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hi everyone this is professor casey
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again welcome back
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today we're picking up where we left off
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last time from chapter 13 about american
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expansion westward and now we're going
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to discuss um
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specifically mexican territory and the
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almost inevitable mexican
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mexican-american war
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okay so this is the period that includes
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the alamo
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this is what really ends up branching
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america down
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into an almost transcontinental nation
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okay this is what causes us to absorb
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the southwest
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and so we'll get into the details of
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what makes all that possible
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now the major focus here in the wild
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card so to speak when it comes to
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gaining access to the southwest and
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expanding
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american territory westward is texas
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okay now in the 1820s the us
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actually offers to purchase texas from
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mexico two different times
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and mexico constantly turns down the
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united states okay
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claims that uh it doesn't want us to
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have it for one reason or another
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uh whether you know we're not offering
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enough money or they don't want to
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abandon the territory because texas's
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climate
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uh ends up come you know ends up being a
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big mixture of several different
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climates at once okay if you go into
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east texas
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it's very hot and humid if you go into
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uh
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you know north central texas it tends to
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be very temperate
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and the further south you go again you
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get into a gulf coastal region
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out west it's all desert okay so it's a
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very uh large mixture
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of several different climates and the
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man responsible for promoting american
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settlement in texas
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is stephen f austin okay the man who uh
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for whom the the state capital is named
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and he is the one who convinces the
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mexican government um
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that he can actually recruit 300
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american families
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to settle along the gulf coast as a kind
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of buffer against the comanche okay
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because the comanche remember
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still uh retained most of the actual
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territory
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in south and central texas um and
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are actually raiding into mexican
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territory at this particular time so he
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says that if we can
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uh have a white presence here then
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perhaps we can actually end scaring
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end up scaring off the comanche a bit
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okay in reality though he's really more
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of a land speculator and he realizes
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that
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uh texas uh east texas in particular and
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along the gulf coast
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has prime land for the cotton industry
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and so americans begin to settle in east
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texas in austin's
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anglo-quote-unquote colony and each
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family is given 177 acres along with
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thousands of acres of common pasture
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okay so this is still before we get into
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um individually owned land with fences
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and so forth right all the cattle
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and so forth that are brought over are
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given basically a common pasture region
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by 1830 we have 20 000 whites and about
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1 000 black slaves living in coastal
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texas
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so in only five years later that number
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increases to 35 000 whites
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and 3 000 slaves and now
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suddenly the hispan hispanic tejanos and
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the indians living there
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are completely outnumbered so this is
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actually ballooned up
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far past what mexico anticipated was
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going to happen
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and by april of 1830 mexico ends up
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outlawing further immigration from the
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united states because they realize
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that this could potentially lead to an
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armed insurrection if allowed to
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continue
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now in 1834 if we back up a little bit
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here uh
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general antonio lopez de santa ana is
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the president of mexico
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okay and he begins to uh consolidate
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power here by suspending the national
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congress okay and therefore declares
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himself to be an autocratic dictator
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now austin is immediately targeted by
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santa ana for
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bringing too many americans over and
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suddenly
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white texans are all up in arms over
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this right because
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again austin is the one responsible for
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them being able to settle there in the
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first place
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so in 1835 a large contingency of white
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texans and black slave communities
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end up banding together and they end up
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outnumbering the tejanos ten to one
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austin proclaims that texas should be
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americanized here
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and moreover should be brought into the
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union as a slave state so unfortunately
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for those of us who live in texas here
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texas was originally targeted for the
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slave
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industry and for cotton in particular
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and
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austin calls for an armed revolt against
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mexico over this
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sad anatomy meanwhile calls for all
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americans to be expelled
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all texans living there to be disarmed
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and any rebels arrested and executed as
