President Polk declares war on Mexico - May 13, 1846 - HISTORY.com This Day in History - May 13, 1846, U.S. Congress votes in favor of President James K. Polk's request to declare war on Mexico in a dispute over Texas. Lead Story President Polk declares war on Mexico Share this: President Polk declares war on Mexico Author President Polk declares war on Mexico URL Publisher A+E Networks On May 13, 1846, the U.S. Congress overwhelmingly votes in favor of President James K. Polk’s request to declare war on Mexico ina dispute over Texas. Under the threat of war, theUnited Stateshad refrained from annexing Texas afterthe latterwon independence from Mexico in 1836. But in 1844, President John Tyler restarted negotiations with the Republic of Texas, culminating with a Treaty of Annexation. The treaty was defeated by a wide margin in the Senate because it would upset the slave state/free state balance between North and South and risked war with Mexico, which had broken off relations with the United States.

But shortly before leaving office and with the support of President-elect Polk, Tyler managed to get the joint resolution passed on March 1, 1845.Texas was admitted to the union on December 29.While Mexico didn’t follow through with its threat to declare war, relations between the two nations remained tense over border disputes, and in July 1845, President Polk ordered troops into disputed lands that lay between the Neuces and Rio Grande rivers. In November, Polk sent the diplomat John Slidell to Mexico to seek boundary adjustments in return for the U.S. government’s settlement of the claims of U.S. citizens againstMexico and also to make an offer to purchase California and New Mexico. After the mission failed, the U.S. army under Gen. Zachary Taylor advanced to the mouth of the Rio Grande, the river that the state of Texas claimed as its southern boundary. Mexico, claiming that the boundary was theNueces Riverto the northeast of the Rio Grande, considered the advance of Taylor’s army an act of aggression and in April 1846 sent troops across the Rio Grande. Polk, in turn, declared the Mexican advance to be an invasion of U.S.

soil, and on May 11, 1846, asked Congress to declare war onMexico, which it did two days later. After nearly two years of fighting, peace was established by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed on February 2, 1848. The Rio Grande was made the southern boundary ofTexas, andCalifornia andNew Mexicowere ceded to the United States. In return, the United States paidMexico the sum of $15 million and agreed to settle all claims of U.S. citizens against Mexico. Related Videos Congress declares war on Mexico, May 13, 1846 - POLITICO POLITICO James K. Polk is pictured in an undated portrait. Congress declares war on Mexico, May 13, 1846 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter On this day in 1846, Congress voted overwhelmingly to declare war on Mexico, two days after a request from President James Polk. Texas, which Congress had admitted to the Union on Dec. 29, 1845, was the key issue. The Mexicans were neither inclined nor really able to negotiate over its future.

Story Continued Below In 1846, the Mexican presidency changed hands four times, the war ministry six times and the finance ministry 16 times. Despite the internal political turmoil, Mexican public opinion remained virtually united against the sale of territory to the U.S. The breaking point came when Polk sent a force under Gen. Zachary Taylor to the mouth of the Rio Grande. The Mexicans, claiming the United States had invaded, resisted militarily. Among Americans, the war became a partisan issue in a nation riven by regional rivalries and deeply divided over slavery. Most Whigs, North and South, opposed it, while most Democrats supported it. Southern Democrats, championing the country’s “Manifest Destiny” to extend across the continent to the Pacific, backed the struggle in hopes of avoiding being overwhelmed by the faster-growing North. After nearly two years of fierce fighting, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo brought peace. The Rio Grande became the southern boundary of Texas, and Mexico ceded California and New Mexico to the United States. In return, the United States paid Mexico $15 million and agreed to settle all claims by U.S. citizens against the Mexican government.

The war added millions of square miles to America’s Western frontier, at the cost of more than 13,000 U.S. lives. It also left a bitter political aftertaste, which persisted into the latter years of the 19th century. Source: “A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War and the Conquest of the American Continent,” by Robert W. Merry (2009) May 13, 1846 – US Declares War on Mexico | This Day in History and Why It's Important to Know About It This Day in History and Why It's Important to Know About It Leave a reply On May 13, 1846, the United States Congress declared war on Mexico. President James K. Polk requested the declaration after Mexican troops crossed the Rio Grande River to occupy the disputed territory between that river and the Nueces River. The war lasted two years and resulted in the United States acquiring territory which now comprises California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Colorado. This war had been brewing since 1836 when Texas won its independence from Mexico.

