MANIFEST DESTINY 1806 1855
THE MEXICAN AMERICAN WAR
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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Mexico invaded US territory south of the Rio Grande
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Mexico continued to refuse to pay reparations to US citizens following the Texas revolution
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Mexico had shed American blood on American soil
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Mexico refused to acknowledge Texas’ annexation to the US
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Detailed explanation-1: -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-2: -Polk wanted to lay claim to California, New Mexico, and land near the disputed southern border of Texas.
Detailed explanation-3: -It stemmed from the annexation of the Republic of Texas by the U.S. in 1845 and from a dispute over whether Texas ended at the Nueces River (the Mexican claim) or the Rio Grande (the U.S. claim).
Detailed explanation-4: -President Polk declared war on Mexico-or rather the US Congress did-because he wanted to gain lands from Mexico. Exactly which lands became clearer only as the war progressed. The specific dispute which sparked war in May 1846 was the 100-150 mile strip between two rivers, the Nueces and the Rio Grande.
Detailed explanation-5: -In late April 1846, Mexican troops crossed the Rio Grande and killed eleven U.S. soldiers. In response, Polk requested a declaration of war from Congress, arguing that Mexicans had “shed the blood of our fellow-citizens on our own soil.” By May 13, 1846, both nations officially were at war.