4 7 a battle over borders

A Battle
Over Borders

Fascinating Facts
• United States soldiers took the same route that
Spanish explorer Hernando Cortés and his men
had taken more than three hundred years before
to defeat the Aztec Empire.

• Zachary Taylor was not the only President who
served in the Mexican War. Ulysses S. Grant and
Franklin Pierce also served in that war.

• After the Mexican War, many people in Latin
America called the United States “El Coloso del
Norte,” or the colossus of the North.

Genre

Nonfiction

Comprehension Skill

Compare and
Contrast

Text Features

• Map
• Chart
• Captions

Scott Foresman Social Studies

ISBN 0-328-14862-8

ì<(sk$m)=beigc < +^-Ä-U-Ä-U

by Rena Korb


In this book you will read about the Mexican-American
War, which was fought in 1846 and 1847. The United
States’ victory gave the country more than half a
million square miles of land that stretched from the
Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.

A Battle
Over Borders
Write to It!

The Mexican War was fought in Texas,
the Southwest, California, and Mexico.
Write a brief essay that explains and
summarizes the progress of the war.

Vocabulary

Write your essay on a separate sheet of paper.

boundary

province
annex
manifest destiny
invade
rebellion
negotiations
cession

by Rena Korb

Maps
MapQuest, Inc.
Photographs
Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit for photographic material. The publisher deeply
regrets any omission and pledges to correct errors called to its attention in subsequent editions.
ISBN: 0-328-14862-8
Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is protected
by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited
reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. For information regarding
permission(s), write to: Permissions Department, Scott Foresman, 1900 East Lake Avenue,
Glenview, Illinois 60025.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 V0G1 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05

Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the property of Scott Foresman, a division of Pearson Education.
Photo locators denoted as follows: Top (T), Center (C), Bottom (B), Left (L), Right (R) Background (Bkgd)
Opener: ©The Granger Collection, NY
2 ©North Wind Picture Archives
Editorial Offices: Glenview, Illinois • Parsippany, New Jersey • New York, New York

3 ©Corbis
6 ©North Wind Picture Archives
Sales Offices: Needham, Massachusetts • Duluth, Georgia • Glenview, Illinois
8 ©The Granger Collection,
NY
Coppell,
Texas • Sacramento, California • Mesa, Arizona
11 ©Getty Images
13 ©Getty Images


Background to War

At the end of March 1846, General Taylor’s 3,500 troops began
building forts along the Rio Grande, right across from the
Mexican city of Matamoros.

Armies Across Borders
In April 1846 trouble was brewing along the
banks of the Rio Grande in Texas. Mexican armies
and United States troops had gathered on opposite
sides of this mighty river. The two countries were
about to start a war. The United States said that
the Rio Grande marked the boundary, or border,
between the two countries. However, Mexico
claimed that the boundary was about one hundred
miles to the east.
On April 25, a large force of Mexicans crossed
the river and attacked a group of United States
soldiers. In the fight, sixteen Americans were

killed or wounded. The Mexicans also took
some as prisoners. General Zachary Taylor, who
commanded the United States forces in Texas, sent
word to President James K. Polk. On May 13, 1846,
the United States declared war against Mexico.
2

How did the two countries come to fight the
Mexican War? There were several causes. In 1821,
Mexico had become independent from Spain. The
new country now owned an enormous amount
of land in North America. This land became the
Mexican provinces of New Mexico, California, and
Texas. United States settlers and others in Texas
disliked Mexican rule. In 1836, they fought and
won the Texas Revolution, gaining freedom from
Mexico and forming their own country. Then in
1845 the United States annexed Texas. This action
made the Mexican government angry.
The United States also wanted to expand west
to the Pacific Ocean. This idea—stretching the
country across the
continent—was known
as manifest destiny.

During Polk’s presidency, the
United States gained the right
to more land in the Northwest
when Great Britain dropped
its claims. This land later

became the states of Oregon
and Washington.


Objections to the War

The Beginning of the War

Some Americans objected to the war with Mexico.
Some United States senators agreed with Mexico
that the boundary between the two countries was
the Nueces River and not the Rio Grande. This
meant that Americans had been trespassing on
Mexican land, and Mexico was only defending its
territory. Abraham Lincoln was one member of
Congress who criticized Polk and the war. He even
said that Polk had started the conflict. Also, people
who opposed slavery generally disliked the war. They
believed that if the southwest territories were made
into states, slavery would become legal there.

Because many Americans were against the
war, Polk wanted to win it quickly. His military
commanders developed a strategy of attacking
many locations in Mexico at once. One division
would invade Mexico from Texas. At the same time,
United States forces would march on the Mexican
provinces of New Mexico and California.
Even before news of the war reached Texas,
General Taylor’s troops had fought in several

battles and defeated the Mexican forces. Taylor
then crossed the Rio Grande and entered Mexico.
On May 18, 1846, Taylor had his first major victory
when he captured the town of Matamoros. The
Mexican army had left the town before the troops
arrived, so no fighting took place. Taylor then
raised the American flag over the town.