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quote-unquote
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pirates by fall texans
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have launched a large-scale rebellion
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against santa ana
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which is you know very very outnumbered
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on the texan side okay we have 30 000
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texans at this point
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against roughly seven million members of
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the mexican army
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and of course the most famous or
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infamous instance in texas history that
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becomes kind of a rallying cry for a
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long period of time
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is the battle of the alamo okay and this
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occurs when
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a 3 000 man contingency of santa ana's
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army
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ends up clashing with fewer than 200
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texans tejanos
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and a volunteer army of texas at the
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spanish mission the alamo which is in
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modern day san antonio
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and of course we have several very
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famous names and faces who come out of
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this particular battle
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none of whom actually survive by the way
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uh one is james bowie
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better known as jim bowie okay he's the
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commander of the texas volunteer army
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and he himself is actually a slave
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trader okay he actually comes from
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louisiana
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and is a land speculator specifically
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looking at texas
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to see what lands can be taken and used
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for the cotton industry
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okay so he migrates to texas in 1828 for
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this very reason
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okay and he's very well known for being
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a gambler for being a heavy drinker
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um and getting in duels with men who he
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normally kills with the long bladed
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knife now known as the buoy knife
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we also have william barrett travis okay
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who is only 26 years old okay he's the
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commander of the texas regular army
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uh and he actually leaves behind a
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failed marriage in alabama along with a
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pregnant wife
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and a two-year-old son okay and so
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leaving all this behind along with
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several deaths okay so he's actually
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had a very rough start to his young life
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here
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and for the alamo to be his ultimate
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destiny here
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uh is kind of a bittersweet ending
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really
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um what makes travis so outstanding here
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is he actually is the one who refuses
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orders to retreat from the alamo okay
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the the army of texas uh
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specifically tells him under direct
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orders to retreat
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and give the alamo over and travis
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refuses
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okay if he had accepted right it could
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be possible that the people
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uh who were who were you know uh
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garrison there might actually have
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survived but
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it's difficult to say and of course
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probably the most famous is david
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crockett
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okay we've already discussed his um
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exploits during the war of 1812 right
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under
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uh andrew jackson okay he's a
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frontiersman
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and he's an anti-jacksonian wig in
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congress okay so ironically even though
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he served under jackson
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uh he becomes part of the exact opposite
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political party
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to what jackson embodies uh so
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crockett actually has a very uh long and
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decorated past
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uh in as a folklore hero of being
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an individual who's a storyteller hunter
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a sharpshooter
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and all these kinds of things now in
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february of 1836 santa ana demands that
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the alamo be surrendered to the mexican
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army
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and buoy at this point is actually
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bedridden we don't know exactly
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what um there haven't been any um
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forensic uh explanations given for what
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exactly ailed him at this point
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it appears to have been something to
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have again kept him completely bedridden
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because he was a very large man
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uh some kind of a fever and some people
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have even suggested that perhaps he
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suffered from cirrhosis of the liver
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um or uh perhaps even came down with
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some
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primitive form of the flu or something
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along those lines
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but bowie actually gives the command of
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the alamo over to travis okay and rather
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than travis actually surrendering
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okay he actually answers santa ana's
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demands with cannon fire instead
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12 days of fighting later the mexicans
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are pushed back they have several heavy
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losses and it seems like
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the texans might actually be able to
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hold the alamo
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on march 2nd delegates from all 59 uh
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texas towns right specifically towns
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that are
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um populated by whites at this point
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it's worth noting that
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end up meeting at washington on the
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brazos which is 150 miles northeast of
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san antonio
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and they sign a texas declaration of
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independence and draft
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constitution for the state okay so this
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is where we have
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the proclamation of a republic of texas
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and sam houston here who we've also
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discussed as being part of the war of
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1812
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served alongside crockett under jackson
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is named the commander of the texas army
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on march 6 santa ana's men launched the
