"The Impact of the Mexican American War on..." Topic

… American Society and Politics

"On February 2, 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed which officially ended the Mexican-American War. However, as the guns fell silent, and the men returned home, a new war was brewing, one that continues to shape the course of this country to this day.

While Ulysses S. Grant might have argued that the Civil War was God's punishment for the Mexican-American War, a "wicked war" that was rooted in imperialism and the expansion of slavery, many Americans supported the Mexican-American War as they viewed it as the fulfillment of Manifest Destiny: the promise that the United States would extend from "sea to shining sea." While Manifest Destiny remains a core of U.S. national identity, in the 1840s it encouraged a slew of ideological debates over this potential new territory, specifically if the territory should be free or enslaved. The Louisiana Purchase caused a major crisis over the organization of new states which Congress ultimately resolved with the Missouri Compromise, the compromise to end all compromises. It is important to note that the debates in 1820 were largely split among party lines, i.e. Democrats vs. Whigs. However, the Mexican American War reopened past wounds and sent the United States into another legislative crisis…"

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Armand

The Anglos secured California, Texas, and the Arizona – New Mexico areas. Manifest Destiny in the SW combined with the Louisiana Purchase land of the NW.
The political hurdles of making the west of the Mississippi mesh with the Eastern area would cause issues for the future and even today.

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Armand