and scattered parts of northern California. Captain
John C. Frémont of the
U.S. Army arrived with his soldiers at the so-called "
Bear Flag Revolt" in Sonoma on
June 25 and organized the rebels into a motley group calling itself the California Battalion.
On
July 7, on California's Pacific coast,
Sloat claimed
Monterey, California, taking formal control of California under the U.S. flag. He transferred his command to Commodore
Robert F. Stockton on
July 15.
On
August 13,
1846, U.S. naval forces sailed into
Los Angeles and raised the U.S. flag without opposition. A garrison of 50
U.S. Marines established what would become
Fort Moore. However, the heavy-handed martial law of Captain
Archibald Gillespie, who was acting commander of Los Angeles, ignited a popular uprising led by
José Mariá Flores. Gillespie's small but oppressive garrison was thrown out on
September 23, and his life was spared in a truce on the condition that he immediately leave California.
Stockton was informed of this revolt by the ¨
Paul Revere¨ of California, Lean John, and promised to make quick work of the uprising and their leaders by sending Captain
William Mervine and a ship to
San Pedro. As Captain Mervine landed his 350 men on
October 7,
1846, Gillespie, seeing Mervine and his force land, immediately scrapped the truce made with the Californios. The new expedition quickly set out for Los Angeles, anxious to cover themselves in martial glory. In a skirmish known as the
Battle of Dominguez Rancho, mounted Californios led by Jose Antonio Carillo met Mervine's sailors, Marines, and Bear Flaggers with fire from a single cannon which took a terrible toll on Mervine's men, forcing him to retreat with his marines back to his ship
Savannah, where the Californios could not reach them. During the skirmish, ten Americans were wounded, of which four later died (Bauer, 185). The Californios suffered no dead and 5 wounded. As a great number of U.S. reinforcements approached, the Californios retreated as night fell. Commodore Stockton landed in San Diego and later relieved Mervine and Gillespie with large reinforcements.
Meanwhile, General
Kearny and the Army of the West (some 1,700 U.S. army troops) marched to
Santa Fe, New Mexico, and took control. Kearny then proceeded onward with a considerably smaller detachment of 300
dragoons along the
Gila River valley and across the deserts to California, arriving there with fewer than 150 men. General Kearny had been ill-advised by U.S. soldiers, including his famous scout
Kit Carson, that the Californios were cowards and would sooner run than fight. Kearny received the news that
Andres Pico and his insurgents were in the vicinity. Before dawn on
December 6,
1846, at
San Pascual (near present day
Escondido, California), General Kearny and the Army of the West, augmented by Gillespie's men, fought a pitched battle with less than 150 Californios. The Californios, renowned for their horsemanship, easily outmanuevered the U.S. soldiers with their lassos, roping them off their horses and dragging them to their deaths or stabbing them with their lances. Of the 150 U.S. soldiers engaged, about 18 were killed and 13 others wounded, including General Kearny. The
Battle of San Pascual was a disaster for U.S. troops (Bauer, 188) but did little more than delay the U.S. conquest of California.
On
November 16,
1846, another battle took place at the Rancho La Natividad (near present day
Salinas Valley). The Californios under
Joaquin de la Torre had captured the American consul
Thomas Oliver Larkin and were holding him as a
prisoner of war. Some 100 of Fremont's men, led by Bluford "Hell Roaring" Thompson and Charles Burroughs met a contingent of 130 Californios led by Commandante
Manuel de Jesus Casto and
Joaquin de la Torre. A battle ensued lasting 20 minutes in which the Californio force killed 5 U.S. soldiers, including Captain Burroughs, and wounded several more.
Upon arriving in southern California, Stockton united with naval reinforcements and won the
Battle of Rio San Gabriel and the
La Mesa, taking control of
San Diego and Los Angeles. The
Treaty of Cahuenga was signed on
January 13,
1847, between
John Charles Fremont and General
Andrés Pico to end the conflict in California and secure the territory for the United States.
War in Northeastern Mexico
300px|right|thumb|U.S. troops marching on Carl Nebel.">[Monterrey during the Mexican-American War, as depicted by
Carl Nebel.]The defeats at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma caused political turmoil in Mexico, turmoil which
Antonio López de Santa Anna used to revive his political career and return from self-imposed exile in Cuba. He promised the U.S. troops that if allowed to pass through their blockade, he would negotiate a peaceful conclusion to the war and sell the New Mexico and California territories to the United States. Once he arrived in Mexico, however, he reneged and offered his military skills to the Mexican government. After he had been appointed general, he reneged again, this time to his own government, and seized the presidency.
