Author: George Lockhart Rives

Publisher:

Published: 2015-06-28

Total Pages: 740

ISBN-13: 9781330468128

Excerpt from The United States and Mexico, Vol. 1: 1821 1848; A History of the Relations Between the Two Countries From the Independence of Mexico to the Close of the War With the United States The events which led up to the war between the United States and Mexico, with all its momentous consequences to both nations, have been very generally misapprehended. On the American side the war has been treated in histories of the United States as a mere episode in an all-embracing struggle over slavery, which it was not. Mexican historians have treated it as the unescapable result of American aggression in Texas, which it was not. But each of these views embodies a sort of half-truth, and it becomes therefore both difficult and important to disentangle the whole truth. Until very recently a thorough study of the relations between the two countries from the time Mexican independence was achieved down to the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, was not possible. In the first place, the mere fact of the existence of negro slavery in the United States imparted an element of intense bitterness into every discussion of the subject in this country. The North hated and dreaded the extension of slavery, and even before the Mexican War was over the fear that the newly acquired territories - New Mexico and California - might becomes slave states, gave rise to passionate debates which continued until the breaking out of the Civil War. Thereafter the prejudices and passions which were awakened or inflamed by four years of murderous warfare prevented an impartial view until the generation which had so effectually dealt with slavery had nearly passed away. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.