The Mexican-American War (1846-1848) Research Paper

The Mexican-American War (1846-1848) - Research Paper Example The Mexican-American war was declared by America on May 13, 1846. The war was generated by the United States’ annexation of Texas whose border was a matter of dispute between the two nations. By the time the war ended on February 2, 1848, the United states owned 500,000 square miles of Mexican territory . From the start, the subject of acquiring land being the main motive behind the war was a cause of dispute among many political parties of the United States and this caused political divisions in the nation. The Democratic Party members strongly supported the war as they were in favour of rapid territorial expansion beyond the borders of America. The northern parties did not favour such rapid expansion and they strongly opposed the war. These parties were concerned over how much Texan land to acquire because slavery was in practice in southern Mexico and this portion of the land was inhabited by a large number of Mexican population. The Whigs political party opposed the war be cause they were against such agenda of acquisition of more land; they favored slow territorial expansion and wanted to limit the encouragement of the practice of slavery. They also did not favor Mexicans as part of the United States population. Berhardt in his article focused on the press coverage of such difference of opinions among the political parties and how they shaped the war. J.G. Bennett’s New York Herald supported the views of the Southern Democrats of capturing the entire land of Mexico as it would raise the practice of slavery