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Learning Unit #13 Lecture




“Was the U.S.-Mexican War an Act
   of American Imperialism?”
U.S. Territorial Expansion & the
 Ideology of Manifest Destiny




                              2
U.S. Territory (Free & Slave) After the
        Missouri Compromise
Obstacles to Expansion
• Oregon
  Territory
  was
  claimed
  by both
  the USA
  and Great
  Britain.
• CA, AZ,
  NM, NV,
  TX -- all
  were part
  of Mexico
  after its
  independ-
  ence from
  Spain.
“Manifest Destiny” and U.S.
         Expansionism
• The idea of Manifest Destiny, a term
  coined in 1845 by newspaperman John L.
  Sullivan, expressed the belief in the
  superiority of the United States and the
  “white race” over other peoples and
  countries, and in the God-given right of the
  US to territorial expansion.
• It also summarized views about US
  exceptionalism, its permanent quest for
  national greatness, and the “mission” it
  had for spreading democracy. These were
  seen not as choices, but as sacred
  obligations.
“American                                                                                        This image
                                                                                                    perfectly
Progress”                                                                                         expresses
by John                                                                                        the ideology
Gast                                                                                           of “Manifest
                                                                                                   Destiny.’”




“Civilization, or extinction, has been the fate of all people who have found themselves in the trace of the advancing
 Whites, and civilization, always the preference of the Whites, has been pressed as an object, while extinction has
                   followed as a consequence of its resistance.” – Sen. Thomas Hart Benton (1846)
Senator Thomas Hart Benton on
    Manifest Destiny (1846)
“It would seem that the White race alone
received the divine command, to subdue and
replenish the earth: for it is the only race that has
obeyed it- the only race that hunts out new and
distant lands, and even a New World, to subdue
and replenish . . . .
    “The Red race has disappeared from the
Atlantic coast; the tribes that resisted civilization
met extinction. This is a cause of lamentation
with many. For my part, I cannot murmur at what
seems to be the effect of divine law.”
The Independence & Annexation of
             Texas




                            8
Early map of
1821: 2,240           Texas
  Spanish-
 Speaking
residents in
   Texas
The Independence and Annexation
             of Texas
• Mexico granted Moses Austin (and later
  his son Stephen) an area in the territory
  of Texas to be settled
• 1828: Mexican state tried to regain
  control:
  – restricted U.S. immigration
  – outlawed slavery
  – imposed new or increased existing taxes
Stephen F.
Austin –
“Father of
Texas”
Political
    Instability in
       Mexico
•   Constant changes in
    government, civil wars,
    and political instability
•   Antonio López de Santa
    Anna was Mexico’s
    strongest political/
    military figure:

    “If the U.S.
    helps the rebels I will
    march my army to
    Washington and place
    upon its Capitol the
    Mexican flag.”
Texas War for Independence
            (1835-36)
• Pres. Jackson was sympathetic to Texans but USA
  remained neutral; many American volunteers fought
  for Texas’ ‘right’ to keep slavery.
• Sam Houston led Texas forces
• Isolated Texans/Americans were surrounded and
  massacred at the Alamo & Goliad.
• Battle of San Jacinto – Houston’s soldiers surprised
  the Mexicans during the siesta hour, turned into a
  rout.
• Defeated, Santa Anna agreed to withdraw from TX
  and recognize its independence; he and Mexico’s
  congress later disowned the agreement.
Sam Houston
was a protégé
of Andrew
Jackson’s and
a former
governor of
Tennessee.
He defeated
the Mexican
Army at San
Jacinto.
Text




