The Mexican War of 1846-1848 is a war that pitted the Mexicans against the Americans. Several reasons such as the American’s belief that they had a God-given gift to expand their borders are believed to have instigated the war (Lee, 2015). This American’s idea of believing that they had a God-given gift was termed as the Manifest Destiny. Moreover, the war was the first major dispute which was triggered by the American’s belief to expand their borders. On the other hand, the Mexicans fought the Americans to bar them from occupying their territories. The aim of the two countries was to acquire Texas as their Territory. This is despite the fact that Texas was under the ownership of Mexico before the beginning of the war. Nevertheless, the dispute over the Texas territory triggered a military confrontation from between the two countries. It is, therefore, paramount to investigate the justification of the Mexican War and whether the war was inevitable.
According to Minister (2015), the Americans claim that the war was just given that the government has the mandate to protect its territory. The US declared war on Mexico as a result of an attack on the American forces based in Texas by Mexican Military. Therefore, the American’s felt that their forces should not have been attacked as they were on the American land, contrary to what Mexicans believed (Minister, 2015). The US was pushed against the wall and had no option left other than to retaliate so as to find justice for the lost lives of their soldiers and invasion of their territory. Similarly, the Mexicans agreed that the war was justified because Texas was one of their indigenous territories. Therefore, it was their duty to fight so as to stop the Americans from taking their territory.
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As per Henderson (2008), the war would have been inevitable if it had not occurred by the time. The Americans would have continued with their territory expansion mission into Mexico and with time Mexico would be embittered, forcing them to retaliate. Further, diplomatic means of solving the conflict would have helped save the countries from fighting. However, at that time, America had already decided to physically confront Mexico so as to end the issue and prove that Texas was indeed their territory. A peaceful method of averting the war would have lasted shortly given the American’s strong belief in their power to expand their borders. Mexico was weak and unable to control its people (Henderson, 2008). Besides, Mexicans too could not have agreed to abandon the war because they firmly believed that Texas was their land. Moreover, Mexico did not want to be despised as a country which could not fight for and protect its territory (Henderson, 2008). As a result of the two nations’ fighting hard and having the fear to appear as losers explain why the war was inevitable.
In conclusion, the need for America to acquire Texas as their land and Mexico to retain it affected saw the countries engage in war, leading to bloodshed. The two countries fought so hard to achieve the territory even though it was owned by Mexico before. However, that fact did not stop America from fighting for grabbing the land. Moreover, the war could have been solved if they used peaceful methods to address territory issues. However, peaceful interventions were impossible because the Mexico and the US were determined to use force to retain and capture the territory respectively. Therefore, the disputes and disagreements between the two countries stirred the Mexican War.
References
Henderson, J. T. (2008). A glorious defeat: Mexico and its war with the United States . Hill and Wang: United States.
Lee, R. (2015). The Mexican American War. The History Guy . Retrieved on 10 April 2017 from http://www.historyguy.com/Mexican-American-war.html#.WOtUTb1RXqA.
Minister, C. (2015). Roots of the Mexican-American War. ThoughtCo . Retrieved on 10 April 2017 from https://www.thoughtco.com/roots-of-the-mexican-american-war-2136185.
