11

th
Grade United States History
Mr. Weber
CSULA Chemistry Bungalow
September 29, 2008
Activator: copy down the following
timeline


1492 Columbus and European conquest
1607-1700 European settlement
Virginia, Mass., Jamestown
1730s and 40s 1
st
Great Awakening
1750s and 60s Problems with Britain
1776 Declaration of Independence
1787 Constitution
1791 Bill of Rights
1801 Marbury v. Madison
1820s and 30s 2
nd
Great Awakening/ Antislavery
1846 Mexican/American War
Agenda:

Activator, agenda, objective (10 min.)
Mexican/American War Notes (20 min.)
Mexican/American War class argument (20
min)
Zinn Reading (30 min.)
Exit ticket comprehension check (10 min)

Objective
11.1.4 Students examine the effects of the
Civil War and Reconstruction and of the
industrial revolution, including
demographic shifts and the emergence in
the late nineteenth century of the United
States as a world power.
Can not understand effects without
understanding causes
Timeline of events leading to Mexican/
American War (notes 20-30 min)
1821 -- Newly independent Mexico grants slaveholding U.S. settlers
land in Texas. Early settlers agree to take Mexican citizenship, convert to
Catholicism, and speak Spanish; but some later settlers do not.
1829-30 -- Mexico stops settlement of Texas by Americans and bans
slavery
1835-36 -- Settlers rebel against Mexican rule and declare independence.
Mexico does not recognize Texas independence or a boundary at the Ro
Grande.
1836-45 -- Texas as an independent nation is recognized by the United
States, Britain, France, and the Netherlands, but not Mexico.
July 1845 -- Texans vote to join the United States.
December 1845 -- Texas is annexed by the United States and becomes
the twenty-eighth state.
January 1846 -- U.S. troops occupy territory on the north bank of the Ro
Grande.
April 1846 -- Mexican calvary troops cross the Ro Grande and skirmish
with American forces.
May 1846 -- War begins between Mexico and the United States.
Mexican/American War Vocabulary
IMPERIALISM
[A]. Noun. The actions by which one nation is able to
control other usually smaller or weaker nations
- imperialist. noun or adjective
- imperialistic. adjective
- imperialistically. adverb
-- Webster Student Dictionary.
[B]. Noun. 1. The policy of extending a nation's
authority by territorial acquisition or by the
establishment of economic and political hegemony
over other nations. 2. The system, policies, or practices
of such a government.
-- American Heritage Dictionary.
Mexican/American War Vocab.
ANNEX
Transitive verb. Inflected forms: annexed, annexing, annexes.
1. To append or attach, especially to a larger or more significant
thing. 2. To incorporate (territory) into an existing political unit
such as a country, state, county, or city. 3. To add or attach, as an
attribute, condition, or consequence.
- annexation. Noun.
-- American Heritage Dictionary.

EXPANSIONIST
1. Noun. A nation's practice or policy of territorial or economic
expansion.
- expansionist. Adjective and noun.
- expansionistic. Adjective.
-- American Heritage Dictionary.

Mexican/American War Notes
Statistics:
U.S. troops: around 80,000. U.S. Generals: Zachary
Taylor, Winfield Scott, Stephen Kearney. Number
dead: 13,271. Wounded: 4,152.
Mexican troops: 25,000-40,000. Generals: Antonio
Lopez de Santa Anna, Mariano Arista, Pedro de
Ampudia, Jose Maria Flores. Number dead or
wounded: 25,000 (Mexican government estimate).
Politics:
U.S. Whig party opposed it. Southern Democrats
supported it. Democrats believed in the doctrine
of manifest destiny.
Timeline of events leading to war
1821 -- Newly independent Mexico grants slaveholding U.S. settlers
land in Texas. Early settlers agree to take Mexican citizenship, convert to
Catholicism, and speak Spanish; but some later settlers do not.
1829-30 -- Mexico stops settlement of Texas by Americans and bans
slavery
1835-36 -- Settlers rebel against Mexican rule and declare independence.
Mexico does not recognize Texas independence or a boundary at the Ro
Grande.
1836-45 -- Texas as an independent nation is recognized by the United
States, Britain, France, and the Netherlands, but not Mexico.
July 1845 -- Texans vote to join the United States.
December 1845 -- Texas is annexed by the United States and becomes
the twenty-eighth state.
January 1846 -- U.S. troops occupy territory on the north bank of the Ro
Grande.
April 1846 -- Mexican calvary troops cross the Ro Grande and skirmish
with American forces.
May 1846 -- War begins between Mexico and the United States.
Disputed Territory 1830
Dark purple indicates
area of Mexican land
grants to U.S. settlers.
Tejano culture
develops.
Southern slave states
interested in
expanding west into
Texas.
Independence and Annexation for Texas