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final attack on the alamo before dawn
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here
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um and by the time we actually get to
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the end of the day um
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everyone except for a handful of women
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and children and travis's
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slave joe are all killed okay so
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travis bowie crockett are all killed
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here
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sam houston is actually in a completely
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different location
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but over 600 mexicans are killed here
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again by fewer than
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200 texas volunteers
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now two weeks after the alamo occurs the
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mexicans end up defeating the texans at
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the battle of kolida okay the battle of
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coleto
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is just a little bit north of san
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antonio if i'm not mistaken
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um mexicans capture 465 texans and they
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march them to goliad
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okay goliad is a another mission
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location that i believe
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is um again i believe this is in the
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north
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uh west uh of san antonio on march 27th
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which is palm sunday
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over 300 texans are marched out of
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goliad and are executed
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and now sam houston becomes the deciding
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force behind what becomes known as the
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texas revolution
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and sam houston has got a very colorful
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detailed background as well
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he's born to a pair of scots irish
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immigrants who
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live in virginia he runs away from home
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with the age of 16
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lives among the cherokee and they give
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him the nickname the raven
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of course as we've already said he
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serves under andrew jackson alongside
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david crockett
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and becomes over time a federal indian
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agent an attorney
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a congressman a commanding general of
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the tennessee militia
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and the governor all before the age of
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30. okay so he already has a very
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long string of credentials attached to
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him
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at 1829 he resigns the tennessee
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governorship
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after his young wife leaves him and he
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falls into a severe state of depression
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here
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begins drinking very heavily and is only
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prevented from committing suicide
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by some strange otherworldly vision that
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he has a destiny to fulfill
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out west he ends up rejoining the
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cherokee for a while
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marries into the tribe and eventually
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becomes a negotiator among several
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indian tribes
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and the federal government and he
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ends up earning a new nickname here big
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drunk for obvious reasons
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in 1832 he moves to texas at the behest
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of andrew jackson
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and uh reports that texas at this point
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is ripe for revolt against
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mexico okay so it seems like his arrival
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uh
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very closely uh intimates what we've
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been building up to here
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april 21st of 1836 santa ana's 1600 man
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force is trapped at the san jacinto
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river by 900 texans
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and the battle only lasts for 18 minutes
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but the texans end up spending the next
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two hours
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completely slaughtering mexican soldiers
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so even though mexico surrenders after
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18 minutes
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texans take their time and actually very
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quickly
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murder the prisoners over the course of
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two hours
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so 630 mexicans were killed 700 are
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captured and are allowed to remain
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as prisoners and only nine texans are
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killed okay so
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this is a major routing victory for
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texans
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santa ana meanwhile is captured and the
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the story behind his capture is
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um pseudo-historical some people have
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claimed this and some have denied it but
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allegedly he was caught with a
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prostitute in his tent
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whose name was yellow rose and this is
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where we get the
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allegedly the song the yellow rose of
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texas
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i believe that if you wish um
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he ends up signing a treaty uh with the
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texans
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ending the revolution after a period of
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only seven weeks
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so later in the year texas ends up
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legalizing slavery unfortunately that's
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one of its first acts
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it bans all free blacks from living in
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the state again
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not the greatest way to start out texas
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and and it elects
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sam houston as its first president okay
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votes that it wants to be annexed into
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the united states
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now to get back to the national
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narrative here and kind of the
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background while all this is
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occurring south in texas um
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we have uh in the election of 1841 we
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have william henry harrison
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ascends the presidency okay and he is
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the oldest president when he's elected
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at this point he's 68 years old
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he's also the very first whig president
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we have in office
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uh and the whigs at this point also
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control congress okay they've opposed
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andrew jackson they've opposed
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uh jacksonian democracy right they don't
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like the
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um the very heavy-handed um common man's
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white supremacist viewpoint
