war with mexico
...eral factors of both the United States and Mexico led to the outbreak of war in 1846. Unsettled disputes after the Texas Revolution of 1836 added to the tension between the two nations. President James Polk favored war against Mexico as a means of expanding the union. Polk felt that war would result in adding not only Texas, but also New Mexico and California to the United States. He favored land quarrels with Mexico, supporting that Texan borders should reach to the Rio Grande River. Another cause of war was the Southerners want to annex Texas as a slave state into the union. Southerners saw the opportunity to continue the legal use of slaves and to increase the power of the South in Congress. Mexico's unstable government was another cause of war. General Jose Herrera, who rejected American emissary John Slidell’s proposal to purchase California and New Mexico, overtook leader Santa Anna. After this rejection, General Zachary Taylor marched with his troops to the Rio Grande River and blockaded it, while John C. Fremont led the military into the Salinas Valley of California. Mexico attacked, and thus began the war. Tensions rising between the United States and Mexico began war in 1846. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war on February 2, 1848. Provisions of this treaty included Mexico agreeing to recognizing the Rio Grande as Texas' border, ceded New Mexico and California territories to the United States, the United States pay fi...