A Hypothetical Question: Was the U.S.-Mexican War Necessary?
By David M. Pletcher Indiana University While the U.S.-Mexican War was being fought and for some time afterward, Americans argued heatedly over its morality. President Polk defended his actions stoutly in his war message. An illegal and undemocratic government of Mexico, he said, had refused to negotiate pressing disagreements with the U.S. about debts, claims and boundaries. Mexico had then invaded Texas, a part of the United States, and had killed Americans on American soil. The President concluded: “As war exists, and notwithstanding all our efforts to avoid it, exists by the act of Mexico herself, we are called upon by every consideration of duty and patriotism to vindicate with decision the honor, the rights and the interests of our country.” During and after the fighting, many Americans accepted this interpretation of the war; few would do so now. If asked about the morality of the war, probably most would profess ignorance or otherwise avoid answering. If presented with the evid