2,300 U.S. troops led by Taylor crossed the Rio Grande (Rio Bravo) after some initial difficulties in obtaining river transport. He occupied the city of
Matamoros, then
Camargo (where while waiting the soldiery suffered the first of many problems with disease) and then proceeded south and besieged the city of
Monterrey. This
Battle of Monterrey was a hard fought battle during which both sides suffered serious losses. The Americans light artillery was ineffective against the stone fortifications of the city. The Mexican forces were under General
Pedro de Ampudia. A U.S. infantry division and the Texas Rangers captured four hills to the west of the town and with them heavy cannon. That lent the U.S. soldiers the strength to storm the city from the west and east. Once in the city, U.S. soldiers fought house to house: each was cleared by throwing lighted shells, which worked like grenades. Eventually, these actions drove and trapped Ampudia's men into the city's central plaza, where howitzer shelling forced Ampudia to negotiate. Taylor agreed to allow the Mexican Army to evacuate and to an 8-week armistice in return for the surrender of the city. Under pressure from Washington, Taylor broke the armistice and occupied the city of Saltillo, southwest of Monterrey. Santa Anna blamed the loss of Monterrey and Saltillo on Ampudia and demoted him to command a small artillery battalion.
On
February 22,
1847, Santa Anna personally marched north to fight Taylor with 20,000 men. Taylor, with 4,600 men, had entrenched at a mountain pass called Buena Vista. Santa Anna suffered desertions on the way north and arrived with 15,000 men in a tired state. He demanded and was refused surrender of the U.S. army; he attacked the next morning. Santa Anna flanked the U.S. positions by sending his cavalry and some of his infantry up the steep terrain that made up one side of the pass, while a division of infantry attacked frontally along the road leading to Buena Vista. Furious fighting ensued during which the U.S. troops were almost routed, but were saved by artillery fire against a Mexican advance at close range by Captain
Braxton Bragg, and a charge by the mounted Mississippi Riflemen under
Jefferson Davis. Having suffered discouraging losses, Santa Anna withdrew that night, leaving Taylor in control of Northern Mexico. Polk distrusted Taylor, who he felt had shown incompetence in the Battle of Monterrey by agreeing to the armistice, and may have considered him a political rival for the White House. Taylor later used the
Battle of Buena Vista as the centerpiece of his successful 1848 presidential campaign.
Scott's campaign
right|thumb|Mexico City.">[Winfield Scott became an American national hero after his victories in the Mexican War, and later became military governor of occupied
Mexico City.]
Rather than reinforce Taylor's army for a continued advance, President Polk sent a second army under General
Winfield Scott, which was transported to the port of
Veracruz by sea, to begin an invasion of the Mexican heartland. Scott performed the first major amphibious landing in the history of the United States in preparation for the
Siege of Veracruz. A group of 12,000 volunteer and regular soldiers successfully offloaded supplies, weapons and horses near the walled city. Included in the group were
Robert E. Lee and
George Meade. The city was defended by Mexican General
Juan Morales with 3,400 men.
Mortars and naval guns under Commodore
Matthew C. Perry were used to reduce the city walls and harass defenders. The city replied as best it could with its own artillery. The effect of the extended barrage destroyed the will of the Mexican side to fight against a numerically superior foe, and they surrendered the city after 12 days under siege. U.S. troops suffered 80 casualties, while the Mexican side had around 180 killed and wounded, about half of whom were civilian. During the siege, the U.S. side began to fall victim to
Yellow Fever.
Scott then marched westward toward Mexico City with 8,500 healthy troops, while Santa Anna set up a defensive position in a canyon around the main road at the halfway mark to Mexico city, near the hamlet of
Cerro Gordo. Santa Anna had entrenched with 12,000 troops and artillery that were trained on the road, along which he expected Scott to appear. However, Scott had sent 2,600 mounted dragoons ahead, and the Mexican artillery prematurely fired on them and revealed their positions. Instead of taking the main road, Scott's troops trekked through the rough terrain to the north, setting up his artillery on the high ground and quietly flanking the Mexicans. Although by then aware of the positions of U.S. troops, Santa Anna and his troops were unprepared for the onslaught that followed. The Mexican army was routed. The U.S. army suffered 400 casualties, while the Mexicans suffered over 1,000 casualties and 3,000 were taken prisoner.
In May, Scott pushed on to
Puebla, the second largest city in Mexico. Because of the citizens' hostility to Santa Anna, the city capitulated without resistance on
May 15. Mexico City was laid open in the
Battle of Chapultepec and subsequently occupied.
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
thumbnail|right|300px|The Gadsden Purchase (orange)">[Mexican Cession (red) and the
Gadsden Purchase (orange)]
The
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed on
February 2,
1848, ended the war and gave the U.S undisputed control of Texas as well as California,
Nevada,
Utah, and parts of
Colorado,
Arizona, New Mexico, and
Wyoming. In return, Mexico received
US$18,250,000. Mexicans living in the conquered lands could choose to return to Mexico or stay and become American citizens. Article X was struck from the treaty before it was ratified by the
U.S. Senate. These articles promised that the United States would recognize Mexican and Spanish land grants.
