Introduction/Background
The Mexican American War began on April 25, 1846. The war lasted two years losing many men on both sides. The Mexican war was the third major fought by the United States. In 1810, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla triggers the beginning of Mexico’s fight for independence from Spain. Mexico gained its independence in 1821 after a long and bloody revolution against Spain. For Mexico, the war between them and the United States was a fight to keep their institutions and national integrity intact, to protect themselves from present and future aggressions by the Americans, but more than anything else, the war was a struggle for land. In the early days of the republic, most Americans made their living by farming, so in 1803 …show more content…

On May 17 and 18, 1846, General Arista evacuated the Mexican town of Matamoros. Taylor crossed the Rio Grande on May 18. On May 28, 1846, Arista’s troops finally arrived in the Mexican town of Linares. More and more U.S volunteers poured into Taylor’s garrisons at Matamoros. After three battles, the process of equipping the army for combat and its accompanying tasks still dragged, and Taylor became more and more frustrated with the snail’s pace. The U.S army was clearly poorly prepared for the war. Taylor and his armies threatened the northern part of country, weak leadership on the Mexican government kept the whole nation in turmoil. Mexicans citizens were angry when the heard the news of Palo Alto, Resaca de Palma, and the retreat of the Mexican army so they began to rebel against their president, Mariano Paredes y Arrillaga. The U.S president had secretly planned to approach to only the Willy chameleon, General Antonio Lopez. General Taylor and his U.S forces had captured the provincial Mexican city of Monterrey.

Manifest Destiny Manifest Destiny was the drive of Americans to claim the continent from Atlantic to Pacific. It was the 19th and 20th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the North American continent. Many settlers believed that God himself blessed the growth of the American