U.S. War with Mexico: A Brief History with Documents Book

Foreword     v
Preface     vii
Map: Contested Terrain in the U.S. War with Mexico     xvi
Introduction: Race, Manifest Destiny, and the U.S. War with Mexico     1
Manifest Destiny     2
Neighboring Republics     3
Indians and Westward Expansion     4
Colonizing Texas     5
Texas's War for Independence     7
The Republic of Texas and U.S.-Mexico Diplomatic Relations     10
Toward War     13
Popular Opinion and the War in the United States     16
Waging the War     19
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo     24
Foreigners in Their Native Land     27
Manifest Destiny Exported     32
Conclusion     32
The Documents     35
John L. O'Sullivan, Annexation, July-August 1845     35
U.S. Congress, Naturalization Act, March 26, 1790     37
Agustin de Iturbide, Plan de Iguala, February 24, 1821     38
Mexican Constitutional Congress, Mexican Constitution, 1824     40
U.S. Congress, Indian Removal Act, May 28, 1830     42
United States and Kingdom of Spain, Treaty of San Lorenzo, October 27, 1795     44
United States and France, LouisianaPurchase Treaty, April 30, 1803     45
Mexican Government, National Colonization Law, August 18, 1824     47
Legislature of Coahuila-Texas, Coahuila-Texas State Colonization Law, March 24, 1825     49
Manuel Mier y Teran, Letter to War Department, November 29, 1829     52
Benjamin Lundy, Conditions for African Americans in Mexican Texas, 1833     55
Texan Consultation of Representatives, Texas Declaration of Independence, March 2, 1836     57
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, Message to the Inhabitants of Texas, March 7, 1836     59
Eulalia Yorba, Another Story of the Alamo: The Battle Described by an Alleged Eyewitness, April 1896     61
El Mosquito Mexicano, Article Criticizing U.S. Interests in Texas, June 14, 1836     62
Daniel Webster, The Admission of Texas, December 22, 1845     64
John Slidell, Diplomatic Dispatches to James Buchanan, January 1846     66
General Pedro de Ampudia and General Zachary Taylor, Dispatches, April 12, 1846     69
General Zachary Taylor, Dispatch to Adjutant General of the Army, April 26, 1846     71
President James K. Polk, War Message to Congress, May 11, 1846     73
Hugh White, Statement against the Two-Million-Dollar Bill, August 8, 1846     76
David Wilmot, Wilmot Proviso, August 8, 1846     77
Frederick Douglass, The War with Mexico, January 21, 1848     78
New York Herald, Editorial in Support of the War with Mexico, February 20, 1847     80
Walt Whitman, War with Mexico, May 11, 1846     82
Theodore Parker, A Sermon of the Mexican War, June 1846     84
Henry David Thoreau, On Civil Disobedience, 1848     86
Women of Exeter, England, and Philadelphia, Women's Peace Petition, June 1846     88
Susan Shelby Magoffin, Comments on Mexican Women, 1846     91
American Officer, The Virtues of Mexican Women, September 1846     93
Henry William Herbert, Pierre the Partisan: A Tale of the Mexican Marches, 1848     95
Our Jonathan, Song of the Volunteers, 1846     98
John Greenleaf Whittier, The Angels of Buena Vista, 1847     100
James Russell Lowell, The Biglow Papers, 1846     101
George Wilkins Kendall, The Mexican Joan of Arc, January 12, 1847     104
Samuel E. Chamberlain, My Confession, 1855     105
Ramon Alcaraz, Description of the Battle of Buena Vista, 1850     107
Citizens of New Mexico, Report to the President of Mexico, September 26, 1846     109
Ralph W. Kirkham, Description of the City of Puebla, June 28, 1847     111
Gideon Johnson Pillow, Letter to Mary Hamilton Pillow, September 28, 1847     112
American Star, Comment on Interactions between Mexicans and Americans, November 6, 1847     114
Ramon Alcaraz, Observations on the American Occupation of Mexico City, 1850     116
John C. Calhoun, Speech on the War with Mexico, January 4, 1848     118
United States and Mexico, Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, February 1848     120
President Manuel de la Pena y Pena, An Address in Support of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, May 7, 1848     123
Manuel Crescencio Rejon, Observations on the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, April 17, 1848     126
Nathan Clifford, The Protocol of Queretaro, 1848     128
U.S. Congress, California Land Act, March 3, 1851     130
California Landowners, Petition to the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, February 11, 1859     133
Juan N. Seguin, A Foreigner in My Native Land, 1858     137
Francisco Ramirez, California Hospitality, September 18, 1855     139
Los Angeles Star, An Interview with Noted Bandit Tiburcio Vasquez, May 16, 1874     140
Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin, This Is Our Manifest Destiny, November 24, 1897     143
Appendixes
A Chronology of Events Related to the U.S.-Mexico War (1789-1897)     147
Questions for Consideration     153
Selected Bibliography     155
Index      161