When America was a relatively new nation, they were very hungry for power and land, and that is what caused the Mexican-American War. Both Mexico and America were pretty new nations, however America felt that the Mexicans were inferior to them, so they thought that they deserved more land. The land that America wanted the most was Texas, which is right on the border of Mexico and America. At the time however, it was mainly owned by Mexico, and lots of Americans would go to that land and not obey Mexico’s laws. This caused a lot of conflict, and an up rise in Sam Houston’s army. His army defeated Santa Anna, and they were forced to sign the Treaty of Velasco, which made Texas’ border Rio Grande, which was a big difference in land area. The Mexican government did not want to follow this treaty, and they wanted to fight the U.S. The slave owners really wanted to fight because it allowed more land for slaves. Texas accepted the U.S.’s annexation, and became a part of the U.S. This upset the Mexicans, so they pulled out their minister from D.C. and prepared their selves for war. President Polk did not officially start the war, but he did instigate it by setting up troops in Mexico’s borders. When a fight broke out, it sparked Polk to start the war, and it also allowed him to say that he was not the one to start bloodshed. For the war Mexico brought back exiled leader Santa Anna to rebuild their army. He gathered a 20,000-man army, however it was no match for U.S.’s army, and the U.S. ended up winning the war. Mexico had to sign the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which gave the U.S. New Mexico and California. This was more than half of Mexico’s territory, which they had to give to the U.S. Even though it gave America more land, it also opened up a bigger slave market for the South. The Mexican-American War also lead into the Civil War because of the slave situation, and how to divide a slave state from a free state from the new territory acquired from Mexico.
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