Free Essay. Historical Events Impacting the Mexican-American Relations

The relations between the United States and Mexico are shaped by mutual interests, shared problems, and growing interdependence between them. Both try to resolve the problems affecting them, varying from fighting trade of narcotics to refining and defending their shared environment. However, their relations are characterized by significant cultural differences. Past historical events have shaped their relations. Some of the events include the Mexican-American war and the signing of the treaty of Guadalupe. This paper focuses on discussing the historical events that have impacted the relations between the U.S. and Mexico.

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The Mexican-American War took place between 1846 to1848. The war originated from the invasion of Texas in 1845 by the U.S. and from a clash over if Texas ended at Nueces River or the Rio Grande. When Mexico responded by cutting off their diplomatic relations with the U.S. Government, President James Polk ordered Congress to declare war on Mexico (Guardiano). The Navy was involved where they carried out operations on the Pacific Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. forces were consistently victorious where they obtained more than 500,000 square miles of the Mexican land. Mexico surrendered almost all its territory, including New Mexico, Arizona, California, Texas, and Western Colorado.

Additionally, the Mexicans and the Americans signed the Treaty of Hidalgo in a bid to end the Mexican-American war. The treaty marked the end of the war. 50,000 Mexicans had lost their lives while the U.S. lost 13,000 people. As a result of the agreement, the U.S. bought more than 500,000 square miles of the Mexican territory in exchange for 15 million dollars. The treaty created a series of political and military disparity between the two countries (Guardiano). The treaty has been significant in influencing the universal history of the two countries in that the interpretations of the agreement have been used to solve the international boundaries and the rights of Mexico territory.

Moreover, the U.S. railroads company recruited Mexicans between 1882 and 1910. Labor shortages in the United States made the railway companies recruit Mexicans after the Chinese excluding Act Chinese immigration. The U.S. set up a border Patrol to prevent Asian people from entering the country (Meade). However, the Mexican Immigration was unrestricted as they were formally allowed into the country. Mexicans formed the highest percentage of the working of the U.S. railway workforce. More than 600,000 mexicans resided in America.

The Mexican Revolution took place from 1910-1920. The revolution was as a result of discontentment with the strategies of Porfirio Diaz that favored the affluent landowners. Diaz wanted to run for his seventh re-election as the president. Francisco Madero, who was the leader of the anti-re-election group, announced his candidature. Diaz had him detained and declared himself as the winner. The revolutionary forces eventually forced Diaz to resign, declaring Madero as the president (Meade). The United States had a lot of investments in Mexico to protect. The U.S. government turned against Madero since they believed he was supporting the rebel groups as they were concerned about their businesses. They, therefore, played a significant role in developing a foreign policy.

Conclusively, historical events have played a significant role in impacting the relations between the U.S. and Mexico. The America-Mexico war forced Mexico to surrender most of their territory to the U.S. However; both enjoyed close economic, political, and military relations during the period of war. The two countries have also engaged in trade together. Mexico supplied the workforce and the raw materials, while the U.S. provided technical military training and financial aid.

Work Cited

Guardino, Peter. The Dead March: A History of the Mexican-American War. Harvard University Press, 2017.

Meade, Teresa A. History of modern Latin America: 1800 to the present. John Wiley & Sons, 2016.