Prologue: From the Halls of Montezuma
The Mexican War allowed the U.S. to complete its so-called "Manifest Destiny". Yet, problems by midcentury soon threw the country into discord before it could become the power it was capable of being.
The Americans won the Mexican War due to an interest in territorial expansion and President Polk began the move to conquer Mexican territory. Due to General Winfield Scott and his lieutenants Pierre GT Beauregard and George B McClellan, and Robert E. Lee's victories in Mexican territory soon led to America gaining land. Scott's campaign against Mexico City was regarded the most brilliant in modern warfare, but soon after winning the land, the country was fighting over a myriad of problems.
I like how McPherson gives a background to the war before launching into what happened at Fort Sumter, as it helps establish the reason for all the problems.
Key Terms:
The Mexican War allowed the U.S. to complete its so-called "Manifest Destiny". Yet, problems by midcentury soon threw the country into discord before it could become the power it was capable of being.
The Americans won the Mexican War due to an interest in territorial expansion and President Polk began the move to conquer Mexican territory. Due to General Winfield Scott and his lieutenants Pierre GT Beauregard and George B McClellan, and Robert E. Lee's victories in Mexican territory soon led to America gaining land. Scott's campaign against Mexico City was regarded the most brilliant in modern warfare, but soon after winning the land, the country was fighting over a myriad of problems.
I like how McPherson gives a background to the war before launching into what happened at Fort Sumter, as it helps establish the reason for all the problems.
Key Terms:
- Manifest Destiny: the belief that Americans had the God-given right to expand from sea to shining sea
Questions
- Was the Mexican War a direct cause of the war?
- Did expansion cause more problems for the new republic because there wasn't unity or was there a more deep-seated cause?
Citations
- McPherson, James M. "Prologue: From the Halls of Montezuma." In Battle Cry of Freedom, 3-5. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.
- Accessed March 11, 2015. http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/mex-war-map.jpg.
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