Sam Houston commanded a rag-tag militia that included Texians
         (whites), as well as Tejanos & free blacks.
The Surrender of Santa Anna –
Houston is lying beneath the tree--wounded
 in the battle--receiving Santa Anna (white
         pants) as a prisoner of war
Lone Star Republic
• Existed for about a decade w/o recognition
  from Mexico; USA recognized TX in 1837.
• Mexico talked of re-conquest.
• USA believed annexation would mean:
  war with Mexico; disputed boundaries;
  renewal of crisis over slavery.
• Houston was ambivalent; flirted with Great
  Britain; Texans wanted annexation.
• Dispossession of Tejanos, outnumbered
  by whites 6 to 1; Juan Seguin.
Lone Star
Republic
President
James       • 1844: Polk won the
Polk          US presidency. He
              offered 30 million for
              New Mexico &
              California; Mexico
              refused.
            • December 1845:
              Texas joined the USA.
              Mexico broke
              diplomatic relations.
            • Polk sent U.S.
              troops into territory
              that Mexico
              considered its own.
The Mexican-American War,
        1846-1848




                        20
•   Slidell’s secret
    mission to the
    Mexican govt. failed.   John Slidell
•   April 1846 – Gen.
    Taylor & 4000 troops
    advanced to Rio
    Grande.
•   Polk received news
    Mexicans had
    skirmished with
    Americans in the
    disputed territory.
•   Polk claimed the U.S.
    had been provoked
    into war, said Mexico
    had “shed American
    blood on American
    soil.”
•   Rep. Lincoln’s “Spot
    Resolutions”
    questioned Polk’s
    truthfulness.
HIS 2213 LU13: Was the U.S. Mexican War an Act of American Imperialism?
The Mexican War (1846-48)
• Congress declared war, May 13, 1846 (174 to
  14; 40 to 2);
  – War popular w/ younger white men, esp. those in the
    states of the ‘Old Southwest’
• Polk wanted quick war but did not get it; 17,000
  U.S. soldiers died, many from disease.
• Although some Whigs became war critics, they
  would not withhold supplies from troops already
  committed to combat.
• First war to be extensively covered by war
  correspondents; telegraphy, railroads, “pony
  expresses,” all facilitated more rapid
  communication.
The Mexican Cession




Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo: USA gained 1 million square miles; Mexico
reduced by half; Rio Grande boundary recognized; USA paid $15 million.
The Mexican War (1846-48)
• War of conquest; land was motive for war;
  California; Pacific Ocean ports.
• Racism undermined the (take) ‘All-of-Mexico’
  Movement.
  – Mexicans seen as too ‘alien’ to absorb into USA;
    “mongrel” & Catholic
• Was the war an act of U.S. imperialism?
  – A ‘continental’ empire, yes, but not overseas, yet
• Polk put new twist on Monroe Doctrine: U.S. not
  just defender of the hemisphere but its rightful
  dominator.
Mexicans as Indians
“The Mexicans are Indians—Aboriginal Indians.
Such Indians as Cortez conquered three
[hundred] years ago, only rendered a little more
mischievous by a bastard civilization…. They
do not possess the elements of an independent
national existence. Providence has so ordained
it, and it is folly not to recognize the fact. The
Mexicans are Aboriginal Indians, and they must
share the destiny of their race.” (New York
Evening Post).
Critics of the U.S.-Mexican War
• Until Vietnam, it was most criticized war in U.S. history.
• Many people in the US criticized the war and the
  appropriation of Mexican territory (intellectuals such as
  Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau;
  abolitionists; and others).
• Sources of criticism included Polk’s dubious justifications
  for the war; the death and destruction it caused; and its
  long-lasting effects on US-Mexico relations
• Ulysses Grant, who served in the war as a junior officer,
  is quoted as saying, “I do not think there was ever a
  more wicked war than that waged by the United States
  on Mexico.... I thought so at the time, when I was a
  youngster, but I had not moral courage enough to
  resign.”
Lee                                   Grant




Future generals-in-training who will go on to lead armies during the Civil War
    (1861-65). The U.S.-Mexican War was their only combat experience.
The War Viewed from a Mexican
         Perspective
• "Yankeephobia“: negative stereotypes of
  Americans, who were portrayed as
  treacherous, devious, malicious,
  perfidious, godless, predatory, greedy,
  materialistic, and usurpers.
• Nearly unanimous view of the war as
  unjust –a view that is still held today in
  Mexico.
Recent Vodka Ad Imagines a Restoration of the Mexican Cession
The Mexican War’s Aftermath
(Some material is also covered
    in Learning Unit 14a.)