Texas, a province of Mexico, had been sparsely populated until Americans immigrated there in large numbers in the early to mid-1830s. In 1835, a revolt broke out in San Antonio which resulted in Mexican troops being expelled from the town. In February 1836, General Santa Anna arrived at San Antonio and recaptured the town. The rebels fled across the San Antonio River to the protection of the Alamo. Santa Anna laid siege and raise the “red flag” indicating no quarter would be given to anyone inside the Alamo. Present inside the Alamo were William Travis, David Bowie, and Davie Crockett, all of whom were killed in the battle (some accounts say Crockett survived the battle, but was executed after being captured). In March 1836, Texas declared independence. Santa Anna’s army was defeated by Texan troops under the command of Sam Houston in May 1836. Houston’s victory over Santa Anna effectively ended the war, but did not result in Mexico’s recognition of Texan independence.

Skirmishes between Mexico and Texas occurred between 1836 and 1845, with a full-scale yet unsuccessful invasion occurring in 1842. After Texas won its independence in 1836, it petitioned for annexation into the United States as a State. The United States, fearing a war with Mexico, declined to annex Texas until early 1845 when President John Tyler, with President-elect James Polk’s support, talked the Senate into Ratifying the Treaty of Annexation negotiated in 1844. In July 1845, President Polk ordered the US Army into the disputed areas between the Rio Grande and Nueces Rivers. In April 1846, after negotiations failed to settle the border dispute, the Army was ordered to the mouth of the Rio Grande River. In response, the Mexican Army crossed the Rio Grande River into Texas. President Polk labeled the Mexican advance an invasion and on May 11, 1846 requested a declaration of war, which Congress issued on May 13, 1846. Why does it matter? The parallels to the situation which led to the Mexican War and the modern immigration debate are striking.

Unfettered and unregulated illegal immigration from Mexico has been described by some people as a quiet invasion. The Mexican government not only declines to take action against its citizens illegally entering the United States, it actively condones and encourages it. The Mexicans have a long memory. The Mexican government has publicly stated it believes Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and California are at best occupied Mexican territory or at worst stolen Mexican territory. The Mexican government has also at least tacitly acknowledged that what it can’t achieve through military invasion, it will achieve through re-population. American settlement of Texas in the 1830s was done with the acquiescence of the Mexican government. The influx of settlers to Texas greatly increased tax revenues to the Mexican government. Mexico was cash poor as it had only itself become independent of Spanish rule in 1822. For different reasons, political reasons, the United States is now acquiescing in massive and uncontrolled immigration of Mexicans into this country. What will happen when the Mexican populations of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and California outnumber the American populations? California Population in 2010 Census = 37,253,956.

California Hispanic Population in 2011 = 14,358,000 (39% of population). Texas Population in 2010 Census = 25,145,561. Texas Hispanic Population in 2011 = 9,974,000 (40% of population). New Mexico Population in 2010 Census = 2,059,179. New Mexico Hispanic Population in 2011 = 972,000 (47% of population). Arizona Population in 2010 Census = 6,392,017. Arizona Hispanic Population in 2011 = 1,950,000 (31% population). Colorado Population in 2010 Census = 5,029,196. Colorado Hispanic Population in 2011 = 1,071,000 (21% of population). Nevada Population in 2010 Census = 2,700,551.

Nevada Hispanic Population in 2011 = 738,000 (27% of population). TOTAL HISPANIC POPULATION OF “OLD MEXICO” STATES = 37% 35.734311 -78.764102 Congress declares war on Mexico, May 13, 1846 - POLITICO POLITICO James K. Polk appears in an undated portrait. Polk sought a declaration of war against Mexico in 1846. Congress declares war on Mexico, May 13, 1846 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter On this day in 1846, Congress voted overwhelmingly to approve a declaration of war against Mexico sought by President James Polk. By the war’s end in 1848, Mexico had lost nearly half its territory. Under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the Rio Grande became the southern boundary of Texas. Mexico ceded California and New Mexico to the United States. In return, the United States paid Mexico $15 million, or about $373 million in today’s dollars.

Mexicans favored the war in the face of chronic internal political instability: In 1846 alone, the presidency changed hands four times; the war ministry, six times; and the finance ministry, 16 times. Story Continued Below U.S. annexation of Texas in 1845 sparked the conflict. Mexico viewed Texas as a breakaway province and refused to recognize its 1836 secession. When Polk ordered forces south to the Rio Grande, entering territory claimed by Mexico, the Mexican army attacked them, justifying to Polk the need to go to war. The war soon became a partisan issue in a nation already deeply divided by sectional rivalries, setting the stage for the Civil War. Most Southern Democrats, citing America’s Manifest Destiny to emerge as a continental power, supported the war. Most Whigs, including former President John Quincy Adams, who was then serving in Congress, were opposed. They viewed the struggle as a power grab by slave-holding interests. Abraham Lincoln, who had been elected to Congress from Illinois as a Whig several months after war began, told the House: “This war is nondescript. ... We charge the president with usurping the war-making power ... with seizing a country ...