Combatants
Although 13,000 U.S. soldiers died during the course of the Mexican War, only about 1,700 were killed in combat. 90% died of disease, such as yellow fever. Mexican casualties are estimated at 25,000.
One of the contributing factors to loss of the war by Mexico was the inferiority of their weapons. The Mexican army was using British
muskets from the
Napoleonic Wars, while U.S. troops had the latest U.S. manufactured
rifles. Furthermore, Mexican troops were trained to fire with their musket held loosely at hip-level, while U.S. soldiers used the much more accurate method of butting the rifle up to the shoulder and taking aim along the barrel.
The
Saint Patrick's Battalion (
San Patricios), was a group of several hundred
Irish immigrant soldiers who deserted the U.S. Army and joined the Mexican army. Most were killed in the
Battle of Churubusco; about 100 were captured and hanged as deserters.
The
last surviving U.S. veteran of the conflict,
Owen Thomas Edgar, died on
September 3,
1929, at age 98.
Results
Mexico lost more than 500,000 square miles (1,300,000 square km) of land, almost half of its territory. The annexed territories contained about 1,000 Mexican families in California and 7,000 in New Mexico. A few moved back to Mexico; the great majority remained and became U.S. citizens.
A month before the end of the war, Polk was criticized in a
United States House of Representatives amendment to a bill praising Major General Zachary Taylor for "a war unnecessarily and unconstitutionally begun by the President of the United States." This criticism, in which Congressman Abraham Lincoln played an important role, followed congressional scrutiny of the war's beginnings, including factual challenges to claims made by President Polk
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llcg&fileName=020/llcg020.db&recNum=102 Congressional Globe, 30th Session (1848) pp.93-95] [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(hj04321)) House Journal, 30th Session (1848) pp.183-184]. The vote followed party lines, with all Whigs supporting the amendment. Lincoln's attack damaged his political career in
Illinois where the war was popular, and he did not run for re-election.
In much of the United States, victory and the acquisition of new land brought a surge of patriotism (the country had also acquired the southern half of the
Oregon Country in 1846 through a treaty with Great Britain). Victory seemed to fulfill citizens' belief in their country's Manifest Destiny. While Whig
Ralph Waldo Emerson rejected war "as a means of achieving America's destiny," he accepted that "most of the great results of history are brought about by discreditable means." Although the Whigs had opposed the war, they made Zachary Taylor their presidential candidate in the
election of 1848, praising his military performance while muting their criticism of the war itself.
The war had been widely supported by Democrats and opposed by Whigs. Many Northern abolitionists attacked the war as an attempt by slave-owners to expand
slavery and assure their continued influence in the federal government.
Henry David Thoreau wrote his essay
Civil Disobedience and refused to pay taxes to support the war. Former President
John Quincy Adams also expressed his belief that the war was an effort to expand slavery. In 1846, Democratic Congressman
David Wilmot introduced the
Wilmot Proviso to prohibit slavery in any new territory acquired from Mexico. Wilmot's proposal did not pass, but it sparked further hostility between the factions.
In the 1880s, Ulysses S. Grant, who had served under Taylor's command, called the conflict an evil war that had brought
God's punishment on the United States in the form of the
American Civil War:
The Southern rebellion was largely the outgrowth of the Mexican war. Nations, like individuals, are punished for their transgressions. We got our punishment in the most sanguinary and expensive war of modern times. http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/4367
Many of the generals of the latter war had fought in the former, including Grant,
George B. McClellan,
Ambrose Burnside,
Stonewall Jackson,
James Longstreet,
George Meade, and
Robert E. Lee, as well as the future
Confederate President
Jefferson Davis.
In Mexico City's
Chapultepec Park, the
Monument to the Heroic Cadets commemorates the heroic sacrifice of six teenaged military cadets who fought to their deaths rather than surrender to American invaders during the Battle of Chapultepec Castle on
September 18,
1847. The monument is an important patriotic site in Mexico. On
March 5,
1947, nearly one hundred years after the battle, U.S. President
Harry S. Truman placed a wreath at the monument and stood for a
moment of silence.
See also
*
Battles of the Mexican-American War*
History of Mexico*
List of Mexican-American War Veterans*
Reconquista (Mexico)Footnotes
References
Primary Sources
*Polk, James.
Polk: The Diary of a President, 1845-1849, Covering the Mexican War, the Acquisition of Oregon, and the Conquest of California and the Southwest. edited by
Allan Nevins (1929)
*
http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/4367 Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant from
Project GutenbergSecondary Sources
Surveys
* Bauer K. Jack.
The Mexican War, 1846-1848. Macmillan, 1974.
* Crawford, Mark; Heidler, Jeanne T.; Heidler, David Stephen , eds.