                            31
HIS 2213 LU13: Was the U.S. Mexican War an Act of American Imperialism?
New Territory, Old Problem
• Slavery, again.
• Wilmot Proviso, 1846.
• Positions on Extending Slavery into New
  Territories:
    • Extreme Pro-Southern – slavery is legal
      everywhere; slaveholders should be able to
      exercise their property rights over other humans
      anywhere in the country.
    • “Free Soil” – keep slavery out of new territories
    • Polk’s Solution (extend 36° 30’ line to Pacific)
    • Moderate (Lewis Cass) – “popular sovereignty”
Presidential Election of 1848
This 1848 Democratic political
cartoon:

  • attacks General Taylor (or
  possibly General Scott, also a
  contender for the Whig
  nomination) as a butcher in the
  Mexican War because of the
  atrocities committed by his troops.

  • points out how Whigs like to run
  famous generals as their
  presidential candidates. (The only
  Whigs ever elected were Gens.
  Harrison [1840] and Taylor
  [1848].)

  • plays upon longstanding fears
  that the American republic could
  lose its liberties if it elects an
  ambitious 'military chieftain,' who
  might become a dictator.
Zachary Taylor, 11th
    President of the
     USA. A famous
      general but an
           ‘unknown
            quantity’
    politically at the
          time of his
         nomination.
    Southern Whigs
 thought they were
       getting a pro-
  slavery candidate
     because Taylor
       himself was a
        slaveholder.
California Statehood
• Gold discovered, 1848.
• At time Taylor took office CA had 100,000 white
  male voters.
• Skipped “territory” status.
• CA wrote constitution excluding slavery; passed
  by wide margin.
• Sen. John C. Calhoun (SC) denounced CA
  constitution b/c southerners could not bring
  slaves; what about ‘states rights,’ Mr. Calhoun?
  – Whole episode shows Southerners really cared about
    property rights, not “states’ rights”
HIS 2213 LU13: Was the U.S. Mexican War an Act of American Imperialism?
The Crisis of 1850
• Pres. Taylor surprised his fellow
  southerners by favoring admission of CA
  as a free state.
• Threats of secession became frequent.
• Mystery surrounds the death of Taylor,
  July 1850. Rumors that he was poisoned
  persist to this day.
The Compromise of 1850
• Clay’s Omnibus Bill:
  – CA admitted as free state.
  – Slave trade (not slavery) abolished in D.C.
  – More effective fugitive slave law.
     • Citizens required to turn in runaways; no jury trial;
       special commissioners.
  – Popular sovereignty in UT and NM territories
The Compromise of 1850

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HIS 2213 LU13: Was the U.S. Mexican War an Act of American Imperialism?

