Mexican War Dbq

If the United States took land and did such things to Mexico, why were they the ones to declare war on Mexico? The Mexican War began in 1846 after Mexico opened fire on Americans north of the Rio Grande, which happened to be the Texas-Mexico border. As a result of this event, President Polk declared war between the two countries, although, due to prior events, it seemed more reasonable for Mexico to be doing so. The United States was not justified in going to war with Mexico because they robbed land from them, brought slaves into Texas, and occupied land on the Texas-Mexico border. One reason the Mexican War was not justified was because the United States stole land from Mexico. In Document A, it states that Anglo-Saxons have began building schools and other buildings in California, which, at the time, still belonged to Mexico. Document D talks about how the U.S. citizens just moved into Texas simply because of Manifest Destiny-- the idea that the United States should expand. This evidence shows the U.S. was not justified in going to war because they basically stole most of Mexico’s land by moving onto them or marking them with their own property such as
Document C states that American troops were in territory at the Rio Grande (Texas-Mexico border) and that in the Mexican government’s view, the movement of the U.S. army was an attack on Mexico. Therefore, the government sent Mexican troops to defend the border. Even though Document B states that Mexico invaded Texas and attacked, they were only defending their border and Texas was still thought of as their land, not the American’s, so they didn’t view it as an invasion. This shows that the U.S. was not justified in going to war with Mexico because battles happened at the Texas-Mexico border since Mexico was protecting it and U.S. troops occupying that territory was seen as an