The Atrocious Conquest of America: Examining the Mexican American War
We take nothing by conquest, Thank god. Zinn uses this statement to present how atrocious the conquest really was since there was a conquest. America wanted to hide it's evil ways behind the facade of saying that America acquire land always through peaceful purchases. The war was very unpopular to many.
Polk said that the war was to gain California and also said that Mexicans invaded first. On this chapter Zinn focuses on the Mexican American war and how it really was a conquest caused by Polk. In 1821, Mexico won it's independence in a revolutionary war against Spain. Mexico was a large country which included Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and part of Colorado. In 183 Texas broke of from Mexico and declared itself " The lone star republic" and in 1845 the U. S Congress brought it into the union as a state.
Later in spring of 1846, all that was needed was a military incident to begin the war Polk wanted. It happened after General Taylor's quartermaster, Colonel Cross isappeared. His body was found eleven days later. It was assumed that the Mexicans had killed him. A lot of the Anti-Slavery congressmen voted against all war measures. Seeing the mexican campaign as a means of extending the southern. Slave territory Joshua Giddings explains his vote against supplying men and arms for the war.
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To Howard Zinn looks like Polk was the only one that wanted California to be part of his nation. The war barely begun in the summer of 1846, when a writer who lived in Washington refused to pay his Massachusetts poll tax. Denouncing the mexican war. He was put into Jail and spent the night there. Zinn argues that the president Polk pushed for the war because he wanted to expand. He wanted to go as southwest as possible. He thought the United States needed to be larger. Polk wanted California for America before anyone else could get it.
It was not right for him to move his troops into an area that was already claimed by Mexicans. The war was not popular and the soldiers wanted to go home. Like Zinn said " I don't think it was right to Just take land from Mexico Just because the president wants it. I think thats ot fair. Polk's leadership as president ofa nation that was quickly expanding not care for the mexican people already living there. Zinn gives a quote from the diary of Colonel Ethan Allen Hitchcock, who opposed measures taken by General Taylor to annex Texas.
Hitchcock explains, "He seems to have lost all respect for Mexican rights and is willing to be an instrument of Mr. Polk for pushing our boundary as far west as possible," (A people's history of the United States page 150). The feelings for this burst of expansion were varied; some believed it unnecessary to ifferent degrees and opposed or refuse to go into war with Mexico Just to take their land , while others strongly favored the extra land.
In fact, a new attitude was developed during this time, the one of "manifest destiny'Americans technically went into conquest because Cross was found dead eleven days after he disappeared and Mexicans were responsible for it. They didn't know who killed it so they actually went into conquest because Polk was already planning on taking California from Mexico. Americans assumed the war begin by the mexicans after killing Cross. No one wanted to go to war with anyone. The American people were not excited or impatient for this.
In conclusion a part of me was shocked while another part of me knew that these actions were not uncommon. While it is hard for me to determine what the United States' goal is right now (perhaps stability) it's easy to see what kind of mindset these powerful leaders back then had. It was all about the idea that Americans were entitled to the land they set their eyes on. knowing that the united states of America used to be so grossly land-obsessed. Then again, who knows what our country is obsessed with today; it could be land once again.
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