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that's been um espoused by jackson up
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until this point
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and so they began to promote a very
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strong federal government instead
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of states rights and harrison
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actually ends up becoming the very first
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president to die in office
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okay um the the cause behind his death
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has been open for speculation for quite
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some time
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and several people have come up with
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different explanations here um
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he ends up giving his inaugural speech
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in a driving rainstorm for one thing
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and which has led many people to believe
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that he may have contracted pneumonia
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because he ends up dying one month after
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his inauguration
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okay before he can actually put anything
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through
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in office okay and so the presidency is
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left to his
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vice president john tyler okay
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um and tyler uh his ascendancy to the
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presidency is actually praised by andrew
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jackson
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as being a part of divine providence
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somehow because
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jackson could not stand harrison at all
00:15:18
and remember william henry harrison was
00:15:19
a hero
00:15:20
of the war of 1812 okay he was the one
00:15:22
responsible for the battle of tippecanoe
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and john quincy adams meanwhile
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dismisses tyler as being a slave-driving
00:15:31
political sectarian okay so again we
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have another instance here where a
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president
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has ascended to the presidency and is
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also a slave owner
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henry clay meanwhile who is the uh the
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congressman from kentucky believes that
00:15:46
he can dominate tyler okay and tyler
00:15:49
actually ends up fighting back instead
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okay he's very
00:15:51
uh has a more dominant personality than
00:15:53
some of his predecessors had
00:15:55
and is willing to actually stand his
00:15:56
ground tyler meanwhile is actually the
00:15:59
youngest servant president at this point
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okay
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very stark contrast here uh tyler is 51
00:16:06
and he's a former state legislature he's
00:16:08
a legislator that is
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he's a governor a congressman a senator
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um
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and he is characterized as being a kind
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individual
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being stubbornly independent and
00:16:18
charming okay so again he is
00:16:20
um got kind of this uh uh you know
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gentleman planter persona uh that's
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being embodied here and again
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he is uh he is partially a sectarian
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though he has to actually
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um adopt a few nationalist policies
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along the way
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now again when it comes to politics he
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was originally a democrat
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okay supported the idea of states rights
00:16:42
here uh and believed that states had a
00:16:44
constitutional right to secede okay this
00:16:47
would have made him very very unpopular
00:16:49
with individuals like abraham lincoln
00:16:52
only a few decades later and he only
00:16:55
becomes a wig
00:16:56
when andrew jackson ends up condemning
00:16:59
the nullification of south carolina
00:17:02
so again on the principle that states
00:17:04
have the right to secede from the union
00:17:06
he believes that the federal government
00:17:08
does not have the right to intervene in
00:17:09
that
00:17:11
and he end up ends up vetoing clay's
00:17:13
call for the creation of another bank of
00:17:15
the united states
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but agrees to repeal the independent
00:17:19
treasury act so
00:17:20
again he could have allowed commerce in
00:17:24
the country
00:17:24
to become a little bit more stabilized
00:17:26
by the introduction of a third bank of
00:17:28
the united states
00:17:29
but again such a thing doesn't actually
00:17:31
occur until we get to the dawn of the
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war
00:17:33
uh the great war or world war one
00:17:38
um clay meanwhile calls tyler a traitor
00:17:40
convinces his entire cabinet to resign
00:17:42
except for daniel webster i remember the
00:17:44
senator from massachusetts
00:17:46
um and suddenly there's this long
00:17:48
conflict that emerges between henry clay
00:17:50
and john tyler okay tyler ends up
00:17:53
replacing his entire cabinet
00:17:55
with anti-jacksonian democrats who have
00:17:57
turned onto the wig side
00:18:00
and suddenly the wig party ends up
00:18:02
expelling tyler as well
00:18:03
okay so tyler is the first president
00:18:06
that we have
00:18:07
since george washington who is not
00:18:08
affiliated with any political party
00:18:12
in texas meanwhile is referred to by
00:18:15
tyler's wife
00:18:16
as the great object of his ambition okay
00:18:18
so
00:18:19
john tyler is the first president who
00:18:20
really begins to latch on to the idea of
00:18:22
annexing texas
00:18:24
although he doesn't actually get to see
00:18:25
it put into play while he's in office
00:18:28
funny bit of trivia about john tyler too
00:18:31
uh he has so many children
00:18:32
uh and so many uh grandchildren over the
00:18:35
course
00:18:36
of his lifetime and spaced out so far
00:18:39
apart that some of his actual first
00:18:41
generation grandchildren are still alive
00:18:43
today
00:18:50
now in february of 1844 there is a
00:18:53
an international incident that occurs uh
00:18:56
on the
00:18:56
uh potomac river okay and this surrounds
00:18:59
the
00:19:00
um the introduction of a new steam
00:19:02
propeller driven
00:19:03
uh boat called the uss princeton okay
00:19:07
and the princeton is uh you know
00:19:10
essentially putting on an exposition
00:19:12
here right an exhibition i should say uh
00:19:15
for
00:19:15
for the people of washington dc okay it
00:19:17
actually has several
00:19:18
dignitaries several members of the
00:19:20
executive branch on board the ship
00:19:22
and it's sailing down the potomac in the
00:19:24
middle of february okay it's cold out
00:19:27
um and there is a large new uh exploding
00:19:31
shell
00:19:32
gun on board called the peacemaker okay
00:19:34
you see a replica of it here at the top
00:19:37
right okay
00:19:38
and this cannon is firing off several
00:19:40
salutes
00:19:41
right as it goes down the river okay and
00:19:44
on the very last time that the gun is
00:19:46
fired uh
00:19:47
several individuals are actually
00:19:48
gathered around it watching it fire
00:19:50
and the gun itself ends up exploding
00:19:53
okay
00:19:54
and it ends up killing six people around
00:19:57
and injuring 20 others in the process
00:19:59
okay
00:20:01
the secretary of state abel upshur is
00:20:03
the one who
00:20:04
replaced daniel webster okay as a
00:20:06
secretary of state
00:20:08
if i'm not mistaken i believe he is the
00:20:10
one who is actually fully decapitated by
00:20:12
the blast
00:20:13
he was actually bent over the gun when
00:20:15
it went off and the shrapnel came up and
00:20:16
hit him directly in the face
00:20:19
the secretary of the navy had only been
00:20:21
in office 10 days at this point young
00:20:23
man named thomas gilbert
00:20:24
gilmer captain beverly kennan he's the
00:20:28
head of bureau of construction and
00:20:29
repair he's also killed
00:20:32
virgil maxie who is a maryland attorney
00:20:36
david gardiner who is a new york lawyer
00:20:39
and the father-in-law of the president
00:20:42
and a man named armistan who is
00:20:44
president tyler's personal valet
00:20:46
okay it's worth noting too that tyler
00:20:49
and his wife were below deck when this
00:20:50
gun exploded okay if they had been on
00:20:52
deck
00:20:53
they could have been seriously injured
00:20:54
or killed in the process
00:20:57
so tyler runs up onto the deck to find
00:21:00
out what's happened
00:21:00
it has to come back down and tell his
00:21:02
wife that her father has just been
00:21:03
killed
00:21:05
and tyler uses this accident as a
00:21:09
very it seems in hindsight anyway like a
00:21:12
suspicious means of appointing several
00:21:14
southern democrats into key positions
00:21:16
okay because remember he had already
00:21:17
been expelled by the whig party
00:21:19
okay so it seems like this is an
00:21:21
opportunity for him to gain support from
00:21:23
the opposite political party in the
00:21:25
meantime
00:21:26
and meanwhile the designer of the gun
00:21:29
itself was actually
00:21:30
charged with um you know with being
00:21:33
responsible for this it was a man who
00:21:34
was actually
00:21:35
a foreigner who i believe was from
00:21:37
sweden at the time
00:21:40
john c calhoun is therefore named the
00:21:42
secretary of state remember john c
00:21:44
calhoun was a
00:21:45
south carolina sectionalist
00:21:48
in april of 1844 calhoun ends up signing
00:21:51
a treaty
00:21:52
for texas to be annexed okay he declares
00:21:55
that texas is going to be instrumental
00:21:56
in keeping slavery
00:21:58
as an institution unfortunately for him
00:22:01
though the northerners end up downvoting
00:22:02
the annexation 35 to 16.