which had been for centuries, and was then in the possession of the Mexicans. ... Let us put a check upon this lust of dominion. We had territory enough, Heaven knew.” Source: “So Far From God: The U.S. War With Mexico,” by John Eisenhower (1989) Congress declared war on May 13, 1846. THE MEXICAN WAR, - HIST - 1301 View Full Document This is the end of the preview. Sign up to access the rest of the document. Unformatted text preview: Congress declared war on May 13, 1846. THE MEXICAN WAR, 1846-1848 Colonel Kearny annexed New Mexico. Kearny joined Capt. John Fremont in California. Bear Flag Republic. Zachary Taylor invaded northern Mexico. Winfield Scott led expedition to Mexico City. Nicholas Trist negotiated the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1848. South. Border at Rio Grande; New Mexico and California ceded to U.S.; Mex. to receive $ 15 Mill. The Mexican War INTERNAL EXPANSION Economic growth and technological development.

Electric telegraph, 1844. First American railroads: Charleston and Hamburg, Baltimore and Ohio, 1830-31. Railroads were most important innovation. Modern transport., big business, coal, iron. IMMIGRATION 4.2 Million immigrants arrived between 1840 and 1860. 1.5 Mill. Irish escaped great potato famine. 1 Mill. Germans came for economic and political reasons. Immigrants provided cheap labor for industrial revolution.... On This Day, May 13: US Declares War on Mexico | The Trail On This Day, May 13: US Declares War on Mexico May 13, 1846 President Polk declares war on Mexico On May 13, 1846, the U.S. Congress overwhelmingly votes in favor of President James K. Polk’s request to declare war on Mexico in a dispute over Texas. Under the threat of war, the United States had refrained from annexing Texas after the latter won independence from Mexico in 1836. But in 1844, President John Tyler restarted negotiations with the Republic of Texas, culminating with a Treaty of Annexation.

The treaty was defeated by a wide margin in the Senate because it would upset the slave state/free state balance between North and South and risked war with Mexico, which had broken off relations with the United States. But shortly before leaving office and with the support of President-elect Polk, Tyler managed to get the joint resolution passed on March 1, 1845. Texas was admitted to the union on December 29. While Mexico didn’t follow through with its threat to declare war, relations between the two nations remained tense over border disputes, and in July 1845, President Polk ordered troops into disputed lands that lay between the Neuces and Rio Grande rivers. In November, Polk sent the diplomat John Slidell to Mexico to seek boundary adjustments in return for the U.S. government’s settlement of the claims of U.S. citizens against Mexico and also to make an offer to purchase California and New Mexico. After the mission failed, the U.S. army under Gen. Zachary Taylor advanced to the mouth of the Rio Grande, the river that the state of Texas claimed as its southern boundary.

Mexico, claiming that the boundary was the Nueces River to the northeast of the Rio Grande, considered the advance of Taylor’s army an act of aggression and in April 1846 sent troops across the Rio Grande. Polk, in turn, declared the Mexican advance to be an invasion of U.S. soil, and on May 11, 1846, asked Congress to declare war on Mexico, which it did two days later. After nearly two years of fighting, peace was established by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed on February 2, 1848. The Rio Grande was made the southern boundary of Texas, and California and New Mexico were ceded to the United States. In return, the United States paid Mexico the sum of $15 million and agreed to settle all claims of U.S. citizens against Mexico. “President Polk declares war on Mexico,” The History Channel website, 2009, [accessed May 13, 2009] On This Day 1607 – Jamestown, Virginia , was settled as a colony of England.

1648 – Margaret Jones of Plymouth was found guilty of witchcraft and was sentenced to be hanged by the neck. 1865 – The last land engagement of the American Civil War was fought at the Battle of Palmito Ranch in far south Texas , more than a month after Gen. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, VA . 1867 – Confederate President Jefferson Davis became a free man after spending two years in prison for his role in the American Civil War. 1888 – Slavery was abolished in Brazil. 1912 – Royal Flying Corps was established in England. 1954 – U.S. President Eisenhower signed into law the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Act. 1968 – Peace talks between the U.S. and North Vietnam began in Paris. 1981 – Pope John Paul II was shot and seriously wounded in St. Peter’s Square by Turkish assailant Mehmet Ali Agca. 1985 – A confrontation between Philadelphia authorities and the radical group MOVE ended as police dropped an explosive onto the group’s headquarters. 11 people died in the fire that resulted.

