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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 4 page paper that offers 2 short answer essay to 2 questions about American history. The first question pertain to the Mexican American war and the second discusses Lincoln's position on slavery. Bibliography lists 1 source.
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4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: KL9_khushis89.rtf
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to war with Mexico were, on a fundamental level, politics and greed, with racism also playing an integral role. When Texas was persuaded to join the Union, President James
Polk assured them that the US would support Texass claim to the Rio Grande river; however, the traditional border between Texas and Mexico had always been the Nueces River,
which lies about 150 miles to the north of the Rio Grande (Zinn 150). John OSullivan, a journalist, in 1845 wrote that it was the countrys "manifest destiny to overspread
the continent" (Zinn 151). In particular, the Polk administration, and like-minded Americans, wanted annex California. Drawing on primary sources from several media publications of the late 1840s, Zinn shows
that racism and ethnocentrism played key roles in American motivation for war, in addition to these political motivations, as Mexicans were pictured as not deserving of "that beautiful country," which
was envisioned as already belonging to the U.S., as a gift from divine providence (Zinn 155). What Polk needed in order to fulfill Americas Manifest Destiny was an excuse
for war, which he obtained by ordering General Zachary Taylor to cross the Nueces River and enter Mexico. Polks intention was to provoke Mexico and this strategy was successful. Mexican
soldiers attacked a US patrol, and Taylor sent a message to Polk that read "Hostilities may be considered commenced" (Zinn 151). Mexico had "fired the first shot," but the primary
source documents that Zinn cites show that this is precisely what the US government wanted as it provided an excuse for war. At the time, while some people applauded
the governments actions, others, such as writers Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, opposed the war, as did Frederick Douglass. There were also voices both opposing and supporting the
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