Texas declares itself an
independent territory.
U.S. Annexes it in
1845.
Mexico and
Abolitionists in U.S.
claim that
slavepower made it
happen.
1846: Hostilities Begin

Expansionist
President Polk wants
western territory.
U.S. Troops stationed
on Rio Grande in
1846.
Hostilities begin.
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 1848
Mexico lost her nation.
In return, Mexico received
$15,000,000 -- less than
half the amount the U.S.
had attempted to offer
Mexico for the land before
the opening of hostilities.
Tremendous amount of
wealth from natural
resources generated from
those states.
Mexican/American War was an Act of
U.S. Imperialism Class Argument
Everyone stand up.
Make two lines facing one another.
Count off one by one down the line.
Take a minute to study your bullet point.
First team starts by shouting first point at
other team.
Other team responds all together Oh
yeah!?

PERSPECTIVE ONE: MEXICO
From Dana Lindman and Kyle Ward, History Lessons: How Textbooks
from Around the World Portray U.S. History (New York: The New
Press, 2004), 72-78.
The war on Mexico was an act of United States imperialism!
One reason for the separation of Texas was U.S. expansionist policies!
The U.S. backed the separatist tendencies of the Texans!
Texan insurgents attacked the Mexican Army in 1835 and declared
Texasindependence.
As Mexico fought the Texan rebels, the U.S. recognized the independence of
the Republic of Texas in 1837.
When the U.S. annexed Texas in 1845 and enlarged its borders at Mexicos
expanse, it began the U.S. intervention in Mexico (1846-1848).
Southern slave states interest in expanding their territories in order to control
the U.S. Congress caused the military invasion of Mexico!
U.S. support for adventurers, Indians, and military soldiers going to California
and New Mexico made tensions between our two countries worse.
President James Polk ordered troops to invade Mexico because she refused to
sell New Mexico and California. Congress officially declared war in 1846.
Mexican people were brave and heroic in the war against the United States.
The U.S. paid 15 million pesos, but Mexico lost more than half its territory in the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. (Mexico lost 2.4 million square
kilometers total).
PERSPECTIVE TWO: UNITED STATES
From Joyce Appleby, et al., The American Vision (New York: McGraw
Hill, 2007), 307-311.
Congress passed an annexation resolution and Texas joined the Union in 1845.
Mexico was outraged and cut off diplomatic relations with the U.S.
The U.S. and Mexico also disputed the southern boundary of Texas.
President Polk wanted to buy California, but the Mexican president refused to
meet.
That insult ended chances of a diplomatic solution Polk ordered troops into
southern Texas (and onto disputed territory).
In 1846 Mexican forces attacked U.S. troops.
American blood has been shed on American soil! Cried Polk. The U.S. was at
war by the act of Mexico herself.
There were some opponents but it passed the Senate (40 to 2) and the House
(174 to 14).
The U.S. planned a three-pronged attack with a plan to take Mexico City.
The U.S. won military victories, but despite Mexicos loss of vast territories, she
refused to surrender.
Mexico ceded, or gave up, more than 500,000 square miles in the Treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. The U.S. paid $15 million dollars in exchange.
The dream of manifest destiny was finally realized: the United States now
stretched from ocean to ocean.
Mexican/American War and the U.S.
Civil War
Westward Expansion, the
Mexican/American War, and the Civil War
are all connected.
U.S. Civil War was fought between North
and South primarily over issue of slavery.
Big Issue of whether new states would
allow slavery and how that would affect
the power balance in government.

Independent Reading
Howard Zinn: A Peoples History of the
United States.
We Take Nothing by Conquest, Thank God.
Independent reading pp.149-169.
The Mexican/American War
Reading process: beginning, middle, end
Cornell notes.


Exit Ticket (10 minutes)

1. Was the Mexican/American War an act
of U.S. imperialism?
Provide at least three specific examples.

2. How was the war connected with the
U.S. Civil War?