In 1845, the United States tried to buy this
land. Polk sent an agent, John Slidell, to Mexico.
Slidell was given the authority to pay as much
as $30 million for the northern provinces of
New Mexico and California. The United States
believed that Mexico might agree to the offer
because few Mexican residents lived in those lands.
However, the mention of Slidell’s visit in a Mexican
newspaper led to a huge cry of protest from many
Mexicans. The Mexican government refused to
even see Slidell. With Slidell’s failed attempt, there
seemed little chance of getting the land other than
taking it by force. After the clash in Texas, the
United States had a reason it needed to go to war.

4

Advantages in Fighting the Mexican War
American Advantages

Mexican Advantages

• Better

weapons

• Three

• Better

military leaders

• Better-trained

soldiers

times more
soldiers
• Possible aid from Great
Britain and France
• Disapproval of the war
by many Americans

5


United States troops held off a Mexican attack in the Battle of
San Gabriel in California.

On August 18, Kearney and his men reached
Santa Fe. New Mexico had raised an army of
Mexicans and American Indians. However, these

defenders had left their posts before they even
met the United States army. Kearney raised the
American flag and announced that the United
States was annexing New Mexico.
Most New Mexicans accepted United States
control of the region. However, in January 1847, a
group of New Mexicans and Pueblo Indians started
a rebellion in Taos, where the American governor
was staying. They killed him along with six other
men. They planned to attack Santa Fe next. The
rebels barricaded themselves in the nearby town
of Taos Pueblo. After seven hours of battering
the town’s walls, the United States forces broke
through. The rebels surrendered. The United States
army had put down the rebellion. New Mexico was
now under the control of the United States.

The War in New Mexico

The War in California

When the war began, United States troops
also marched on the Mexican provinces in the
Southwest. In June 1846 Colonel Stephen Kearney
led about 1,500 troops toward New Mexico’s
capital, Santa Fe. As they traveled, Kearney and
his troops claimed the towns they passed. He made
speeches and posted signs in English and Spanish.
He told the Mexicans that the land now belonged to
the United States.

By the summer of 1846, California also was
ready for a fight. At that time, California’s nonAmerican Indian population stood at about eight
thousand Mexicans, called Californios, and five
hundred settlers from the United States. However,
the settlers no longer wanted to live under Mexico’s
control. In 1846 a United States Army captain
named John C. Fremont encouraged a small group
of settlers in northern California to rebel.

6

7


On June 14,1846, a small group of
settlers rose up in the settlement of
Sonoma. They arrested the Mexican
army commander and captured
military weapons. They then wrote
their declaration of independence from
Mexico and declared California to be the
Bear Flag Republic.
The Bear Flag rebels only had
shaky control of northern California.
Fortunately for them, American soldiers were on
the way. In July, United States Navy troops landed
on the coast. Some soldiers went north and took
over the land claimed by the Bear Flag rebels.
Other soldiers went south to capture Los Angeles

and San Diego. After about a month, the soldiers
were confident that they had control of California.
Military commanders sent back this news to
Washington, D.C.
The military leaders, however, had a more
difficult job than they had realized. They had the
support of only a few hundred soldiers. They also
set harsh rules that angered the Californios. For
8

The Bear Flag Revolt drew its name from the flag the settlers
hastily made, which pictured a grizzly bear.

instance, they refused Californios the right to
carry weapons. The Californios rebelled. By midDecember they had regained control of most of
southern California.
Around that time, Colonel Kearney and his army
arrived in San Diego. They marched toward
Los Angeles and beat back two fierce enemy
attacks. United States forces put down the
rebellion in January 1847. The United States
had captured California.
9


The Drive to Mexico
Meanwhile, the war continued in Mexico. In
September 1846 General Taylor led about six
thousand soldiers to Monterrey, the largest city
in northern Mexico. Monterrey was surrounded

by several hills topped with forts that were armed
with guns and cannons. To take Monterrey, the
United States troops scrambled up the hills despite
the Mexican soldiers shooting down on them.
Once they captured the forts, they entered the city.
Instead of surrendering, the Mexican forces took
cover in Monterrey’s stone houses. The United
states troops were forced to battle with them house
by house. After several days of fierce fighting, the
Mexican defenders gave up.
The battle for Monterrey had weakened both
armies, so the armies agreed to an eight-week halt
to the fighting. The Mexican forces left the city,
and Taylor’s troops remained in Monterrey. Several
months later, in January 1847, Mexico tried to
retake the city. About twenty thousand Mexican
troops returned.
When Taylor learned that the Mexicans would
attack, he led his five thousand men to Buena
Vista, a location near Monterrey. The Mexican
army arrived and the Battle of Buena Vista broke
out. After a few days of hard fighting, neither side
appeared close to a victory. The American troops
were vastly outnumbered. They also had little

10

hope that any more soldiers would arrive. After
the second day of battle, the American troops went
to sleep in the rain. They expected to face another

fierce struggle the next day. To their surprise,
however, they awoke to find that the Mexican
troops were gone. The American troops had won
what turned out to be the last battle in northern
Mexico. The next major battles took place in the
heart of the country.
United States troops scrambled up the hills of Monterrey.


