US-Mexican War Research, Study notes of United States History

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Texas

Independence

Texas

Annexation

December 29 th^1845

April 25th 1846

1 st^ shots fired by Mexico

U.S.-Mexican War Research

• Mexico claimed the Nueces River as the border

between Texas & Mexico.

• The U.S. agreed with Texans view that the Rio

Grande was the border ( citing the Treaty of Velasco )

Mexico disputed the southern boundary of Texas

Negotiating the Disputed Territory

• Mexico’s President Jose Joaquin de Herrera & other officials refused to meet with Slidell. They feared that meeting with the U.S. & agreeing to terms would make his presidency look weak & cost him the support of the Mexican people.
• Polk views this refusal to meet as an insult to the U.S.

Polk – 11 th U.S. President

John Slidell U.S. diplomat to Mexico

José Joaquin Antonio de Herrera who served as president of Mexico 3 times, as well as a general in the Mexican Army during the U.S.-Mexican War.

Polk is furious at the

Mexican government

& orders the U.S.

Army into the disputed

area in Texas.

Negotiating the Disputed Territory

• Mexican government viewed General Taylor’s crossing the Nueces as an invasion force on Mexican territory
• U.S. views Texas’ southern border as the Rio Grande
• Taylor refused to move & April 25, 1846 Mexican troops attacked General Taylor’s soldiers
• 16 U.S. soldier casualties

Negotiating the Disputed Territory

• May 11th^ Polk’s declaration of war message to Congress stated that Mexico had invaded U.S. territory & shed American blood on U.S. soil
• Congress approves war against Mexico on May 13th^ 1846.

Negotiating the Disputed Territory

The War’s Biggest Critic

• The invasion of Mexico was one of the first U.S. conflicts to spawn a widespread anti- war movement. Political opponents labeled “Mr. Polk’s War” a shameless land grab, while abolitionists viewed it was a scheme to add more slave states to the Union. Among the more notable critics was Illinois congressman Abraham Lincoln, who took to the House floor in 1847 and introduced a series of resolutions demanding to know the location of the “spot of soil” where the war’s first skirmish took place. Lincoln maintained that the battle had been provoked on Mexican land, and he branded Polk a cowardly seeker of “military glory.” The so-called “Spot Resolutions” helped put Lincoln on the map as a politician, but they also damaged his reputation with his pro- war constituents. One Illinois newspaper even branded him “the Benedict Arnold of our district.”

• Fill out the Key Battles according to the date

Key Battles

• September 1846, Taylor wins the Battle of Monterrey. Agrees to an armistice but U.S. President Polk wants him to continue invading Mexico

Key Battle in the U.S.-Mexican War

• February 1847, Taylor defeats General Santa Anna’s forces at Buena Vista. Santa Anna retreats toward Mexico City.

Key Battle in the U.S.-Mexican War

Texas Rangers in the Mexican War

• Many Texans served in key roles for General Zachary Taylor’s Army. - “Them Texas troops are the damndest troops in the world. We can’t do without them in a fight, & we can’t do anything with them out of a fight.”
• Texas Rangers led by Jack Hays & Ben McCulloch served as effective fighters & scouts
• Jack Hays & his Rangers were referred to as ‘ los Tejanos diablos ’ (The Devil Texans) by the Mexicans

(April 1847) U.S. invades Mexico from the

Gulf Coast & bombards Veracruz, Mexico

Mexico is defeated

• General Santa Anna marched with thousands of soldiers to meet the U.S. invaders.
• April 17-18, 1847- Battle of Cerro Gordo
• U.S. won decisive victory & Mexican Army retreats back to Mexico City

Battle of Chapultepec Castle

• Chapultepec Castle – Mexico’s National Military Academy
• September 12-13 1847
• Last battle of the U.S.-Mexican War
• U.S. Army overruns the fort; Santa Anna & rest of Mexican Army abandon Mexico City