May 13, 1958 Vice President Nixon is attacked During a goodwill trip through Latin America, Vice President Richard Nixon’s car is attacked by an angry crowd and nearly overturned while traveling through Caracas, Venezuela. The incident was the dramatic highlight of trip characterized by Latin American anger over some of America’s Cold War policies. By 1958, relations between the United States and Latin America had reached their lowest point in years. Latin Americans complained that the U.S. focus on the Cold War and anticommunism failed to address the pressing economic and political needs of many Latin American nations. In particular, they argued that their countries needed more basic economic assistance, not more arms to repel communism. They also questioned the American support of dictatorial regimes in Latin America simply because those regimes claimed to be anticommunist-for example, the U.S. awarded the Legion of Merit medal to Venezuelan dictator Marcos Perez Jimenez in 1954; Jimenez was overthrown by a military coup early in 1958. This was the atmosphere into which Vice President Richard Nixon arrived during his goodwill trip through Latin America in April and May 1958.

The trip began with some controversy, as Nixon engaged in loud and bitter debates with student groups during his travels through Peru and Uruguay. In Caracas, Venezuela, however, things took a dangerous turn. A large crowd of angry Venezuelans who shouted anti-American slogans stopped Nixon’s motorcade through the capital city. They attacked the car, damaged its body and smashed the windows. Inside the vehicle, Secret Service agents covered the vice president and at least one reportedly pulled out his weapon. Miraculously, they escaped from the crowd and sped away. In Washington, President Eisenhower dispatched U.S. troops to the Caribbean area to rescue Nixon from further threats if necessary. None occurred, and the vice president left Venezuela ahead of schedule. The riot in Caracas served as a wake-up call to U.S. officials in Washington, alerting them to America’s deteriorating relations with Latin America. In the next few months, the United States increased both its military and economic assistance to the region. However, it was not until communist Fidel Castro’s rise to power in Cuba beginning in 1959 that the United States truly realized the extent of discontent and rebelliousness in Latin America.

“Vice President Nixon is attacked,” The History Channel website, 2009, [accessed May 13, 2009] Rate this: May 13, 1846 : President Polk declares war on Mexico Introduction On May 13, 1846, the U.S. Congress overwhelmingly votes in favor of President James K. Polk’s request to declare war on Mexico ina dispute over Texas. Under the threat of war, theUnited Stateshad refrained from annexing Texas afterthe latterwon independence from Mexico in 1836. But in 1844, President John Tyler restarted negotiations with the Republic of Texas, culminating with a Treaty of Annexation. The treaty was defeated by a wide margin in the Senate because it would upset the slave state/free state balance between North and South and risked war with Mexico, which had broken off relations with the United States.

But shortly before leaving office and with the support of President-elect Polk, Tyler managed to get the joint resolution passed on March 1, 1845.Texas was admitted to the union on December 29.While Mexico didn’t follow through with its threat to declare war, relations between the two nations remained tense over border disputes, and in July 1845, President Polk ordered troops into disputed lands that lay between the Neuces and Rio Grande rivers. In November, Polk sent the diplomat John Slidell to Mexico to seek boundary adjustments in return for the U.S. government’s settlement of the claims of U.S. citizens againstMexico and also to make an offer to purchase California and New Mexico. After the mission failed, the U.S. army under Gen. Zachary Taylor advanced to the mouth of the Rio Grande, the river that the state of Texas claimed as its southern boundary. Mexico, claiming that the boundary was theNueces Riverto the northeast of the Rio Grande, considered the advance of Taylor’s army an act of aggression and in April 1846 sent troops across the Rio Grande. Polk, in turn, declared the Mexican advance to be an invasion of U.S.

soil, and on May 11, 1846, asked Congress to declare war onMexico, which it did two days later. After nearly two years of fighting, peace was established by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed on February 2, 1848. The Rio Grande was made the southern boundary ofTexas, andCalifornia andNew Mexicowere ceded to the United States. In return, the United States paidMexico the sum of $15 million and agreed to settle all claims of U.S. citizens against Mexico. Article Details: May 13, 1846 : President Polk declares war on Mexico Author May 13, 1846 : President Polk declares war on Mexico URL President Polk's Address to Congress, May 11, 1846 James K. Polk, President of the United States at Washington, D.C., to the Congress of the United States. A special message calling for a declaration of war against Mexico. Washington, May 11, 1846.

To the Senate and the House of Representatives: The existing state of the relations between the United States and Mexico renders it proper that I should bring the subject to the consideration of Congress. In my message at the commencement of your present session, the state of these relations, the causes which led to the suspension of diplomatic intercourse between the two countries in March, 1845, and the long-continued and unredressed wrongs and injuries committed by the Mexican Government on citizens of the United States in their persons and property were briefly set forth. As the facts and opinions which were then laid before you were carefully considered, I can not better express my present convictions of the condition of affairs up to that time than by referring you to that communication. The strong desire to establish peace with Mexico on liberal and honorable terms, and the readiness of this Government to regulate and adjust our boundary and other causes of difference with that power on such fair and equitable principles as would lead to permanent relations of the most friendly nature, induced me in September last to seek the reopening of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Every measure adopted on our part had for its object the furtherance of these desired results.

