USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Congress overwhelmingly approved a declaration of war on May 13, but the United States entered the war divided. Democrats, especially those in the Southwest, strongly favoured the conflict. Most Whigs viewed Polk’s motives as conscienceless land grabbing.

Detailed explanation-2: -On May 12, 1846, the United States Senate voted 40 to 2 to go to war with Mexico. President James K. Polk had accused Mexican troops of having attacked Americans on U.S. soil, north of the Rio Grande. But Mexico claimed this land as its own territory and accused the American military of having invaded.

Detailed explanation-3: -By the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (February 2, 1848), Mexico accepted the Rio Grande as its boundary. The treaty also gave the United States Mexico’s northern provinces of California and New Mexico. The United States thus acquired vast mineral wealth, especially gold, and extended its border to the Pacific Ocean.

Detailed explanation-4: -Among those opposed to the war with Mexico was the newly elected congressman Abraham Lincoln. Author Henry David Thoreau refused to pay taxes that would support the war and was subsequently jailed, where he wrote his essay Civil Disobedience.

Detailed explanation-5: -On May 13, 1846, the United States Congress passed An Act providing for the Prosecution of the existing War between the United States and the Republic of Mexico, thereby declaring war against Mexico. The declaration resulted in the Mexican–American War (1846–48).