Encyclopedia of the Mexican-American War (1999) (ISBN 157607059X)
*De Voto, Bernard,
Year of Decision 1846 (1942)
* Mayers, David; Fernández Bravo, Sergio A., "La Guerra Con Mexico Y Los Disidentes Estadunidenses, 1846-1848"
The War with Mexico and US Dissenters, 1846-48.
Secuencia Mexico 2004 (59): 32-70. Issn: 0186-0348
*Meed, Douglas.
The Mexican War, 1846-1848 (2003). A short survey.
* Rodríguez Díaz, María Del Rosario. "Mexico's Vision of Manifest Destiny During the 1847 War"
Journal of Popular Culture 2001 35(2): 41-50. Issn: 0022-3840
* Smith, Justin Harvey.
The War with Mexico. 2 vol (1919). Pulitzer Prize winner.
Military
* Bauer K. Jack.
Zachary Taylor: Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Old Southwest. Louisiana State University Press, 1985.
* Eisenhower, John.
So Far From God: The U.S. War with Mexico, Random House (New York; 1989)
* Frazier, Donald S.
The U.S. and Mexico at War, Macmillan (1998)
* Hamilton, Holman,
Zachary Taylor: Soldier of the Republic , (1941)
* Johnson, Timothy D.
Winfield Scott: The Quest for Military Glory, University Press of Kansas (1998)
* Foos, Paul.
A Short, Offhand, Killing Affair: Soldiers and Social Conflict during the Mexican-American War (2002)
* Lewis, Lloyd.
Captain Sam Grant (1950)
* Winders, Richard Price.
Mr. Polk's Army Texas A&M Press (College Station, 1997)
PitalicPItalic textolitical and Diplomatic
* Albert J. Beveridge;
Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1858. Volume: 1. 1928.
* Brack, Gene M.
Mexico Views Manifest Destiny, 1821-1846: An Essay on the Origins of the Mexican War (1975).
* Fowler, Will.
Tornel and Santa Anna: The Writer and the Caudillo, Mexico, 1795-1853 (2000)
* Gleijeses, Piero. "A Brush with Mexico"
Diplomatic History 2005 29(2): 223-254. Issn: 0145-2096 debates in Washington before war
* Graebner, Norman A.
Empire on the Pacific: A Study in American Continental Expansion. New York: Ronald Press, 1955.
* Graebner, Norman A. "Lessons of the Mexican War."
Pacific Historical Review 47 (1978): 325-42.
* Graebner, Norman A. "The Mexican War: A Study in Causation."
Pacific Historical Review 49 (1980): 405-26.
* Krauze, Enrique.
Mexico: Biography of Power, Harpers: 1997
* Pletcher David M.
The Diplomacy of Annexation: Texas, Oregon, and the Mexican War. University of Missouri Press, 1973.
* Price, Glenn W.
Origins of the War with Mexico: The Polk-Stockton Intrigue. University of Texas Press, 1967.
* Robinson, Cecil,
The View From Chapultepec: Mexican Writers on the Mexican-American War, University of Arizona Press (Tucson, 1989)
* Ruiz, Ramon Eduardo.
Triumph and Tragedy: A History of the Mexican People, Norton 1992
* Schroeder John H.
Mr. Polk's War: American Opposition and Dissent, 1846-1848. University of Wisconsin Press, 1973.
* Sellers Charles G.
James K. Polk: Continentalist, 1843-1846 Princeton University Press, 1966.
* Smith, Justin Harvey.
The War with Mexico. 2 vol (1919). Pulitzer Prize winner.
* Weinberg Albert K.
Manifest Destiny: A Study of Nationalist Expansionism in American History Johns Hopkins University Press, 1935.
* Yanez, Agustin.
Santa Anna: Espectro de una sociedad (1996)
External links
*
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerra_de_Intervenci%C3%B3n_Norteamericana Guerra de Intervención Norteamericana, an account of the war (in Spanish) from the Spanish Wikipedia.
*
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/MM/qdm2.html The Handbook of Texas Online: Mexican War*
http://www.lnstar.com/mall/texasinfo/mexicow.htm The Mexican War*
http://www.sonofthesouth.net/mexican-war/war.htm Mexican-American War Resources*
http://www.lnstar.com/mall/texasinfo/mexicow.htm Lone Star Internet*
http://www.pbs.org/kera/usmexicanwar PBS site of US-Mexican war program*
http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Guadalupe.html Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and related resources at the U.S. Library of Congress*
http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/lesson_plans/borders/start.html Smithsonian teaching aids for "Establishing Borders: The Expansion of the United States, 1846-48"*
http://www.usa-presidents.info/pierce/mexican-war.html Franklin Pierce's Journal on the March from Vera Cruz *Category:InvasionsAmerican War, Mexico-Category:Wars of the United StatesLink
Link
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