In communicating to Congress a succinct statement of the injuries which we had suffered from Mexico, and which have been accumulating during a period of more than twenty years, every expression that could tend to inflame the people of Mexico or defeat or delay a pacific result was carefully avoided. An envoy of the United States repaired to Mexico with full powers to adjust every existing difference. But though present on Mexican soil by agreement between the two Governments, invested with full powers, and bearing evidence of the most friendly dispositions, his mission has been unavailing. The Mexican Government not only refused to receive him or listen to his propositions, but after a long-continued series of menaces have at last invaded our territory and shed the blood of our fellow-citizens on our own soil. It now becomes my duty to state more in detail the origin, progress, and failure of that mission.

In pursuance of the instructions given in September last, an inquiry was made on the 13th of October, 1845, in the most friendly terms, through our consul in Mexico, of the minister for foreign affairs, whether the Mexican Government "would receive an envoy from the United States intrusted with full powers to adjust all the questions in dispute between the two Government, " with the assurance that "should the answer be in the affirmative such an envoy would be immediately dispatched to Mexico. The Mexican minister on the 15th of October gave an affirmative answer to this inquiry, requesting at the same time that our naval force at Vera Cruz might be withdrawn, lest its continued presence might assume the appearance of menace and coercion pending the negotiations. This force was immediately withdrawn. On the 10th of November, 1845, Mr. John Slidell, of Louisiana, was commissioned by me as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States to Mexico, and was intrusted with full powers to adjust both the questions of the Texas boundary and of indemnification to our citizens. The redress of wrongs of our citizens naturally and inseparably blended itself with the question of boundary.

The settlement of the one question in any correct view of the subject involves that of the other. I could not for a moment entertain the idea that the claims of our much-injured and long-suffering citizens, many of which had existed for more than twenty years, should be postponed or separated from the settlement of the boundary question. Mr. Slidell arrived at Vera Cruz on the 30th of November and was courteously received by the authorities of that city. But the Government of General Herrera was then tottering to its fall. The revolutionary party had seized upon the Texas question to effect or hasten its overthrow. Its determination to restore friendly relations with the United States, and to receive our minister to negotiate for the settlement of this question, was violently assailed, and was made the great theme of denunciation against it. The Government of General Herrera, there is good reason to believe, was sincerely desirous to receive our minister; but it yielded to the storm raised by its enemies, and on the 21st of December refused to accredit Mr. Slidell upon the most frivolous pretexts. These are so fully and ably exposed in the note of Mr.

Slidell of the 24th of December last to the Mexican minister of foreign relations, herewith transmitted, that I deem it unnecessary to enter into further detail on this portion of the subject. Five days after the date of Mr. Slidell's note General Herrera yielded the Government to General Paredes without a struggle, and on the 30th of December resigned the Presidency. This revolution was accomplished solely by the army, the people having taken little part in the contest; and thus the supreme power in Mexico passed into the hands of a military leader. Determined to leave no effort untried to effect an amicable adjustment with Mexico, I directed Mr. Slidell to present his credentials to the Government of General Paredes and ask to be officially received by him. There would have been less ground for taking this step had General Paredes come into power by a regular constitutional succession. In that event his administration would have been considered but a mere constitutional continuance of the Government of General Herrera, and the refusal of the latter to receive our minister would have been deemed conclusive unless an intimation had been given by General Paredes of his desire to reverse the decision of his predecessor.

But the Government of General Paredes owes its existence to a military revolution, by which the subsisting constitutional authorities had been subverted. The form of government was entirely changed, as well as all the high functionaries by whom it was administered. Under these circumstances, Mr. Slidell, in obedience to my direction, addressed a note to the Mexican minister of foreign relations, under date of the 1st of March last, asking to be received by that Government in the diplomatic character to which he had been appointed. This minister in his reply, under date of the 12th of March, reiterated the arguments of his predecessor, and in terms that may be considered as giving just grounds of offense to the Government and people of the United States denied the application of Mr. Slidell. Nothing therefore remained for our envoy but to demand his passports and return to his own country. Thus the Government of Mexico, though solemnly pledged by official acts in October last to receive and accredit an American envoy, violated their plighted faith and refused the offer of a peaceful adjustment of our difficulties.

