Well hey there and welcome back to Heimler’s History. In this video we’re continuing to look at Unit 5 of the AP U.S. History curriculum, and that means it’s time to talk about the Mexican-American War. So crack them brain folds open, get your brain cow situated for milking, and let’s get to it. So basically in this video we’re just trying to answer the following question: what were the causes and effects of the Mexican-American War? So let’s look at each one in turn: first, the causes. What caused the Mexican-American War? Well, remember from the last video that Texas declared its independence from Mexico in 1836 and fought several battles to that end. But Mexico was none too happy about this situation and were not yet ready to concede total defeat. Nonetheless, tensions between Texans and the Mexican government cooled down a little in the aftermath of the conflict, and it didn’t seem like anything would happen as long as Texas remained independent. But here’s where I tell you that Texans didn’t want to remain independent: they wanted to be annexed by the United States. And that, to the Mexican government, was a reason to get in a fight. And that’s why presidents Jackson, Van Buren, Harrison, and Tyler ALL decided against annexation. But as I mentioned in the last video, all that changed with the election of James K. Polk. He took office in 1845 and one of his main campaign promises was the annexation of Texas. And so Polk, making good on that promise, saddled up his mechanical bull, put on his ten-gallon cowboy hat, and got Texas into the Union. Now, that’s not altogether true. It was actually Polk’s predecessor, John Tyler, who led the process to annex Texas. But Tyler only did it when he was on the way out of office and could see that because of Polk’s election that the American people favored this move. So seeing the annexation of Texas as a fine notch for his presidential legacy belt, he went ahead and did it. Still, I’m gonna put that point in Polk’s category, because apart from his election, it’s unlikely Tyler would have done that. Nevertheless, when Polk assumed the office of president, it’s not too much to say that he had a Texas-sized problem. Mexico, as I mentioned, was none too happy about the annexation, and so Polk sent a diplomat named John Slidell to Mexico City with a couple of tasks. First, Slidell asked the Mexican government to sell even more land to the United States, namely, the New Mexico and California territories. The Mexican authorities said, “no,” which when being translated from Spanish roughly means, “no.” The second part of Slidell’s task was to settle the location of the southern border of Mexico. The Mexican government said the border ran along the Nueces River. The American government said the border ran along the Rio Grande. And in case you’re keeping score, that’s a big difference. And again, on this count, the Mexicans were unwilling to budge in negotiations with Slidell. So President Polk went ahead and brought this conflict to a head in 1846. Since all this land right here belonged to America, it shouldn’t be any problem at all to advance American troops onto it and station them at the Rio Grande. And so Polk sent General Zachary Taylor with his troops to do just that. Mexican troops met them at the Rio Grande and at the end of the conflict 11 Americans were dead. Polk was outraged. Are we really going to stand for this? Mexicans killing Americans ON AMERICAN SOIL? Nevermind that this was disputed territory, Polk wanted a war with Mexico, and on May 13th, 1846, Congress granted him one. And baby, that’s how you get the Mexican-American War. So that’s a brief survey of the causes of the war, and you don’t really need to know the battles and strategies and various conflicts. It’ll be enough for you to know that relatively small American armies gained enough ground in order to claim the California and New Mexico Territories. Furthermore, under the leadership of general Winfield Scott, the American troops conquered and occupied Mexico City, a victory which forced the Mexican government to the negotiation table. So America won this war, and that means we need to talk about the effects of the war. First effect: buttloads of land for the United States and that came in the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. This treaty made the following provisions. It established the Rio Grande as the southern border of Texas. Second, it outlined the deal for what’s called the Mexican Cession in which Mexico ceded California and New Mexico to the United States for fifteen million dollars. Now, add all of the land gained in the Mexican Cession to the Gadsden Purchase in 1853 right here and all told, Mexico lost more than half of its territory to the United States. Now, said buttload of land was a contentious gain for the U.S. even before the war was over. It wasn’t a stretch for Congress to discern that the U.S. would win the war and with it add a lot of territory to the Union. And so in 1846, with that very real possibility on the horizon, a congressman named David Wilmot added a little amendment to an appropriations bill working its way through Congress. And this amendment was known as the Wilmot Proviso, and it proposed that any lands gained from victory in the Mexican American war be off limits to the expansion of slavery. Now, this was ultimately voted down, but it’s important because it highlights the growing tension over the slavery question. The politicians who voted it down weren’t necessarily abolitionists, but they certainly believed in the ideal of free soil, which is to say they wanted to acquire additional land for homesteaders to settle on without competition from the system of slavery. It was more of an economic thing for them rather than a moral thing. And even though I just spent about 30 seconds explaining it to you, you have to realize that the proposal of the Wilmot Proviso was exceedingly contentious. In fact, some historians point to this amendment as the first round in the fight that ultimately led the United States to civil war. Now the second effect we need to talk about has to do with all the non-American people living in all that land. The vast majority of them just stayed put as the territory changed hands from Mexico to the United States, and in general, you had Mexicans and Indians living there. Now, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo did specify that all Mexicans living in the territory would be granted U.S. citizenship. However, the Indians living there, whom the Mexican government had made citizens were given no such offer. In fact, the Indians living in that territory wouldn’t have a chance at citizenship until the 1930s, but I get ahead of myself. It’s enough to know that both groups faced an assault on their civil rights including voter discrimination and educational segregation. Alright, that’s what you need to know about Unit 5 Topic 3 of the AP U.S. History curriculum. The Heimler proviso says that you should get an A in your class and a five on your exam in May, here. Additionally, if this video helped you and you want me to keep making them, then go ahead and subscribe and I shall oblige. Heimler out.