Comparing and Contrasting Polk and Santa Anna
...nst the US. James Knox Polk and Santa Anna had very different reasons for entering into the Mexican War. Polk guaranteed his voters California and Oregon, which got him into office, but now he had to deliver. To give the voters California, he had to buy, or forcefully get it from Mexico, who currently owned this territory. Polk also wanted Texas to become part of the United States, with its border at the Rio Grande. He turned to Mexico, eager to go to war and ready to provoke it if he had to, and that’s exactly what he did. Polk sent a special envoy with John Slidell to Mexico with an offer of $20 million to buy California and New Mexico, as well as settle the border issues. Slidell’s arrival triggered a revolt against the Mexican president who had indicated a willingness to settle the dispute, but no Mexican leader could sell half his country and still stay in power, so the Mexican army officers overthrew the president. Polk then sent Zachary Taylor with four thousand soldiers to the Rio Grande to defend Texas’ border. Santa Anna on the other hand, did not acknowledge this boundary, and instead believed that it was the Nueces River. Anna believed the American troops were on Mexican soil, and attacked and resulted in 16 US soldiers killed or wounded. Polk then sent a declaration of war to Congress on May 11, 1846. Only 14 members of the House and two senators voted against this declaration. Polk and the US believed that Mexico, “invaded our territory, and shed American blood upon the American soil.” Even though he planned to ask Congress for a declaration before word of the Mexican “attack” ever reached Washington, it proved to be a good scapegoat to go to war with Mexico. Neither Polk nor Santa Anna and the Mexicans can not be totally blamed for this war; Mexico was defending land that they believed belonged to them, and not the US, but the concept of Manifest Destiny made the US believe it was our right to take the land from them. Polk had other causes for this war, including the constant westward movement and Manifest Destiny, and the not so obvious Southern “slave power”. During political power, Polk and Santa Anna were very diverse in handling different situations. For example, Polk promised the people that he would not run for a second term of presidency, when Santa Anna would be in power once, then get exiled, and return and regain power once again. After the Mexican war, Lucas Alaman wanted a European prince to rule over Mexico, but until a selection could be made, Mexico would need a military dictator to keep order, and Alaman placed Santa Anna in that position, because he thought Anna had enough experience. Polk told the people he would only run for one...