MEXICAN WAR

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MEXICAN WAR
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Origins of the War

• War Caused by President James K. Polk
• Election of 1844 Slogan 54 40 or Fight
• Polk Ardent Expansionist
• North Oregon
• South Annexation
  of Texas

Oregon Territory
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Expansionist Views of Polk Government

• Committed to Acquiring Mexican Territory in the
  Southwest (New Mexico and California)
• Purchase or Conquest?

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Polks Strategy I

• John Slidells Mission to Mexico
• Settle Texas Boundary at Rio Grande River

John Slidell, US Diplomat
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Boundary of Texas
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Rio Grande Versus Nueces Rivers
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Polks Strategy II

• 2. Claims of Texas Against Mexico
• 3. Purchase
• New Mexico 5 Million
• California 25 Million
• Total 30 Million

President James K. Polk
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Polks Strategy III

• Polks Contingency Plan General Zachary Taylor
• Stationed North of Nueces River

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Declaration of War, 1846

• Failure of Slidells Mission
• Border Incident
• Polks Request for Declaration of War

Poster Issued After Battle of Buena Vista
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Abraham Lincolns Opposition

• Lincolns Spot Resolutions

Abraham Lincoln
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(No Transcript)
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(No Transcript)
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General Winfield Scott Entering Mexico City
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Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)

• US Claims Against Mexico
• Rio Grande Boundary
• Purchase of New Mexico and California for 15
  Million

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New Approaches to the Slavery Controversy

• Revised Abolitionist Tactics
• Expansionism Linked with Slavery
• Introduction of Wilmot Proviso

House of Representatives, 1845
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Was the Wilmot Proviso Academic?

• President Polks Opposition
• Geography Would Bar Slaverys Expansion

Southern Pamphlet Opposing the Proviso
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Importance of Wilmot Proviso

• Slavery Adaptable
• Set Precedent for Future Expansion
• Comment on Slaverys Immorality

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Alternative to the Proviso

• Popular Sovereignty
• Promoted by Lewis Cass
• Offered New Approach to Dealing with Western
  Territories

Governor Lewis Cass