Not only was the offer rejected, but the indignity of its rejection was enhanced by the manifest breach of faith in refusing to admit the envoy who came because they had bound themselves to receive him. Nor can it be said that the offer was fruitless from want of opportunity of discussing it; our envoy was present on their own soil. Nor can it be ascribed to a want of sufficient powers; our envoy had full powers to adjust every question of difference. Nor was there room for complaint that our propositions for settlement were unreasonable; permission was not even given our envoy to make any proposition whatever. Nor can it be objected that we, on our part, would not listen to any reasonable terms of their suggestion; the Mexican Government refused all negotiation, and have made no proposition of any kind. In my message at the commencement of the present session I informed you that upon the earnest appeal both of the Congress and convention of Texas I had ordered an efficient military force to take a position "between the Nueces and Del Norte." This had become necessary to meet a threatened invasion of Texas by the Mexican forces, for which extensive military preparations had been made.

The invasion was threatened solely because Texas had determined, in accordance with a solemn resolution of the Congress of the United States, to annex herself to our Union, and under these circumstances it was plainly our duty to extend our protection over her citizens and soil. This force was concentrated at Corpus Christi, and remained there until after I had received such information from Mexico as rendered it probable, if not certain, that the Mexican Government would refuse to receive our envoy. Meantime Texas, by the final act of our Congress, had become an integral part of our Union. The Congress of Texas, by its act of December 19, 1836, had declared the Rio del Norte to be the boundary of that Republic. Its jurisdiction had been extended and exercised beyond the Nueces. The country between that river and the Del Norte had been represented in the Congress and in the convention of Texas, had thus taken part in the act of annexation itself, and is now included within one of our Congressional districts.

Our own Congress had, moreover, with great unanimity, by the act approved December 31, 1845, recognized the country beyond the Nueces as a part of our territory by including it within our own revenue system, and a revenue officer to reside within that district had been appointed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. It became, therefore, of urgent necessity to provide for the defense of that portion of our country. Accordingly, on the 13th of January last instructions were issued to the general in command of these troops to occupy the left bank of the Del Norte. This river, which is the southwestern boundary of the State of Texas, is an expose frontier. From this quarter invasion was threatened; upon it and in its immediate vicinity, in the judgement of high military experience, are the proper stations for the protecting forces of the Government. In addition to this important consideration, several others occurred to induce this movement.

Among these are the facilities afforded by the ports at Brazos Santiago and the mouth of the Del Norte for the reception of supplies by sea, the stronger and more healthy military positions, the convenience for obtaining a ready and a more abundant supply of provisions, water, fuel, and forage, and the advantages which are afforded by the Del Norte in forwarding supplies to such posts as may be established in the interior and upon the Indian frontier. The movement of the troops to the Del Norte was made by the commanding general under positive instructions to abstain from all aggressive acts toward Mexico or Mexican citizens and to regard the relations between that Republic and the United States as peaceful unless she should declare war or commit acts of hostility indicative of a state of war. He was specially directed to protect private property and respect personal rights. The Army moved from Corpus Christi on the 11th of March, and on the 28th of that month arrived on the left bank of the Del Norte opposite to Matamoras, where it encamped on a commanding position, which since been strengthened by the erection of fieldworks. A depot has also been established at Point Isabel, near the Brazos Santiago, 30 miles in rear of the encampment.

The selection of his position was necessarily confided to the judgment of the general in command. The Mexican forces at Matamoras assumed a belligerent attitude, and on the 12th of April General Ampudia, then in command, notified General Taylor to break up his camp within twenty-four hours and to retire beyond the Nueces River, and in the event of this failure to comply with these demands announced that arms, and arms alone, must decide the question. But no open act of hostility was committed until the 24th of April. On that day General Arista, who had succeeded to the command of the Mexican forces, communicated to General Taylor that "he considered hostilities commenced and should prosecute them." A party of dragoons of 63 men and officers were on the same day dispatched from the American camp up the Rio del Norte, on its left bank, to ascertain whether the Mexican troops had crossed or were preparing to cross the river, "became engaged with a large body of these troops, and after a short affair, in which some 16 were killed and wounded, appear to have been surrounded and compelled to surrender.

The grievous wrongs perpetrated by Mexico upon our citizens throughout a long period of years remain unredressed, and solemn treaties pledging her public faith for this redress have been disregarded. A government either unable or unwilling to enforce the execution of such treaties fails to perform one of its plainest duties. Our commerce with Mexico has been almost annihilated. It was formerly highly beneficial to both nations, but our merchants have been deterred from prosecuting it by the system of outrage and extortion which the Mexican authorities have pursued against them, whilst their appeals through their own Government for indemnity have been made in vain. Our forbearance has gone to such an extreme as to be mistaken in its character. Had we acted with vigor in repelling the insults and redressing the injuries inflicted by Mexico at the commencement, we should doubtless have escaped all the difficulties in which we are now involved. Instead of this, however, we have been exerting our best efforts to propitiate her good will.