  • 1. Learning Unit #13 Lecture “Was the U.S.-Mexican War an Act of American Imperialism?”
  • 2. U.S. Territorial Expansion & the Ideology of Manifest Destiny 2
  • 3. U.S. Territory (Free & Slave) After the Missouri Compromise
  • 4. Obstacles to Expansion • Oregon Territory was claimed by both the USA and Great Britain. • CA, AZ, NM, NV, TX -- all were part of Mexico after its independ- ence from Spain.
  • 5. “Manifest Destiny” and U.S. Expansionism • The idea of Manifest Destiny, a term coined in 1845 by newspaperman John L. Sullivan, expressed the belief in the superiority of the United States and the “white race” over other peoples and countries, and in the God-given right of the US to territorial expansion. • It also summarized views about US exceptionalism, its permanent quest for national greatness, and the “mission” it had for spreading democracy. These were seen not as choices, but as sacred obligations.
  • 6. “American This image perfectly Progress” expresses by John the ideology Gast of “Manifest Destiny.’” “Civilization, or extinction, has been the fate of all people who have found themselves in the trace of the advancing Whites, and civilization, always the preference of the Whites, has been pressed as an object, while extinction has followed as a consequence of its resistance.” – Sen. Thomas Hart Benton (1846)
  • 7. Senator Thomas Hart Benton on Manifest Destiny (1846) “It would seem that the White race alone received the divine command, to subdue and replenish the earth: for it is the only race that has obeyed it- the only race that hunts out new and distant lands, and even a New World, to subdue and replenish . . . . “The Red race has disappeared from the Atlantic coast; the tribes that resisted civilization met extinction. This is a cause of lamentation with many. For my part, I cannot murmur at what seems to be the effect of divine law.”
  • 8. The Independence & Annexation of Texas 8
  • 9. Early map of 1821: 2,240 Texas Spanish- Speaking residents in Texas
  • 10. The Independence and Annexation of Texas • Mexico granted Moses Austin (and later his son Stephen) an area in the territory of Texas to be settled • 1828: Mexican state tried to regain control: – restricted U.S. immigration – outlawed slavery – imposed new or increased existing taxes
  • 12. Political Instability in Mexico • Constant changes in government, civil wars, and political instability • Antonio López de Santa Anna was Mexico’s strongest political/ military figure: “If the U.S. helps the rebels I will march my army to Washington and place upon its Capitol the Mexican flag.”
  • 13. Texas War for Independence (1835-36) • Pres. Jackson was sympathetic to Texans but USA remained neutral; many American volunteers fought for Texas’ ‘right’ to keep slavery. • Sam Houston led Texas forces • Isolated Texans/Americans were surrounded and massacred at the Alamo & Goliad. • Battle of San Jacinto – Houston’s soldiers surprised the Mexicans during the siesta hour, turned into a rout. • Defeated, Santa Anna agreed to withdraw from TX and recognize its independence; he and Mexico’s congress later disowned the agreement.
  • 14. Sam Houston was a protégé of Andrew Jackson’s and a former governor of Tennessee. He defeated the Mexican Army at San Jacinto.
  • 15. Text Sam Houston commanded a rag-tag militia that included Texians (whites), as well as Tejanos & free blacks.
  • 16. The Surrender of Santa Anna – Houston is lying beneath the tree--wounded in the battle--receiving Santa Anna (white pants) as a prisoner of war
  • 17. Lone Star Republic • Existed for about a decade w/o recognition from Mexico; USA recognized TX in 1837. • Mexico talked of re-conquest. • USA believed annexation would mean: war with Mexico; disputed boundaries; renewal of crisis over slavery. • Houston was ambivalent; flirted with Great Britain; Texans wanted annexation. • Dispossession of Tejanos, outnumbered by whites 6 to 1; Juan Seguin.
  • 19. President James • 1844: Polk won the Polk US presidency. He offered 30 million for New Mexico & California; Mexico refused. • December 1845: Texas joined the USA. Mexico broke diplomatic relations. • Polk sent U.S. troops into territory that Mexico considered its own.
  • 21. Slidell’s secret mission to the Mexican govt. failed. John Slidell • April 1846 – Gen. Taylor & 4000 troops advanced to Rio Grande. • Polk received news Mexicans had skirmished with Americans in the disputed territory. • Polk claimed the U.S. had been provoked into war, said Mexico had “shed American blood on American soil.” • Rep. Lincoln’s “Spot Resolutions” questioned Polk’s truthfulness.
  • 23. The Mexican War (1846-48) • Congress declared war, May 13, 1846 (174 to 14; 40 to 2); – War popular w/ younger white men, esp. those in the states of the ‘Old Southwest’ • Polk wanted quick war but did not get it; 17,000 U.S. soldiers died, many from disease. • Although some Whigs became war critics, they would not withhold supplies from troops already committed to combat. • First war to be extensively covered by war correspondents; telegraphy, railroads, “pony expresses,” all facilitated more rapid communication.
