US History and Society - Mexican War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

US History and Society - Mexican War - Essay Example The Mexicans considered Texas to be a province in a state of rebellion while America considered Texas to be a part of its growing western frontier (Heidler & Heidler, 2006). The war was also a party issue as Whigs in the American congress opposed the war while the democrats supported the war by taking it a sign of the manifest destiny of the Americans to have dominion over the entire continent as discussed by Thoreau (1998). While America had previously offered to purchase the territory of Texas in a manner similar to the Louisiana Purchase, the Mexican government did not want to part with any territory belonging to it. Texas also had internal issues of control for the Mexican government as Americans who had moved to Texas were accustomed to the freedom of religion which was present in America but not in Mexico since it was a largely Catholic country. The Texas rebellion led to the creation of an independent republic which quickly established diplomatic ties with other countries but these ties and the status of Texas as an independent country were not recognized by Mexico (Heidler & Heidler, 2006). The political situations in all three regions made war inevitable and after many battles between forces from both sides, America stood victorious and brought Mexico to the negotiations table. Mexico not only lost Texas in the war but also lost large portions of other parts of its dominion in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo signed in 1848 (Bauer, 1974). While the war was over with this treaty, the after affects of the treaty only became clear when the dust had settled. America gained new states which were formerly controlled by Mexico and these included regions which are known today as California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Wyoming. Mexico was given $15 million and some debts which the Mexicans owned to Americans were assumed by the United States government. This settlement was actually