What were the events that brought about the war between the United States and Mexico?

On May 12, 1846, the United States Senate voted 40 to 2 to go to war with Mexico. President James K. Polk had accused Mexican troops of having attacked Americans on U.S. soil, north of the Rio Grande. But Mexico claimed this land as its own territory and accused the American military of having invaded. Texas senator Sam Houston argued that Texas had been warring with Mexico for a decade over their disputed border, and that once the United States had annexed Texas in 1845, it had inherited the conflict.

The House had already adopted the war resolution by a similarly lopsided margin. Despite this seemingly overwhelming support, the vote in the Senate masked great uneasiness and deep partisan divisions over the war.

Northern Whigs feared that war with Mexico would result in the United States gaining new territories in the southwest, which would encourage the expansion of slavery. At the same time, South Carolina Democratic senator John C. Calhoun worried that reopening the divisive issue of slavery in the territories would encourage more anti-slavery agitation.

Northern Whigs also questioned the need for war, but they remembered how New England’s opposition to the War of 1812 had destroyed the old Federalist Party, and they were anxious to avoid a similar political disaster. That left Senator Calhoun to lead the opposition to the war. Calhoun first tried to slow down the momentum by having the president’s message divided in two and referred to the Foreign Relations Committee and the Military Affairs Committee. The Senate agreed to his proposal, but declined to submit the actual war resolution to committee. The Senate as a whole debated that resolution.

The Northern Whigs responded by offering an amendment that would have limited the American role to “repelling the invasion.” That amendment failed by a vote of 20 to 26, revealing the real split within the Senate. Once that amendment failed, however, most of the Whigs switched their vote to favor the declaration of war. Senator Calhoun abstained.

Victory in the Mexican War gave the United States a vast new territory that stretched from California to New Mexico. As Calhoun had feared, the question of slavery in these territories quickly developed into an angry wedge between the North and South. It was during the summer of 1846 that Pennsylvania representative David Wilmot proposed a proviso to an appropriations bill, decreeing that slavery should never be permitted in any territory won from Mexico. The Wilmot Proviso ignited a heated political debate that affected both political parties, shaking their political coalitions and intensifying the sectionalism that would soon lead to the American Civil War.

29d. The Mexican-American War

When war broke out against Mexico in May 1846, the United States Army numbered a mere 8,000, but soon 60,000 volunteers joined their ranks. The American Navy dominated the sea. The American government provided stable, capable leadership. The economy of the expanding United States far surpassed that of the fledgling Mexican state. Morale was on the American side. The war was a rout.

Polk directed the war from Washington, D.C. He sent a 4-prong attack into the Mexican heartland. John Fremont and Stephen Kearny were sent to control the coveted lands of California and New Mexico. Fremont led a group of zealous Californians to declare independence even before word of hostilities reached the West. The "Bear Flag Republic" was not taken seriously, but Fremont and his followers did march to Monterey to capture the Mexican presidio, or fort. By 1847, California was secure.

Meanwhile, Kearny led his troops into Santa Fe in August of 1846 causing the governor of New Mexico to flee. The city was captured without a single casualty. Soon he marched his army westward across the desert to join Fremont in California.

The attack on Mexico proper was left to two other commanders. Zachary Taylor crossed the Rio Grande with his troops upon Polk's order. He fought Santa Anna's troops successfully on his advance toward the heart of Mexico. Winfield Scott delivered the knockout punch. After invading Mexico at Vera Cruz, Scott's troops marched to the capital, Mexico City. All that remained was negotiating the terms of peace.

At home, the Whigs of the north complained bitterly about the war. Many questioned Polk's methods as misleading and unconstitutional. Abolitionists rightly feared that southerners would try to use newly acquired lands to expand slavery. Antiwar sentiment emerged in New England much as it had in the War of 1812. Writer Henry David Thoreau was sentenced to prison for refusing to pay the taxes he knew were used to fund the war effort. His essay, Civil Disobedience, became a standard of peaceful resistance for future activists.

The Mexican-American War was formally concluded by the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. The United States received the disputed Texan territory, as well as New Mexico territory and California. The Mexican government was paid $15 million — the same sum issued to France for the Louisiana Territory. The United States Army won a grand victory. Although suffering 13,000 killed, the military won every engagement of the war. Mexico was stripped of half of its territory and was not consoled by the monetary settlement.

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