Upon the pretext that Texas, a nation as independent as herself, thought proper to unite its destinies with our own, she has affected to believe that we have severed her rightful territory, and in official proclamations and manifestoes has repeatedly threatened to make war upon us for the purpose of reconquering Texas. In the meantime we have tried every effort at reconciliation. The cup of forbearance had been exhausted even before the recent information from the frontier of the Del Norte. But now, after reiterated menaces, Mexico has passed the boundary of the United States, has invaded our territory and shed American blood upon the American soil. She has proclaimed that hostilities have commenced, and that the two nations are now at war. As war exists, and, notwithstanding all our efforts to avoid it, exists by the act of Mexico herself, we are called upon by every consideration of duty and patriotism to vindicate with decision the honor, the rights, and the interests of our country.

Anticipating the possibility of a crisis like that which has arrived, instructions were given in August last, "as a precautionary measure" against invasion or threatened invasion, authorizing General Taylor, if the emergency required it, to accept volunteers, not from Texas only, but from the States of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky, and corresponding letters were addressed to the respective governors of those States.

These instructions were repeated, and in January last, soon after the incorporation of "Texas into our Union of States," General Taylor was further "authorized by the President to make a requisition upon the executive of that State for such of its militia force as may be needed to repel invasion or to secure the country against apprehended invasion." On the 2d day of March he was again reminded, "in the event of the approach of any considerable Mexican force, promptly and efficiently to use the authority with which he was clothed to call to him such auxiliary force as he might need." War actually existing and our territory having been invaded, General Taylor, pursuant to authority vested in him by my direction, has called on the governor of Texas for four regiments of State troops, two to be mounted and two to serve on foot, and on the governor of Louisiana for four regiments of infantry to be sent to him as soon as practicable. In further vindication of our rights and defense of our territory, I invoke the prompt action of Congress to recognize the existence of the war, and to place at the disposition of the Executive the means of prosecuting the war with vigor, and thus hastening the restoration of peace.

To this end I recommend that authority should be given to call into the public service a large body of volunteers to serve for not less than six or twelve months unless sooner discharged. A volunteer force is beyond question more efficient than any other description of citizen soldiers, and it is not to be doubted that a number far beyond that required would readily rush to the field upon the call of their country. I further recommend that a liberal provision be made for sustaining our entire military force and furnishing it with supplies and munitions of war. The most energetic and prompt measures and the immediate appearance in arms or a large and overpowering force are recommended to Congress as the most certain and efficient means of bringing the existing collision with Mexico to a speedy and successful termination. In making these recommendations I deem it proper to declare that it is my anxious desire not only to terminate hostilities speedily, but to bring all matters in dispute between this Government and Mexico to an early and amicable adjustment; and in this view I shall be prepared to renew negotiations whenever Mexico shall be ready to receive propositions or to propositions of her own.

I transmit herewith a copy of the correspondence between our envoy to Mexico and the Mexican minister for foreign affairs, and so much of the correspondence between that envoy and the Secretary of State and between the Secretary of War and the general in command on the Del Norte as is necessary to a full understanding of the subject. JAMES K. POLK. Milestones: 1830–1860 - Office of the Historian Milestones: 1830–1860 The Annexation of Texas, the Mexican-American War, and the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, 1845–1848 During his tenure, U.S. President James K. Polk oversaw the greatest territorial expansion of the United States to date. Polk accomplished this through the annexation of Texas in 1845, the negotiation of the Oregon Treaty with Great Britain in 1846, and the conclusion of the Mexican-American War in 1848, which ended with the signing and ratification of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in 1848.

The Battle of Veracruz These events brought within the control of the United States the future states of Texas, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Washington, and Oregon, as well as portions of what would later become Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, Wyoming, and Montana. Following Texas’ successful war of independence against Mexico in 1836, President Martin van Buren refrained from annexing Texas after the Mexicans threatened war. Accordingly, while the United States extended diplomatic recognition to Texas, it took no further action concerning annexation until 1844, when President John Tyler restarted negotiations with the Republic of Texas. His efforts culminated on April 12 in a Treaty of Annexation, an event that caused Mexico to sever diplomatic relations with United States. Tyler, however, lacked the votes in the Senate to ratify the treaty, and it was defeated by a wide margin in June. Shortly before he left office, Tyler tried again, this time through a joint resolution of both houses of Congress. With the support of President-elect Polk, Tyler managed to get the joint resolution passed on March 1, 1845, and Texas was admitted into the United States on December 29.

