8. Mexican-American War (25 avr. 1846 – 2 févr. 1848)

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The cause or causes of the Mexican-American War are still a matter of historical dispute. However, that the Mexican-American War irrevocably changed the lives of countless Mexicans living in the region annexed to the United States is less debatable. Many maintain that Mexico initiated the war because the U.S. government approved the annexation of Texas, even though Texas had declared its independence from Mexico 10 years earlier in 1836. Others argue that the United States provoked the war by stationing armed troops at the mouth of the Rio Grande River, a contentious region claimed by both Texas and Mexico. These scholars believe that President James K. Polk saw a war as the most expedient way to gain vast Mexican territories in the American West. And a few advance yet another reason: Mexico had failed to pay claims for losses sustained by U.S. citizens during the Mexican War of Independence, and the United States wanted those claims settled.