Causes of the War with the United States - Essay Example

While the Mexican fought for the independence of Texas, the US sent its army into Texas in order to gain hold over the state. However, the ambition did not end here and US made plans to extend its rule into California by buying over the state from Mexico. In order to ensure the cooperation of the Mexican government, Polk sent troops into Mexico to intimidate the Mexicans. The Mexicans, though initiated the fight with these troops, had no way of defending themselves since they were still recovering as a newly independent country.

The US argued that they were helping Mexicans since Mexico was basically sick country and needed the US for support. While the US was strong and powerful, the Mexicans were economically and physically weak. However, the Mexicans were able to enjoy a bargaining chip for a small period of time as the British and the French were concerned of the resulting shift in balance of power as a result of the foreseeable expansion. While this deterred the war for a certain period of time but the US was able to take over Texas and California after they neutralized the two countries through British-French consent (Vazques, 138).

Author’s Perspective The author like most other historians believe that the US was responsible for the war and Polk provoked the war through his ambitious methods (Murrin, Johnson, McPherson, Fahs, Gerstle, Rosenburg and Rosenburg, 344). The author has laid the blame of the war entirely on the shoulders of the US. He blames US for taking advantage of its superior position and the annexation of Texas to start a war that the Mexicans were unprepared for and did not want at that specific point.

Vazques continually refers to writing and thoughts of other historians either to support his own views or to point out the flaws in others’ perspective. By referring to specific passages, such as the comments of Nicholas Trist, Vazques establishes the fact that even US peace commissioner was against the war between Mexico and US. Trist in that specific passage blames the US for the war and feels remorse over the US approach towards the situation. This further convinces the reader of the unjustness of the situation and through such accounts one cannot help but feel sympathy of the Mexicans.

Vazques is strictly pro-Mexican and this fact is not surprising given the Mexican origin and background of the author. Since almost every Mexican is bitter towards the US involvement in their personal affairs, this is to be expected. Vazques is influenced by her own people since she has been exposed to such ideas from birth and they are as much a part of her as her Mexican birth. Vazques ignores the political and economic condition of Mexico to a great extent and the Mexican involvement in the war.

Discussion Josefina Vazques, through her article ‘Causes of the War with United States’, has explored the Mexican situation and the reasons for their bitterness against the US. While most historians have blamed the US for the situation, the Mexican side of the story had been undiscovered until Vazques chose to explore and write about it. Even though I believe that every story has different perceptiveness and these differ widely between the antagonist characters in the story, I still have sympathy towards the Mexicans.

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