4 7 the mexican american war

Photo locators denoted as follows: Top T, Center C, Bottom B, Left L, Right R Background Bkgd Opener: ©North Wind Picture Archives 2 ©Corbis 3 ©North Wind Picture Archives 6 ©North Wind

ISBN 0-328-14861-X

ì<(sk$m)=beigbf< +^-Ä-U-Ä-U

Fascinating Facts

• United States soldiers took the same route

that Spanish explorer Hernando Cortés and

his men had taken more than three hundred

years before to defeat the Aztec Empire

• Zachary Taylor was not the only President who

served in the Mexican War Ulysses S Grant and

Franklin Pierce also served in that war

• After the Mexican War, many people in Latin

America called the United States “El Coloso

del Norte,” or the colossus of the North

The Mexican-American War

by Rena Korb

Genre Comprehension Skill Text Features

Nonfi ction Compare and

Contrast

• Map

• Chart

• Captions

Scott Foresman Social Studies

ISBN 0-328-14861-X

ì<(sk$m)=beigbf< +^-Ä-U-Ä-U

Fascinating Facts

• United States soldiers took the same route

that Spanish explorer Hernando Cortés and

his men had taken more than three hundred

years before to defeat the Aztec Empire

• Zachary Taylor was not the only President who

served in the Mexican War Ulysses S Grant and

Franklin Pierce also served in that war

• After the Mexican War, many people in Latin

America called the United States “El Coloso

del Norte,” or the colossus of the North

The Mexican-American War

by Rena Korb

Genre Comprehension Skill Text Features

Nonfi ction Compare and

Contrast

• Map

• Chart

• Captions

Scott Foresman Social Studies

ISBN: 0-328-14861-X

Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc.

All Rights Reserved Printed in the United States of America This publication is protected

by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited

reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form by any means,

electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise For information regarding

permission(s), write to: Permissions Department, Scott Foresman, 1900 East Lake Avenue,

Glenview, Illinois 60025.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 V0G1 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05

Vocabulary

boundary province annex manifest destiny rebellion negotiations

Write to It!

The United States won every battle in the Mexican War Choose one of those battles and write a description of it Be sure to include important details, such

as where and when it was fought and how it was won

Write your description on a separate sheet of paper.

Maps

MapQuest, Inc.

Photographs

Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit for photographic material The publisher deeply regrets any omission and pledges to correct errors called to its attention in subsequent editions.

Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the property of Scott Foresman, a division of Pearson Education.

Photo locators denoted as follows: Top (T), Center (C), Bottom (B), Left (L), Right (R) Background (Bkgd) Opener: ©North Wind Picture Archives

2 ©Corbis

3 ©North Wind Picture Archives

6 ©North Wind Picture Archives

7 ©The Granger Collection, NY

8 North Wind Picture Archives

9 ©Getty Images

10 ©Getty Images

12 ©Getty Images

14 ©National Archives

In this book you will read about the

Mexican-American War, which was fought in 1846 and

1847 The United States’ victory gave the country

more than half a million square miles of land

that stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the

Pacific Ocean

Editorial Offices: Glenview, Illinois • Parsippany, New Jersey • New York, New York Sales Offices: Needham, Massachusetts • Duluth, Georgia • Glenview, Illinois Coppell, Texas • Sacramento, California • Mesa, Arizona

by Rena Korb

The Mexican-American War

Buildup to War

In the spring of 1846, Mexican armies and United

States troops had gathered on opposite sides of the Rio

Grande in Texas The United States claimed that the

boundary, or border, between the two countries was the

Rio Grande Mexico disagreed

Mexican soldiers crossed the river and attacked a group

of United States soldiers on April 25 On May 13, 1846,

the United States declared war against Mexico

During Polk’s presidency, the United States gained the right to more land

This land later became the states of Oregon and Washington

3

Causes of the War

To understand the causes of the Mexican War, it is important to look at earlier events Mexico had won its independence from Spain in 1821 Some of the Spanish colonies in North America became the Mexican

provinces of New Mexico, California, and Texas Then

settlers from the United States and others who lived

in Texas fought Mexican forces and created their own

country When the United States annexed Texas in

1845, the Mexican government was angry The United States wanted Texas and all the land west to the Pacific Ocean The idea that the United States should stretch from

coast to coast was known as manifest destiny.

At the end of March 1846, General Zachary Taylor’s troops began building forts along the Rio Grande.

Objections to the War

Not all Americans supported the war with Mexico

Some United States senators believed that the boundary

between the two countries was the Nueces River, not the

Rio Grande Also, many people who opposed slavery

disliked the war

In 1845 the United States tried to buy the Mexican

land John Slidell went to Mexico to offer up to $30

million for the purchase of the provinces of New Mexico

and California The Mexican government refused to see

Slidell There seemed little chance of getting the land

other than taking it by force After the battle between the

two armies at the Rio Grande, the United States had a

reason to go to war

The Capture of New Mexico

In June 1846 Colonel Stephen Kearney led about 1,500 troops toward New Mexico’s capital, Santa Fe Kearney claimed the towns they passed along the way On

August 18, the troops reached Santa Fe Kearney raised the American flag and announced that the United States was annexing New Mexico

5

American Advantages

• Better weapons

• Better military leaders

• Better-trained soldiers

Mexican Advantages

• Three times more soldiers

• Possible aid from Great Britain and France

• Disapproval of the war by many Americans

Advantages in Fighting the Mexican War

Most New Mexicans accepted United States rule

However, a group of New Mexicans and Pueblo Indians

started a rebellion The United States army chased the

rebels, and the rebels surrendered New Mexico was now

under the control of the United States

Colonel Stephen Kearney captured New Mexico from Mexico

7

The Bear Flag Revolt

By the summer of 1846, fighting also had broken out in California California’s non-American Indian populations numbered about eight thousand Mexicans, called

Californios, and five hundred other settlers.

