The USA Fought Mexico and Won

The Mexican War had a huge impact on the United States. Although some people were against the war, most of the whole U.S. supported the war. Our army went from 6,000 men to 115,000 with 1.5% killed in fighting, 10% died from disease and 12% were wounded or discharged or both. For years afterward, Mexican veterans suffered from diseases sustained from the war. Mexican casualty rates were 30-40% dead. During the war, there were many quarrels about whether we should annex the land or not. Should Slavery be allowed in the new lands the U.S. gained? Etc. In 1847, the House of Representatives passed the Wilmot Proviso which stated that slavery was not permitted in the newly acquired land. The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was the unsatisfactory result of Nicholas Trist’s unauthorized peace negotiations. It was reluctantly approved by the U.S. Senate on March 10, 1848, and ratified by Mexican Congress on May 25. The U.S.  gained 1.2 million square miles of land from the war. In return, the U.S.  paid Mexico 15 million dollars for the land and freedom of captured citizens. A last territorial adjustment was made in the Gadsden Purchase of 1853. (Lone-star)

The war was over with the U.S. as the undisputed champions. All this fighting and we still don’t know the cause of the war for sure. But everyone is entitled to their own opinion. If you ask me, I think the whole thing was caused for two reasons: the annexation of Texas, and the really unstable Mexican government. The U.S. will from here continue its rise to the position of a very powerful and not-to-be-trifled-with nation.