The Conquest of Veracruz
Despite the United States’ victories at Monterrey
and Buena Vista, the Mexican troops showed no
signs of giving up. Many Unites States military
leaders believed that the Mexican troops would not
surrender unless their capital, Mexico City, was
captured. The leaders decided to land on the coast
and then march inland to the capital.
In early March 1847, about ten thousand
American troops sailed to the Mexican coast. They
landed a few miles from the city of Veracruz, left
their boats, and waded ashore. They blasted the
city with cannonballs. Mexican soldiers returned
fire, but the cannonballs destroyed many homes.
The townspeople fled to safety in churches and
underground storage rooms. Within a few days, the
cannonballs had blown a hole in the city’s wall. On
March 27, 1847, Veracruz fell to American troops.

Today, Mexicans remember several cadets who fought to the
death at Chapultepec as Los Niños Heroes, or “the Boy Heroes.”

The Road to Mexico City
One week later, American soldiers began marching
265 miles to Mexico City. Along the way, they fought
and defeated all the Mexican forces that tried to
stop their journey. By early September, they had
gathered outside the gates of Mexico City. First,
they attacked an old castle in Chapultepec that
guarded the city. It was being used as a Mexican
military school, and hundreds of young military

12

students fought to save their city. After four hours
of bloody hand-to-hand fighting, the Mexicans
fled. On September 14, 1847, United States forces
entered Mexico City. Mexicans watched from their
windows and rooftops as the American troops
entered their city. The Mexicans flew the white
flag of surrender over the capital, which was soon
replaced by the American flag.

13


United States Expansion in the Southwest
CANADA

MEXICAN CESSION
1848

PACIFIC
OCEAN

Present-day
boundaries
are shown.

GADSDEN
PURCHASE
1853

UNITED STATES

ATLANTIC
OCEAN

The Growth of
the United States

TEXAS
1845
N

Gulf of Mexico
0

200

400 Miles

MEXICO
0

200

400 Kilometers

The Treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo
With the fall of Mexico City, the Mexican War
ended. All that remained was setting the terms
of peace. Nicholas Trist, a United States agent,
began negotiations with the Mexican government.
In a town near Mexico City, Trist and Mexican
leaders came to an agreement known as the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Mexico gave up its
northern provinces and accepted the United States’
annexation of Texas, with the boundary being the
Rio Grande. The land that the United States gained
is known as the Mexican Cession. A cession is the

14

giving up of territory by one country to another
country. In return the United States paid Mexico
$15 million.
In 1853 the United States and Mexico made
another treaty. The Gadsden Purchase gave the
United States an additional thirty thousand square

miles of territory in northern Mexico in return
for $10 million. Today, this land makes up part of
southern Arizona and New Mexico.

The United States had gained more than half
a million square miles. The Mexican Cession
included lands that today make up California,
New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming,
and Colorado. The United States had grown to be
nearly as large as Europe.
Life in these former Mexican provinces soon
changed. Thousands of Mexicans who lived there
became United States citizens. Settlements grew,
particularly after gold was discovered in northern
California in 1848. Over the next few years, tens
of thousands of people from around the world
flocked to California with hopes of striking it rich.
With a growing western population, the country
had finally stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the
Pacific Ocean.

15


In this
book you will read about the Mexican-American
Glossary
War, which was fought in 1846 and 1847. The United
annex
to add

attach
States’
victory
gaveorthe
country more than half a
million
square a
miles
thatfeature
stretched
boundary
line of
or land
natural
thatfrom the
Atlantic
Ocean to
thearea
Pacific
Ocean.
separates
one
or state
from another

Write to It!
The Mexican War was fought in Texas,
the Southwest, California, and Mexico.
Write a brief essay that explains and
summarizes the progress of the war.

cession the giving up of territory by one
country to another
country
Vocabulary

Write your essay on a separate sheet of paper.

invade to enter by boundary
force in order to attack
or conquer
province
manifest destiny the belief that the United
annex
States should expand west to the Pacific Ocean
manifest destiny
negotiations the process of working with
invade
others to come to an
agreement on an issue
province a territoryrebellion
governed by a country
or empire

negotiations

rebellion open and cession
armed resistance to
a government
Maps

MapQuest, Inc.
Photographs
Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit for photographic material. The publisher deeply
regrets any omission and pledges to correct errors called to its attention in subsequent editions.
ISBN: 0-328-14862-8
Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is protected
by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited
reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. For information regarding
permission(s), write to: Permissions Department, Scott Foresman, 1900 East Lake Avenue,
Glenview, Illinois 60025.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 V0G1 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05

16

Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the property of Scott Foresman, a division of Pearson Education.
Photo locators denoted as follows: Top (T), Center (C), Bottom (B), Left (L), Right (R) Background (Bkgd)
Opener: ©The Granger Collection, NY
2 ©North Wind Picture Archives
3 ©Corbis
6 ©North Wind Picture Archives
8 ©The Granger Collection, NY
11 ©Getty Images
13 ©Getty Images