00:22:05
okay so texas actually does not become a
00:22:08
part of the union for several years
00:22:09
thereafter
00:22:11
so not until 1845 i make it burn so a
00:22:14
little over a year
00:22:15
year and a half
00:22:18
um texas is therefore considered a
00:22:22
um a new state before tyler even leaves
00:22:24
office okay this is kind of the last
00:22:26
uh effort that ends up happening here so
00:22:29
the last act
00:22:30
of congress while tyler is in office is
00:22:33
for texas to be added as a new state
00:22:35
so and it's actually annexed by joint
00:22:37
resolution rather than a two-thirds
00:22:38
treaty vote okay
00:22:40
so a majority vote in both houses of
00:22:43
congress ends up causing texas to become
00:22:45
part of the union march 1st of 1845
00:22:49
tyler signs the resolution and admits
00:22:51
texas as the 28th state
00:22:53
on december 29th
00:22:59
now when it comes to the election of
00:23:01
1844 before
00:23:03
tyler fully leaves office here texas as
00:23:06
an issue is kept out of the election
00:23:08
because of how divisive it is there's so
00:23:10
much argumentation over
00:23:12
what should be done about texas whether
00:23:15
there should be an armed intervention
00:23:17
or not and all this kind of stuff okay
00:23:20
so henry clay ends up running again for
00:23:22
the presidency this is his third
00:23:24
time trying to get involved in this he
00:23:26
runs for the wig party
00:23:28
martin van buren who has already served
00:23:31
a term in office as president tries to
00:23:33
run again on the democratic ticket
00:23:36
and james polk who ends up being
00:23:38
nominated by andrew jackson
00:23:40
ends up taking martin van buren's place
00:23:44
okay so
00:23:45
essentially andrew jackson has abandoned
00:23:47
his immediate successor and friend
00:23:49
martin van buren in favor of james polk
00:23:52
okay
00:23:52
mainly because polk is so interested in
00:23:54
getting texas
00:23:57
and john tyler is initially independent
00:23:59
here but
00:24:00
ends up dropping out of the race doesn't
00:24:03
want to be re-elected
00:24:04
and ends up endorsing polk as well
00:24:07
and paul carr is actually a very loyal
00:24:09
democrat okay he ends up running as a
00:24:11
uh what we call a dark horse candidate
00:24:13
on the ninth ballot
00:24:14
so in other words uh he was had enough
00:24:17
of a steady campaign
00:24:19
uh to where all the other individuals
00:24:21
ended up getting weeded out of the
00:24:22
process
00:24:23
whereas he stayed relatively stable
00:24:26
and he ends up winning the election
00:24:28
specifically because of the pro texas
00:24:29
platform okay
00:24:31
and the insistence that the us dominate
00:24:33
the entirety of the oregon territory
00:24:35
he doesn't want to share it with great
00:24:36
britain anymore
00:24:39
until polk ends up breaking tyler's
00:24:41
record here he becomes the youngest
00:24:42
president at the age of 49.
00:24:45
and polk ends up um pursuing four major
00:24:48
goals as president
00:24:49
okay he wants to reduce tariffs on
00:24:51
imports okay so we can start actually
00:24:53
doing business overseas again
00:24:56
he wants to re-establish an independent
00:24:58
treasury settle the oregon boundary
00:25:01
dispute with great britain so that we
00:25:02
can
00:25:03
maintain complete control of it acquire
00:25:06
california from mexico
00:25:08
and add oregon california and new mexico
00:25:10
to the union in order to fill out the
00:25:12
continent
00:25:12
along with texas
00:25:16
in june of 1846 james buchanan ends up
00:25:18
signing the buchanan packing
00:25:20
treaty this extends the u.s border up to
00:25:23
the 49th parallel
00:25:28
and again polk is very jacksonian when
00:25:30
it comes to his nature when it comes to
00:25:31
his politics
00:25:33
he's anti-tariff anti-national bank he's
00:25:35
a sectionalist
00:25:38
and he satisfies the south but ends up
00:25:40
angering a lot of northerners and
00:25:42
westerners
00:25:42
specifically because of how jacksonian
00:25:45
he actually is
00:25:48
and he declares himself to be the
00:25:49
hardest working man in the country which
00:25:51
may very well be true because only three
00:25:54
months after he ends up leaving office
00:25:55
he dies at the age of 53
00:25:58
allegedly from working himself to death
00:26:04
now march 6 of 1845 mexico decides to
00:26:07
break off relations with the us because
00:26:09
it annexes texas
00:26:11
okay and polk meanwhile is willing to
00:26:13
risk war
00:26:14
with mexico to gain control of
00:26:16
california and new mexico okay
00:26:19
only trick is is he does not want to
00:26:20
fire the first shot
00:26:23
and so he enlists the aid of general
00:26:24
zachary taylor a man who he himself
00:26:27
later becomes president taylor is
00:26:29
ordered to take up positions around
00:26:31