President John Tyler While Mexico did not follow through with its threat to declare war if the United States annexed Texas, relations between the two nations remained tense due to Mexico’s disputed border with Texas. According to the Texans, their state included significant portions of what is today New Mexico and Colorado, and the western and southern portions of Texas itself, which they claimed extended to the Rio Grande River. The Mexicans, however, argued that the border only extended to the Nueces River, north of the Rio Grande. In July, 1845, Polk, who had been elected on a platform of expansionism, ordered the commander of the U.S. Army in Texas, Zachary Taylor, to move his forces into the disputed lands that lay between the Nueces and Rio Grande rivers. In November, Polk dispatched Congressman John Slidell to Mexico with instructions to negotiate the purchase of the disputed areas along the Texas-Mexican border, and the territory comprising the present-day states of New Mexico and California. Following the failure of Slidell’s mission in May 1846, Polk used news of skirmishes inside disputed territory between Mexican troops and Taylor’s army to gain Congressional support for a declaration of war against Mexico.

On May 13, 1846, the United States declared war on Mexico. Following the capture of Mexico City in September 1847, Nicholas Trist , chief clerk of the Department of State and Polk’s peace emissary, began negotiations for a peace treaty with the Mexican Government under terms similar to those pursued by Slidell the previous year. Polk soon grew concerned by Trist’s conduct, however, believing that he would not press for strong enough terms from the Mexicans, and because Trist became a close friend of General Winfield Scott, a Whig who was thought to be a strong contender for his party’s presidential nomination for the 1848 election. Furthermore, the war had encouraged expansionist Democrats to call for a complete annexation of Mexico. Polk recalled Trist in October. Chief Clerk of the Department of State, Nicholas Trist Believing that he was on the cusp of an agreement with the Mexicans, Trist ignored the recall order and presented Polk with the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, which was signed in Mexico City on February 2, 1848.

Under the terms of the treaty, Mexico ceded to the United States approximately 525,000 square miles (55% of its prewar territory) in exchange for a $15 million lump sum payment, and the assumption by the U.S. Government of up to $3.25 million worth of debts owed by Mexico to U.S. citizens. While Polk would have preferred a more extensive annexation of Mexican territory, he realized that prolonging the war would have disastrous political consequences and decided to submit the treaty to the Senate for ratification. Although there was substantial opposition to the treaty within the Senate, on March 10, 1848, it passed by a razor-thin margin of 38 to 14. The war had another significant outcome. On August 8, 1846, Congressman David Wilmot introduced a rider to an appropriations bill that stipulated that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist” in any territory acquired by the United States in the war against Mexico. While Southern senators managed to block adoption of the so-called “Wilmot Proviso,” it nonetheless provoked a political firestorm.

The question of whether slavery could expand throughout the United States continue to fester until the defeat of the Confederacy in 1865. Mexican War, 1846 to 1848 Genealogy - FamilySearch Wiki News and Events Introduction The Mexican War (also known as the Mexican-American War, the First American Intervention, and the U.S.–Mexican War) resulted from the annexation of Texas by the United States in 1845. Thirty-five thousand U.S. Army troops and 73,000 state volunteers fought in this war. Most volunteer regiments were from southern states, such as Louisiana, Tennessee, Missouri, and Texas. The war took place from April 25,1846 to February 2, 1848. War with Mexico was declared on May 13, 1846. However, units of soldiers were organized in Texas in the fall of 1845.

Volunteer units were organized from Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland and the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania,South Carolina, Tennessee,Texas and Virginia. One unit was composed of Indians and one of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints-the Mormon Battalion. Regular Army units included the 1st Regiment of Dragoons, 2nd Regiment of Dragoons, 3rd Regiment of Dragoons, Regiment of Mounted Riflemen, 1st Regiment of Artillery, 2nd Regiment of Artillery, 3rd Regiment of Artillery, 4th Regiment of Artillery,1st through 16th Regiments of Infantry, Regiment of Voltigeurs and Foot Riflemen. Wisconsin Territory Additional State Records The Mexican War was fought before these states existed, however, these states have information specific to their area on individuals that served in the war. Research Tools Military Records: Pre-WWI Pension Applications (16 minute online video) FamilySearch Research Classes Online , 2010. Norman E.Tutorow. comp.and ed. The Mexican-American War.

an annotated bibliography. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1981 Elizabeth R. Snoke. The Mexican War. a bibliography of MHRC holdings for the period 1835-1850. Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania: {s.n.], 1973 Mark Crawford,David S. Heidler, Jeanne T. Heidler. Encyclopedia of the Mexican War. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-Clio, 1999 Steven R. Butler. How to Find Your Mexican War Ancestor.Richardson, Texas : Descendants of Mexican War Veterans, c1994 Related Wiki Articles

Question: Which country declared war on Mexico on 13 May 1846?
Answer: USA