Texas and War with Mexico Chapter 9 Section 2

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Texas and War with MexicoChapter 9 Section 2
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Objectives

• Explain how Texas won independence from Mexico.
• Analyze the goals of President Polk.
• Trace the causes and outcome of the
  Mexican-American War.

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Texas

• Mexico sought to develop Texas by inviting
  settlers.
• They offered inexpensive land on three
  conditions. Settlers had to

• Accept Mexican citizenship (learn Spanish)
• Worship in the Catholic Church
• No Slaves

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American settlers arrived, but ignored the
Mexican government.

• Led by Stephen F. Austin, 30,000 Anglo-Texans
  outnumbered the Tejanos six-to-one by 1835.
• Many brought slaves and ignored the Church.
• In 1834, Antonio López de Santa Anna seized power
  in Mexico City, seeking greater centralized
  control. But Texans wanted more autonomy.

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Texas Revolution

• In 1835, Texans declared independence for the
  Lone Star Republic.
• Santa Anna personally led a siege of Texan forces
  at the Alamo in San Antonio.
• After twelve days, he stormed the mission and
  executed any surviving defenders, including Jim
  Bowie and Davy Crockett.

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Several weeks later, Santa Anna took Goliad and
again executed prisoners, in an attempt to
frighten Texas into surrender.
Instead, Santa Anna created a set of martyrs.
Remember the Alamo, became the Texans rallying
cry. Many Southerners were inspired to volunteer
and joined the Texans.
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At the Battle of San Jacinto, Santa Anna was
defeated and taken prisoner. Houston later
became president of the Lone Star Republic. After
statehood in 1845, Houston served as governor and
then as U.S. Senator from Texas.
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Fearing execution, Santa Anna signed a treaty
expanding the Texas border to the Rio Grande and
giving half of New Mexico to the Texans.

• Texas became an independent republic.
• The Mexican government refused to honor the
  treaty and demanded a return to the original
  border at the Nuecos River.
• Fighting would persist for ten years over the
  disputed borderlands.

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Polk the Expansionist
James K. Polk was elected president in 1844 on a
promise to obtain both Oregon and Texas. In
Congress, northern Democrats reluctantly agreed
to annex Texas if all of Oregon was also added.
Britain did not concede all of the territory.
Rather then fight, Polk made a deal to split
Oregon and extend the 49th parallel border with
Canada to the Pacific Ocean. Northerners felt
betrayed.
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• President Polk claimed all land as far as the
  Rio Grande, tripling the previous size of Texas.
• General Zachary Taylor was sent to occupy these
  border lands.
• Mexico objected to the granting of statehood to
  Texas and saw statehood as an invasion of Mexican
  territory.

The United States annexed Texas in 1845, leading
to war with Mexico.
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Mexican War

• When Mexican patrols killed American soldiers,
  Congress declared war on Mexico.
• Southern Democrats favored war, while Northern
  Whigs felt that Polk deliberately provoked
  Mexico.
• The war was popular in the United States.
• Whigs dropped their opposition, fearing they
  would be labeled disloyal as the Federalists were
  for opposing the War of 1812.

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The United States easily defeated Mexico.
The U.S. advantages included greater wealth and a
better-equipped military. General Winfield Scott
led an overwhelming campaign from Veracruz to
Chapultepec, forcing Santa Anna to abandon Mexico
City and the war.
After capturing the port of Veracruz, U.S. forces
marched 200 miles to attack Mexico City.
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The army and navy combined to defeat Mexico.