This book is a collection of essays that were presented at the 150-year anniversary of the Mexican-American War. The essays are authored by both American and Mexican academics on a variety of topics.
1. Richard Francaviglia offers a view of the war from a geographic and cartographic perspective. The war took place in mountain highlands, lush valleys, parched deserts, marshy coastlands, and vast prairies. The battlefields were determined by the geography. This is one of the less interesting essays, since every war has geography that impacts how it is fought.
2. Sam Haynes expanded on England's role in the war. Though English diplomats had sought to keep Texas as an independent country to hem in the growing American power, it did not plan to enter the war on Mexico's side. Of course, neither Mexico nor America believed that England would stand on the sidelines. Mexico hoped for British support in money and equipment to aid them against the Americans and the Americans - still full of indignation about the War of 1812 - expected England might do exactly that. The antics of Captain Charles Elliot, veteran of the First Opium War (1839-1842), only added to the American concerns and the Mexican hopes. False views on what England would do certainly influenced the war.
3. Josefina Zoraida Vazquez notes that the US benefited from the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars that followed upon its independence. Thanks to Europe's preoccupation with European affairs, the United States was able to grow and prosper without much interference. By contrast, Mexico became independent in 1821, well after Europe had settled into a new normal. England, France, and Spain all had interests in Mexico and the Mexican government was in constant turmoil. Polk's complaints about unpaid debts were overblown and did not provide sufficient basis for his actions. The base cause of the war was America's Manifest Destiny motto, a desire for expansion. Dysfunctional but land rich Mexico was an easy target.
4. Richard Bruce Winders details the mutiny at Buena Vista. A North Carolina volunteer regiment was camped near the site of the recent Battle of Buena Vista. Colonel Paine, the commander of the regiment, was not impressed with his troops' conduct and proposed some punishments to bring them up to the standards & discipline of a regular army regiment. This did not go over well. Mutiny followed. Was it that these volunteers didn't think they should be treated the same as regulars? Or was it that the Colonel was a Whig while most of the soldiers were Democrats? Indeed, though the standard procedure for volunteer regiments was to have the men vote for the Colonel, Lt. Colonel, and Major, in the case of the North Carolina Volunteer Regiment, the governor of North Carolina - a Whig - selected the officers. The kindling for mutiny had been placed before the regiment left the state. To make matters worse, President Polk - a Democrat - sided with the mutineers!
This is only a sample of the essays, all of them interesting and worthwhile. Very good book and recommended for those interested in the Mexican-American War.
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