On June 14, a small group of settlers in Sonoma arrested the Mexican army commander and captured military weapons Then they wrote their declaration of independence from Mexico They named California the Bear Flag Republic

The Bear Flag Revolt was named for the flag the American settlers made that pictured a grizzly bear.

The Capture of California

United States Navy troops landed on the coast in July

about a month, United States forces thought they had

and by mid-December had regained most of southern

California About that time, Colonel Kearney and his army

arrived in San Diego They marched toward Los Angeles

and put down the rebellion in January The United States

had captured California

United States troops held off a Mexican attack in the Battle of

San Gabriel in California

9

The War in Mexico

While some United States troops were fighting in the northern provinces, others invaded Mexico General Taylor earned his first major victory on May 18, 1846

He captured the town of Matamoros on the other side of the Rio Grande Taylor then raised the American flag over the town

Before he crossed the Rio Grande, General Taylor had led his troops into several successful battles against the Mexican army.

The Battles of Monterrey and Buena Vista

In September 1846, Taylor led his soldiers to Monterrey Monterrey was guarded by several hills that had forts

on top of them United States troops captured the forts and entered the city After several days of fighting, the Mexicans gave up

The battle for Monterrey had weakened both armies

The armies agreed to stop fighting for eight weeks In January 1847, a force of about twenty thousand Mexican troops tried to retake Monterrey When Taylor learned

of the planned attack, he led his five thousand men to nearby Buena Vista After a few days of hard fighting, neither side appeared close to a victory American troops expected another fierce struggle on the third morning of the Battle of Buena Vista To their surprise, they awoke to find the Mexican troops had gone

United States troops scrambled

up the hills of Monterrey

The Capture of Veracruz

Many U.S military leaders believed they needed

to capture Mexico City About ten thousand American

troops landed on the coast near the city of Veracruz

They blasted the city with cannonballs Mexican soldiers

returned fire Within a few days, the cannonballs had

blown a hole in the town wall The city fell to American

troops on March 27, 1847

Today, Mexicans remember several cadets who fought at

Chapultepec as los Niños Héroes, or “the Boy Heroes.”

13

The Capture of Mexico City

One week later, American soldiers began the long march to Mexico City They defeated all the Mexican forces that tried to stop them They attacked an old castle that was used as a Mexican military school On September 14, 1847, United States forces entered Mexico City

The Treaty of

Guadalupe Hidalgo

The Mexican War ended with the fall of Mexico City

All that remained was setting the terms of peace Nicholas

Trist began negotiations with the Mexican government

Trist and the Mexican leaders agreed to the Treaty

of Guadalupe Hidalgo Mexico gave up its northern

provinces In return the United States paid Mexico

$15 million

The United States gained more than half a million

square miles of land as a result of the Mexican War

This included lands that today make up California,

New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming,

The land that the United States gained from the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is known as the Mexican Cession.

A T L A N T I C

O C E A N

P A C I F I C

O C E A N

Gulf of Mexico

C A N A D A

U N I T E D S T A T E S

M E X I C O

MEXICAN CESSION 1848

GADSDEN PURCHASE

1845

0 200 400 Miles

0 200 400 Kilometers

N

Present-day boundaries are shown.

15

and Colorado In 1853 the United States paid $10 million

to Mexico for more land in the Southwest known as the Gadsden Purchase

Life in the new territory soon changed Thousands

of Mexicans became United States citizens American settlement grew, especially after gold was discovered in California in 1848 The country finally stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean

United States Expansion in the Southwest

annex to add or attach

boundary a line or natural feature that

separates one area or state from another

manifest destiny the belief that the

United States should expand west to the

Pacific Ocean

negotiations the process of working with

others to come to an agreement on an issue

province a territory governed by a country

or empire

rebellion open and armed resistance to

a government

16

ISBN: 0-328-14861-X

Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc.

All Rights Reserved Printed in the United States of America This publication is protected

by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited

reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form by any means,

electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise For information regarding

permission(s), write to: Permissions Department, Scott Foresman, 1900 East Lake Avenue,

Glenview, Illinois 60025.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 V0G1 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05

Vocabulary

boundary province annex manifest destiny rebellion negotiations

Write to It!

The United States won every battle in the Mexican War Choose one of those battles and write a description of it Be sure to include important details, such

as where and when it was fought and how it was won

Write your description on a separate sheet of paper.

Maps

MapQuest, Inc.

Photographs

Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit for photographic material The publisher deeply regrets any omission and pledges to correct errors called to its attention in subsequent editions.

Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the property of Scott Foresman, a division of Pearson Education.

Photo locators denoted as follows: Top (T), Center (C), Bottom (B), Left (L), Right (R) Background (Bkgd) Opener: ©North Wind Picture Archives

2 ©Corbis

3 ©North Wind Picture Archives

6 ©North Wind Picture Archives

7 ©The Granger Collection, NY

8 North Wind Picture Archives

9 ©Getty Images

10 ©Getty Images

12 ©Getty Images

14 ©National Archives

In this book you will read about the

Mexican-American War, which was fought in 1846 and

1847 The United States’ victory gave the country

more than half a million square miles of land

that stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the

Pacific Ocean