corpus christi okay which is in south
00:26:32
texas
00:26:34
and mexico immediately views this as an
00:26:36
act of war okay that
00:26:38
the united states is sending troops to
00:26:40
the
00:26:41
u.s mexico border here a may 9th mexican
00:26:45
troops end up attacking u.s soldiers
00:26:47
north of the rio grande river okay and
00:26:49
again the rio grande river is what
00:26:51
separates
00:26:52
texas from mexico okay so um by virtue
00:26:55
of
00:26:56
annexation here uh the united states
00:26:58
claims that mexico has actually invaded
00:27:00
u.s territory
00:27:01
okay meanwhile we've essentially prodded
00:27:03
mexico
00:27:04
until they did so 11 americans are
00:27:07
killed five are wounded and the rest are
00:27:09
taken prisoner
00:27:10
and polk meanwhile goes to congress and
00:27:13
says see what happened
00:27:14
look what i was telling you okay and he
00:27:17
declares that mexico is the aggressor
00:27:19
and declares the congress grant him
00:27:20
funds to go to war
00:27:23
congress agrees okay they give him 50
00:27:26
000 soldiers
00:27:27
and several congressmen realize exactly
00:27:29
what polk has done here
00:27:31
okay they know that he has been the one
00:27:34
to
00:27:34
prod mexico into this conflict and
00:27:37
several of his critics end up claiming
00:27:39
that quote this has begun in fraud and
00:27:41
will
00:27:41
end in disgrace okay so the war over
00:27:44
texas and for
00:27:46
the acquisition of new mexico and
00:27:48
california um
00:27:49
not the most principled at all okay this
00:27:52
is uh
00:27:53
something that ends up causing a pretty
00:27:54
big stain on
00:27:56
america's reputation which
00:27:59
of course by this point has already
00:28:00
gained a few stains of itself
00:28:03
polk also also argues that the war is
00:28:06
overextending america's boundaries
00:28:08
but not slavery expansion okay and most
00:28:11
southerners and the democratic
00:28:13
contingency at this point
00:28:14
know that it's all about slavery they
00:28:16
know that's the only reason that he
00:28:17
wants to get in control of this
00:28:20
and he wants new mexico and california
00:28:22
to become slave states
00:28:23
okay and eventually thankfully they do
00:28:25
not
00:28:28
112 thousand whites end up serving
00:28:30
eventually in the mexican-american war
00:28:32
but all blacks are actually banned
00:28:36
uh and unsurprisingly the new englanders
00:28:38
and northern abolitionists have
00:28:39
virtually no
00:28:40
dog in this fight okay they have no
00:28:42
interest in getting involved
00:28:44
in this because again this is more about
00:28:47
the expansion of slavery than it is
00:28:49
about gaining territory for the us
00:28:52
um and again it's viewed as an excuse to
00:28:54
do so more than anything else
00:28:56
and most northern whigs begin to accuse
00:28:58
polk of inciting war
00:29:00
getting us involved in a conflict that
00:29:02
we didn't need to be involved with
00:29:04
and among them is abraham lincoln okay
00:29:07
he's very young congressman at this
00:29:09
point
00:29:09
who is completely opposed to what polk
00:29:11
decides
00:29:12
and uh at this point this is still
00:29:14
before the establishment of the
00:29:16
republican party again
00:29:17
okay so it hasn't made its full
00:29:19
re-emergence just yet
00:29:21
uh and it won't for probably about
00:29:22
another five years
00:29:27
now when it comes to the annexation of
00:29:29
california here the us is obviously
00:29:31
ill-equipped for another major war
00:29:33
okay this is not uh another situation
00:29:35
like the war of 1812 right we we
00:29:37
are you know our army is still very
00:29:39
small we don't
00:29:41
we're our economy is still relatively
00:29:43
unstable from the last two or three
00:29:45
uh presidential administrations so it
00:29:47
seems like this would
00:29:48
end up um you know ending with disaster
00:29:51
if we're not careful
00:29:52
okay the regular army of the us is only
00:29:54
at about seven thousand men right now
00:29:56
okay and mexico's forces meanwhile are
00:29:59
well over thirty two thousand
00:30:01
okay um the only trade-off here is that
00:30:04
mexico's army is
00:30:05
uh suffers from a big lack of discipline
00:30:08
it doesn't have a lot of training
00:30:10
the morale is very low right because
00:30:12
again this is
00:30:13
uh largely made up of individuals who
00:30:16
have you know come out after mexican
00:30:20
independence right they've already
00:30:21
fought a little bit against spain
00:30:22
they've kicked out some of the spanish
00:30:24
officers
00:30:25
and supplies and munitions are very low
00:30:27
again it doesn't enjoy the
00:30:29
um the the monetary support of spain at
00:30:32
this point
00:30:34
and meanwhile the u.s military ends up
00:30:36
swelling to over 79
00:30:38
000 by the end of the war because of
