| | President Polk wanted all the land for the United States. In July 1845, he sent the commander of the U.S. Army in Texas, Zachary Taylor, to take his troops into the disputed land between the Nueces and Rio Grande rivers. In November, Polk sent Congressman John Slidell to Mexico in order to purchase the disputed area, and acquire (what is now) New Mexico and California. This effort, known as the Slidell mission, had failed by May 1846. | | President Polk wanted all the land for the United States. In July 1845, he sent the commander of the U.S. Army in Texas, Zachary Taylor, to take his troops into the disputed land between the Nueces and Rio Grande rivers. In November, Polk sent Congressman John Slidell to Mexico in order to purchase the disputed area, and acquire (what is now) New Mexico and California. This effort, known as the Slidell mission, had failed by May 1846. |
| | Following the failure of Slidell's mission in May 1846, Polk tried a different approach: find a reason to declare a war. Polk told Congress that Mexico had attacked Taylor's army on American (Texas) soil, shedding American blood there. Congress reacted by giving Polk the declaration of war Polk sought, on May 13, 1846. Ever since, it has been disputed where the American blood was actually shed, making this one of the big mysteries of American history. Was the first conflict on undisputed American soil, meaning that Mexico was wrong, or on Mexican soil, meaning that Americans were the aggressor? The official account of the United States Department of State blames ... the United States:<ref>http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/dwe/16336.htm</ref> | | Following the failure of Slidell's mission in May 1846, Polk tried a different approach: find a reason to declare a war. Polk told Congress that Mexico had attacked Taylor's army on American (Texas) soil, shedding American blood there. Congress reacted by giving Polk the declaration of war Polk sought, on May 13, 1846. Ever since, it has been disputed where the American blood was actually shed, making this one of the big mysteries of American history. Was the first conflict on undisputed American soil, meaning that Mexico was wrong, or on Mexican soil, meaning that Americans were the aggressor? The official account of the United States Department of State blames ... the United States:<ref>http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/dwe/16336.htm</ref> |