Michael Medina

In the 19th century, Manifest Destiny was a widely held belief in the United States
that American settlers were destined to expand throughout the continent. Historians
have for the most part agreed that there are three basic themes to Manifest Destiny:
. The special virtues of the American people and their institutions;
. America's mission to redeem and remake the west in the image of agrarian
America;
. An irresistible destiny to accomplish this essential duty. (Manifest Destiny)

(Mexican American War)

A war between the U.S. and Mexico spanned the period from spring 1846 to fall
1847. The war was initiated by the United States and resulted in Mexico's defeat

and the loss of approximately half of its national territory in the north. After its
independence in 1821 and brief experiment with monarchy, Mexico became a
republic in 1824, characterized by considerable instability, so that when the U.S.
initiated the conflict with the Centralist Republic of Mexico, Mexico was illprepared to respond. The war with the U.S. followed in the wake of decades of
Indian raids in the north of Mexico, which Anglo-American migration to the
Mexican province of Texas was aimed at buffering. Anglo-Americans and some
Mexicans revolted against the Mexican government in the 1836 Texas Revolution,
creating a republic not recognized by Mexico, which still claimed it as its national
territory. The 1845 expansion of U.S. territory with its annexation of Texas
escalated the dispute between the U.S. and Mexico into open war.