The Westward Expansion History Essay Research Paper

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The Westward Expansion
The westward expansion was a great determining factor in the economic growth of a nation. The expansion promoted independence due to the ownership of land. People would be in apposition to carry out agricultural activities in their land that would, in turn, result to economic growth. Regardless of how important the westward expansion policies in America were, the expansion came at a cost and was associated with various controversies such as the Texas revolution and the Mexican-American war. The Mexicans and Americans had different perspectives about the war which heightened it and finally led to its end. The war was as a result of America's move to annex the state of Texas in the name of expansion. On the other hand, the Mexicans wanted Texas to remain a part of their territory (Buenger 2016). However, the war led to different consequences that remain to be a part of the nation's history.
In addition, the Texas revolution was triggered by several events. Among them was the fact that Americans had brought slaves in Texas, which was by then a part of Mexico (Cox 2017). The Mexican law was against slavery and, therefore, this resulted in chaos between the people of Texas, Mexico, and America. Mexico's leaders began to condemn the act of slavery. However, most of the Mexicans living in Texas were not happy about the laws that were being made by Santa and, therefore, they wanted to stop being a part of Mexico. This led to their support of America in the Texas revolution. Therefore, the Mexicans had a positive perspective about the Texas revolution because they realized that the Texans had already been assimilated into accepting slavery. Given the fact that their nation did not accept slavery, they did not want to be associated with people that were already practicing slave trade. As well, the Americans had a perspective of expanding their territories and, this explains the reasons as to why they provided troops to help the Texans in fighting for independence. Most of the Texans were American citizens and, therefore, making Texas a part of the United States of America was a great move towards the America's dream of westward expansion.
In addition, the Americans had a perspective of getting more land from the Mexicans as a result of the Mexican-American war (Griswold 1998). They send troops to capture the city of Mexico, and the troops were withdrawn as soon as Mexico signed the treaty of Guadalupe that granted Americans the ownership of some parts of the Mexican territories. Again, this would fulfill their dream of the westward expansion. Besides, the Mexicans viewed this war as an opportunity for them to clear the United States' debt that they had. After the war, the United States of America was required to repay Mexico for the damage that the war had caused (Haynes 2016). They counted the debt as part of the payment plan by canceling it. However, this was a relief for the people of Mexico regardless of the fact that they had lost some of their lands to the US. In addition, the war was a sign of showing the patriotism of both nations to the world, and, this provided them with an opportunity to trade with some of the largest economies...