Download Essential Question - Effingham County Schools

Essential Question
What were the
causes and effects of
the Mexican War?
Vocabulary
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annexation:
The act of joining two pieces of land together
front:
Where the fighting takes place in a war
cession:
Something that is given up
Manifest destiny:
The belief that the United States should
spread across the entire North American
continent
• Texas settlers and Tejanos wanted
independence from Mexico
Texans and Tejanos fight against
the Mexican government for
independence
• They are defeated at the Battle of the
Alamo.
Sam Houston
• Sam Houston, who fought
beside Andrew Jackson,
takes an army to the
Alamo and captures
Santa Anna.
• Santa Anna agrees to
give Texas independence
from Mexico in exchange
for his freedom.
Texas annexation
• President Polk
asks Congress
to annex Texas
to the United
States. Congress
agrees.
Disagreement over borders
• Mexico does not agree to the Rio Grande
as the border of Texas and Mexico.
War on Mexico
• President Polk asks Congress to declare
war on Mexico.
• The Americans fight Mexico for the
southern part of North America.