Transcript Conflict with Mexico

Conflict with Mexico
 Stephen Austin owned land
in Texas, passed down from
his father
 He led a group of 300
Americans to Texas to start a
small colony
 Americans were told they
could stay IF they agreed to
become Mexican citizens
and worship in the Roman
Catholic Church
Growing Conflict
 Thousands more flooded into Texas
 Disregarded Mexican law
 Brought slaves and were Protestants
 1830 Mexico banned further U.S. settlement and
tried to enforce its laws
 Began to levy heavy taxes on U.S. imports
Declaring Independence
 In Mexico there was a
movement for a more
democratic
government
 1833 General Antonio
Lopez de Santa Anna
took control of
government
 Over turned constitution
and began a dictatorship
(one person rule)
 1836, under urging
of Austin, Texans
declared
independence from
Mexico
What Did Mexicans
Want?
What did the
Americans want?
Texans at war
 Santa Anna attacked the
Alamo, a mission where
Texans and Mexican
Texans (Tejanos) were
gathered
 The Texans and Tejanos
held out for 12 days
under heavy cannon fire
before Mexican forces
overran it
 All the defenders killed in battle or executed
afterwards
 Inspired by their bravery, many American
volunteers joined the Texan Army
 Later Sam Houston, commander of the Texan
Army led a surprise attack on Santa Anna at San
Jacinto
 Captured Santa Anna and forced him to recognize
Texan independence
The Republic of Texas
Annexing Texas and Oregon
Election of 1844
 Election was between Henry Clay (Whig) and
James K. Polk
 Polk won by promising to annex Texas and Oregon
Annexation
 Before Polk took office President Tyler called for
admission of Texas as state
 As President, Polk negotiated a treaty with Britain
to divide Oregon (Now states of Washington,
Oregon, and parts of Idaho)
Tensions with Mexico
 Mexico had never formally recognized
Texan independence
 Treaty Santa Anna signed set boundary
at Rio Grande
 Mexican government claimed boundary
was further north
Beginnings of the Mexican-American
War
 Polk offered Mexican government cash to settle
the border dispute, purchase California and the
rest of New Mexico
 This angered Mexico and they refused
 Polk then tried to provoke the Mexicans
 Sent General Zachary Taylor into the disputed
land
 Mexicans ambushed them and Polk asked
Congress for a declaration of war
The MexicanAmerican War
Causes of the MAW
The Mexican American War
 War with Mexico popular with
most Americans
 Support was strongest among
Westerners and Southerners
who wanted more land
http://www.pbs.org/kera/usmexicanwar/timeli
ne_flash.html
Why would Westerners want more land?
Why would Southerners want more land?
How would the belief in “Manifest Destiny” make people
support the war?
 Many Northerners argued that Polk had provoked
the war
 How had Polk “provoked” the war?
Rebellion in California
 Polk ordered troop under the command of
Stephen Kearny to invade and capture Santa Fe,
New Mexico
 Settlers near San Francisco had begun their own
revolt against Mexico
 They raised a grizzly bear
flag and declared
California an independent
republic
 John C. Fremont took
control of the “Bear Flag
Rebellion”
 Quickly captured major
cities of California
(Monterey and San
Francisco)
 He then moved on to join
forces with U.S. troops under
the command of Kearny
 Kearny’s troops captured Santa
Fe and San Diego
 United with naval units to
occupy all of southern
California
Invasion of Mexico
 General Zachary Taylor and General Winfield
Scott swept through Mexico with stunning victories
even though they were often outnumbered
 How do you think they still won?
 Scott’s campaign ended at Chapultepec, a stone
palace above the capital of Mexico City
 The Mexican troops fought bravely to defend
Chapultepec, but most were killed
 How is this similar to the American experience
at the Alamo?
 After Americans won the capital city, Santa Anna
fled
 The U.S. had won the war
Achieving Manifest Destiny
 The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo
 Under the treaty, Mexico recognized the
annexation of Texas and gave the U.S. large
amounts of territory
 Mexican Cession included present day California,
Nevada, Utah and parts of Wyoming, Colorado,
Arizona, and New Mexico
 U.S. also paid $15 million for this land
 In the Gadsden Purchase of 1853, U.S. paid
Mexico $10 million for a narrow strip of present day
Arizona and New Mexico
Effects of the MAW
The Mexican Cession
How did Each Person Help bring
Mexican land under u.s. control?
 A. General Kearny
 B. General Zachary Taylor
 C. General Winfield Scott
 D. John Fremont
 E. President Tyler
 F. President Polk
 G. Stephen Austin
 H. Sam Houston