00:30:40
volunteerism
00:30:41
okay so many people want to see texas
00:30:43
and
00:30:44
california and new mexico as part of the
00:30:46
union that
00:30:47
people are willing to actually go to war
00:30:50
voluntarily
00:30:52
and there end up being four major fronts
00:30:54
to the mexican-american war
00:30:56
okay uh we have southern texas and
00:30:58
northern mexico
00:31:00
okay so these uh kind of pinkish and um
00:31:03
you know dark charcoal gray colors here
00:31:06
we have central mexico again down here
00:31:09
around mexico city
00:31:11
we have new mexico again which is part
00:31:12
of the kind of yellow contingency here
00:31:15
and of course california which the
00:31:17
yellow also includes
00:31:20
now on may 18th zachary taylor crosses
00:31:22
the rio grande here
00:31:24
on the border between the dark gray and
00:31:26
pink and occupies matamoros
00:31:28
okay and you see matamoros down here on
00:31:31
the border between texas and mexico on
00:31:33
the gulf of mexico
00:31:36
and taylor at this point is made overall
00:31:37
commander of u.s forces
00:31:40
and california now becomes a big
00:31:42
objective for polk as well okay he
00:31:44
doesn't want to just stop at texas he
00:31:46
wants to continue
00:31:47
all the way to the pacific coast in july
00:31:51
the us ends up capturing san francisco
00:31:53
and claims california as part of the u.s
00:32:00
now in 1846 taylor also assaults
00:32:03
monterey he moves a little bit further
00:32:04
south
00:32:05
monterey surrenders after five days and
00:32:08
santa ana who has been in exile at this
00:32:10
point promises that he will end the war
00:32:12
if he is allowed to return okay at this
00:32:14
point santa ana has been in cuba if i'm
00:32:16
not mistaken
00:32:18
and polk very naively agrees to allow
00:32:21
santa ana to return to mexico
00:32:23
uh and vows that he is going to actually
00:32:25
pay santa anna
00:32:27
for mexican territory so not only is he
00:32:29
going to allow him to return he's going
00:32:31
to
00:32:31
write him check for it basically
00:32:34
unsurprisingly here and in hindsight
00:32:37
santa ana immediately resumes the
00:32:38
presidency
00:32:39
raises an army against u.s troops and
00:32:41
actually invites the u.s to surrender to
00:32:43
him
00:32:46
from february 27th or 22nd to 23rd
00:32:49
of 1847 the battle of buena vista is
00:32:51
fought you see it down here
00:32:54
just to the southwest of monterey
00:32:57
both sides end up declaring victory but
00:32:59
mexico's losses are five times higher
00:33:01
okay so arguably seems like the us might
00:33:03
have won this one
00:33:05
mexico continues to lose battles though
00:33:08
refusing to surrender to polk entirely
00:33:10
primarily because of santa ana's
00:33:12
determination here he's already lost
00:33:14
face
00:33:14
in the in the texas revolution seems
00:33:17
like he could potentially retake it here
00:33:19
but he's fighting a losing war already
00:33:23
on march 9th american forces end up
00:33:24
staging what is known as the largest
00:33:26
amphibious landing ever attempted by u.s
00:33:28
forces at this point
00:33:30
without casualties down here at veracruz
00:33:33
okay and veracruz is kind of where the
00:33:35
uh the curve
00:33:36
of the mexican peninsula is down at the
00:33:38
bottom
00:33:40
march 29th veracruz ends up surrendering
00:33:42
okay so this goes
00:33:43
into it you know almost a three week
00:33:45
long siege
00:33:47
by august uh scott's forces end up
00:33:49
marching on mexico city which is 200
00:33:51
miles
00:33:52
inland okay and by september
00:33:55
scott arrives at mexico city and ends up
00:33:57
capturing it
00:34:01
now one very brief episode that we'll
00:34:04
talk about here that doesn't really gain
00:34:06
a lot of attention and most people are
00:34:07
not familiar with
00:34:08
is something called the st patrick's
00:34:09
battalion okay
00:34:11
um it's estimated that from the
00:34:13
beginning of the war about 7 000
00:34:15
soldiers end up deserting okay and
00:34:18
several hundred end up deserving
00:34:19
deserting from the us forces and
00:34:22
actually
00:34:23
go over to the mexican army okay and
00:34:26
most of these individuals are poor
00:34:28
catholic irish and german immigrants
00:34:30
who have faced a lot of interior
00:34:33
persecution in the american army
00:34:35
because of their faith and because of
00:34:36
their nationality
00:34:38
and the irish in particular who end up
00:34:40
actually
00:34:41
sharing the catholic faith with many
00:34:43
mexicans at this point
00:34:45
end up forming a group called saint
00:34:46
patrick's battalion in the mexican army
00:34:49
okay and again there are several debated
00:34:52
reasons for why this defection occurs
00:34:54
but
00:34:54
the the reason with um protestant
00:34:56
commanders actually
