Spanish Settlement of the West
International borders have always been centers of conflict, and the U.S.-Mexican border is no exception. With the European colonizing the New World, it was a matter of time before the powers collided. The Spanish settled what is today Mexico, while the English settled what is to day the United States. When the two colonial powers did meet what is today the United States' Southwest, it was not England and Spain. Rather the two powers were the United States and Mexico. Both Counties had broken off from their mother countries. The conflict that erupted between the two countries where a direct result of different nation policies. The United States had a policy of westward expansion, while Mexico had a policy of self protection. The Americans never had a written policy of expansion. What they had was the idea of "Manifest Destiny." Manifest Destiny was the belief that the United States had the right to expand westward to the Pacific ocean. On the other hand, Mexico was a new country wanting to protect itself from outside powers. Evidence of U.S. expansion is seen with the independence of Texas from Mexico. The strongest evidence of U.S. expansion goals is with the Mexican-American War. From the beginning,
The Mexican-American war lasted two years, and ended with the signing of the Treaty of Guadeloupe on February 2 1848. The United States had succeeded in winning the war. With the Treaty of Guadeloupe the United States had succeeded in completing its Manifest Destiny. The Treaty itself represented the United States expansion goals. The United States wanted to settle on were the international border was to be. Mexico wanted the border to north of the Rio Grande river, but finally decided upon the middle of the Rio Grande river. Mexico having been bankrupt from the war, agreed to take the 15 million as payment for the vast land. In addition, the United States agreed to pay off all Mexican debts owed to the United States. This amount was small in comparison to what the United States gained in territory. The United States took advantage of a weak country of obtained its expansion goals. The Spanish settled the region through three major corridors; central, western and eastern. The first settlements were mainly through the central corridor. The Spanish went thorough what is now the modern Mexican state of Chihuahua into the U.S. state of New Mexico. Eventually the Spanish established the city of Santa Fe in 1689. The eastern corridor was through modern day Texas and led to the establishment of San Antonio. The eastern expansion was caused by the French expansion into modern day Louisiana. The Spanish crown wanted a buffer between the French in Louisiana and central Mexico. The last corridor of expansion was in the west, through the sea, which led to the establishment of San Diego in 1769 and Los Angles in 1781. It was not until 1845 and two Presidents later that Texas was annexed into the United States. Mexico protested the admission of Texas into the United States. The United States saw Mexico's protest as a excuse to spend troops into Texas Eventually Mexico City closed Texas from more Americans from entering. This angered the Americans wanting to enter and Americans already living in Texas. Texas revolted from Mexico in 1833. Mexicans did live in Texas, and fought for the independence of Texas. The majority of Texans were Americans and fought for their independence. After the war the Americans intentionally or non-intentionally forced most Mexicans out of Texas. The ones that stayed faced racial tensions that continue to today. Af
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1586
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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