Mexico: The Battle Of The Alamo

Although the Texans lost the battle of the Alamo, they later won independence. Through grit and determination, they gained what they had been fighting towards for a long

President James K. Polk asked Congress for a declaration of war against Mexico because, as he said, “American blood had been shed on American soil”. President Polk wanted to gain some of Mexico’s territory. He decided to send someone to Mexico with an offer. The offer was that the United States would pay Mexico for the Texan boundary of the Rio Grande, New Mexico territory, and California. Mexico was not interested in the offer or selling the territory and refused the offer, which ended with an angry president Polk after learning their response.

Because of this, Mexico has thrusted war upon us. We believe what James K. Polk said, “The constitution, public treaties and the laws oblige the President to regard Texas as an independent state, and its territory

So this started the Mexican-American War, the two sides confused about who owned Texas. Texas being their

Battle of the Alamo The Battle of the Alamo was a battle fought between Mexicans and Texans. It started in February 23 through March 6, 1836. It was important because at the end of the battle Mexicans won, but the Texans declared independence from Mexico. Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie and the Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. The Battle of the Alamo is one of the most important events to learn about, because that is one of the most important battles that made Texas want independence from Mexico.

For the Texans, the Battle of the Alamo became a symbol of heroic resistance and a rallying cry in their struggle for independence. On April 21, 1836, Sam Houston and eight hundred Texans defeated General Santa Anna’s Mexican forces of fifteen hundred men at San Jacinto, near present day Houston, shouting “Remember the Alamo!” as they attacked. The victory ensured the success of Texan Independence. Santa Anna, who had been taken prisoner during the battle, came to terms with Sam Houston to end the war.

The first gunshot was expectedly unexpected. The U.S. knew how this confrontation would go down. War would break out and all the buried feelings about the Revolutionary War would be unearthed by the crack of a gun. Texas, after gaining their independence from Mexico, desired to be annexed by the U.S., however, this action was not accepted by congress until James Polk was elected in 1844. Polk sent 1,000 troops with John Slidell to try and bargain with Mexico for California.

The Mexican-American war altered the United States environmentally, culturally and politically. First, on February 2, 1848, Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo two years post the beginning of the war. The treaty not only achieved President Polk’s goal to achieve California from Mexico but also granted the U.S. over 500,000 square miles of new territory. The new land caused approximately 90,000 spanish speaking, mostly Catholic Mexicans under American jurisdiction. Second, Nativism, a rising anti-catholic and anti-immigrant deemed the Mexicans inferior.

Santa Anna fled during the Battle of San Jacinto but a Texan search party captured him the following day. Mexican prisoners easily identified him with shouts of “El Presidente” (Wright, n.d.). Santa Anna feared reprisal from his captors and agreed to sign the Treaties of Velasco (The Texas Revolution, n.d.). He ordered his remaining generals and forces to leave Texas soil and agreed to recognize Texas’s independence from Mexico in exchange for his freedom. Santa Anna eventually made his way back to Mexico and resumed his presidency.

INTRODUCTION Throughout the 1840s and 1850s a major war happened called the Mexican American War which drastically changed the U.S. and Mexico and lead to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo to be signed and which established the Rio Grande and not the Nueces River as the U.S Border. This also lead to the U.S. annexation of Texas and lead to the Mexico agreeing to sell California and the rest of the territory for 15 million. So you 're probably wondering why the war was fought but you 'll find that out later.

“In exchange for his freedom, Santa Anna signed a treaty recognizing Texas’ independence” (Battle of San Jacinto, 2015). General Houston and his army were heavly inspired for victory following the massacres at the Alamo and Goliad. Santa Anna lost the Battle of San Jacinto due his previous viciousness, arrogance, and misuse of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) assets effectively. Had Santa Anna not made these mistakes, the Battle of San Jacinto would have turned out differently and Texas may have not won its independence from Mexico (Wright, n.d.). Introduction

As stated before, the US was justified in going to war with Mexico because of three reasons, Americans were killed, Texas was already annexed, and Manifest Destiny allows it. The United states had many superb reasons for going to war with Mexico. This essay is significant because it helps explain the United States’ choice to go to war with

Jesús Velasco-Márquez, a modern-day Mexican professor of studies wrote an article in 2006 about the Mexican-American War. He said, “US historians refer to this event as ‘The Mexican-American War’, while in Mexico, we prefer to use the term ‘The U.S. Invasion... From Mexico’s point of view, the annexation of Texas to the United States was inadmissible for both legal and security reasons. ’’’ (Velasco-Márquez, 12). During the time of the independence of Texas, Mexico was ruled by the dictator General Antonio López de Santa Anna.

The Mexican government believed that the border between Mexico and America

Although the United States war against Mexico resulted in the gaining of America’s most valuable land, the war itself wasn’t legitimate because of the revolution in Texas, motivation for superiority, and the U.S. government’s actions. To begin, the Texans began an unreasonable war because they didn’t follow Mexico’s laws and conditions. When Mexico started selling cheap land, they set conditions for the people moving in. The people had to convert to Catholicism, learn Spanish, become a Mexican citizen, and have no slaves. Many Americans didn’t like being told what to do, and disobeyed the rules and laws.