  • 24. The Mexican Cession Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo: USA gained 1 million square miles; Mexico reduced by half; Rio Grande boundary recognized; USA paid $15 million.
  • 25. The Mexican War (1846-48) • War of conquest; land was motive for war; California; Pacific Ocean ports. • Racism undermined the (take) ‘All-of-Mexico’ Movement. – Mexicans seen as too ‘alien’ to absorb into USA; “mongrel” & Catholic • Was the war an act of U.S. imperialism? – A ‘continental’ empire, yes, but not overseas, yet • Polk put new twist on Monroe Doctrine: U.S. not just defender of the hemisphere but its rightful dominator.
  • 26. Mexicans as Indians “The Mexicans are Indians—Aboriginal Indians. Such Indians as Cortez conquered three [hundred] years ago, only rendered a little more mischievous by a bastard civilization…. They do not possess the elements of an independent national existence. Providence has so ordained it, and it is folly not to recognize the fact. The Mexicans are Aboriginal Indians, and they must share the destiny of their race.” (New York Evening Post).
  • 27. Critics of the U.S.-Mexican War • Until Vietnam, it was most criticized war in U.S. history. • Many people in the US criticized the war and the appropriation of Mexican territory (intellectuals such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau; abolitionists; and others). • Sources of criticism included Polk’s dubious justifications for the war; the death and destruction it caused; and its long-lasting effects on US-Mexico relations • Ulysses Grant, who served in the war as a junior officer, is quoted as saying, “I do not think there was ever a more wicked war than that waged by the United States on Mexico.... I thought so at the time, when I was a youngster, but I had not moral courage enough to resign.”
  • 28. Lee Grant Future generals-in-training who will go on to lead armies during the Civil War (1861-65). The U.S.-Mexican War was their only combat experience.
  • 29. The War Viewed from a Mexican Perspective • "Yankeephobia“: negative stereotypes of Americans, who were portrayed as treacherous, devious, malicious, perfidious, godless, predatory, greedy, materialistic, and usurpers. • Nearly unanimous view of the war as unjust –a view that is still held today in Mexico.
  • 30. Recent Vodka Ad Imagines a Restoration of the Mexican Cession
  • 31. The Mexican War’s Aftermath (Some material is also covered in Learning Unit 14a.) 31
  • 33. New Territory, Old Problem • Slavery, again. • Wilmot Proviso, 1846. • Positions on Extending Slavery into New Territories: • Extreme Pro-Southern – slavery is legal everywhere; slaveholders should be able to exercise their property rights over other humans anywhere in the country. • “Free Soil” – keep slavery out of new territories • Polk’s Solution (extend 36° 30’ line to Pacific) • Moderate (Lewis Cass) – “popular sovereignty”
  • 35. This 1848 Democratic political cartoon: • attacks General Taylor (or possibly General Scott, also a contender for the Whig nomination) as a butcher in the Mexican War because of the atrocities committed by his troops. • points out how Whigs like to run famous generals as their presidential candidates. (The only Whigs ever elected were Gens. Harrison [1840] and Taylor [1848].) • plays upon longstanding fears that the American republic could lose its liberties if it elects an ambitious 'military chieftain,' who might become a dictator.
  • 36. Zachary Taylor, 11th President of the USA. A famous general but an ‘unknown quantity’ politically at the time of his nomination. Southern Whigs thought they were getting a pro- slavery candidate because Taylor himself was a slaveholder.
  • 37. California Statehood • Gold discovered, 1848. • At time Taylor took office CA had 100,000 white male voters. • Skipped “territory” status. • CA wrote constitution excluding slavery; passed by wide margin. • Sen. John C. Calhoun (SC) denounced CA constitution b/c southerners could not bring slaves; what about ‘states rights,’ Mr. Calhoun? – Whole episode shows Southerners really cared about property rights, not “states’ rights”
  • 39. The Crisis of 1850 • Pres. Taylor surprised his fellow southerners by favoring admission of CA as a free state. • Threats of secession became frequent. • Mystery surrounds the death of Taylor, July 1850. Rumors that he was poisoned persist to this day.
  • 40. The Compromise of 1850 • Clay’s Omnibus Bill: – CA admitted as free state. – Slave trade (not slavery) abolished in D.C. – More effective fugitive slave law. • Citizens required to turn in runaways; no jury trial; special commissioners. – Popular sovereignty in UT and NM territories

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