00:34:58
uh abusing catholic soldiers is one of
00:35:01
the largest
00:35:03
um there's a lot of anti-catholic
00:35:05
sentiment in the united states at this
00:35:07
point a lot of nativist
00:35:08
sentiment as well right people don't
00:35:10
like immigrants they don't like
00:35:11
catholics
00:35:12
again this is largely um this large
00:35:14
nativist response that occurs
00:35:16
after this first wave of immigration to
00:35:18
the us
00:35:20
there's a large attraction to higher
00:35:21
wages right mexico is willing to pay
00:35:23
more
00:35:25
and again the religious convictions
00:35:27
among catholics who are
00:35:28
both irish catholics and mexican
00:35:31
catholics
00:35:34
in the mexico city battle 72 defectors
00:35:36
are captured by u.s forces
00:35:39
and winfield scott who is the individual
00:35:42
i mentioned
00:35:42
mentioned in the last slide uh he was
00:35:44
another u.s general
00:35:46
ends up calling for 50 of them to be
00:35:47
hanged rather than shot okay
00:35:50
and the rest of them are whipped and
00:35:51
branded uh on each cheek with a
00:35:53
letter d for deserter okay so
00:35:56
individuals who are allowed to survive
00:35:58
are permanently physically deformed
00:36:00
scarred
00:36:01
by this on september 13th of 1847
00:36:05
29 of these capture defectors are made
00:36:08
to stand
00:36:08
all day under wooden gallows with nooses
00:36:11
around their necks
00:36:12
for four hours watching the battle occur
00:36:14
and when the u.s flag is actually raised
00:36:16
and the battle is won
00:36:17
all of them are suddenly hanged
00:36:19
simultaneously
00:36:24
so after the fall of mexico city santa
00:36:26
ana immediately resigns and flees the
00:36:28
country once again
00:36:31
january 2nd of 1848 the peace talks
00:36:33
begin
00:36:34
at guadalupe hidalgo outside of the
00:36:36
capital
00:36:37
and a month later the treaty of
00:36:39
guadalupe hidalgo is signed
00:36:42
this uh includes mexico agreeing to
00:36:45
border alongside texas with the rio
00:36:48
grande being the
00:36:49
deciding division here all control of
00:36:52
california new mexico nevada
00:36:55
utah arizona wyoming and colorado
00:36:58
is transferred completely over to the
00:36:59
united states this is over half of
00:37:01
mexico's territory at this point okay so
00:37:03
this is
00:37:04
uh really a major defeat for mexico and
00:37:06
a major gain for the united states
00:37:10
in 1853 the gadsden purchase ends up uh
00:37:13
granting us arizona and new mexico uh
00:37:17
as full territories okay the remainder
00:37:19
of it okay so we only gained part of
00:37:20
them before and this ends up rounding
00:37:22
out the content of the united states
00:37:24
and completely doubles the size of the
00:37:26
country okay in legitimate terms
00:37:28
okay so we've already occupied a great
00:37:31
portion of this illegally
00:37:33
but now that we've actually officially
00:37:35
gained the territory
00:37:36
now we actually have the full
00:37:37
continental united states
00:37:41
there's a lot of firsts involved in the
00:37:42
mexican-american war okay this is the
00:37:44
first time that we have engaged in a
00:37:46
major military intervention outside of
00:37:48
us territory
00:37:50
it's also the first time u.s forces end
00:37:52
up conquering and occupying another
00:37:54
country
00:37:56
over 13 000 americans are killed and
00:38:00
it's estimated that more soldiers in
00:38:02
this war die from disease
00:38:04
specifically measles and dysentery than
00:38:06
die in combat
00:38:07
okay so 11 550 americans
00:38:10
end up dying from disease
00:38:13
um in in the percentage of soldiers lost
00:38:16
this is actually the deadliest war in
00:38:17
american history at this point
00:38:19
okay so out of every 1 000 soldiers 110
00:38:22
die
00:38:25
and this ends up ending america's
00:38:27
economic depression so
00:38:28
all of the fallout from the jacksonian
00:38:30
era
00:38:31
all the polit or the political and the
00:38:34
economic
00:38:34
instability here gets resolved by a
00:38:36
major conflict
00:38:39
um and of course this is gradually seen
00:38:41
as a war that is surrounded by shame
00:38:43
because this is
00:38:44
really more involved with conquest
00:38:46
through selfish means
00:38:48
and the expansion of slavery which
00:38:49
ultimately goes away in the next 20
00:38:51
years
00:38:54
now america is officially a
00:38:55
transcontinental nation though okay
00:38:58
and now the federal government has to
00:38:59
dramatically expand in order to keep up
00:39:01
with that
00:39:04
and all the acquired territories are
00:39:05
soon embroiled over this new controversy
00:39:08
over whether to allow slavery in them or
00:39:10
not okay and that is what ultimately
00:39:12
ends up leading us
00:39:13
into the verge of the civil war and
00:39:16
everything beyond
