the mexican american war is pretty damn fascinating.
so just before the mexican american war mexico had gone through an independence war of its own. Santa Anna (from Spain, but now swearing allegiance to Mexico) had become mexico's most famous lame duck general who would take any opportunity to curry favor with the people...and they bit (they bit a few times).
With the help of el presidentes and their respective cabinets (who had no other option really as the independence war saw to that), Anna could swing in and out of popularity with the people and he eventually swung himself into the mexican american war. But this isn't about Santa Anna really, a treaty had already been signed and it was a miscommunication that led to Stephen F. Austin's imprisonment, these last few paragraphs are just to shed some light on how badly Santa Anna sucked... broken promises, ect. ect.
But america wasn't in good shape, either. The cholera epidemic had just broke, the media was overran with politicians aggrandizing their own agendas, and America's royalty, the northerners, were primed and ready for a new story to grace the front pages. So let's go to war.
Not to say that there wasn't a good reason for heading into a war with Mexico at the time. Mexico wanting to abolish slavery on their land; mexico suddenly enforcing taxes and tarrifs on their land, just a few no-nos, but the way I personally see it is James Polk wanted the American border to lie on the Rio Grande purely and quite simply out of aesthetic greed, knowing full well that that wasn't the border agreed upon at the time of purchase.
so Polk pushed, then Mexican American War.
yeah, that's what I really think. Polk was playing decorator. seeing how things turned out, I can't complain. texas history is fucking awesome.
Texas is the largest purchaser of textbooks in the country. seems they've got stroke!
Stephen F. Austin was imprisoned for 3 months
