Question

causes of the u.s.-mexican war reading and map with questions
read and answer the questions. underline or highlight the text evidence that supports your answer.
in march of 1846, the united states went to war with mexico. even though texas had been separated from mexico for 10 years and texas was annexed into the u.s., the mexican government continued to claim the disputed boundary in the southern region of texas.
mexico wanted their northern boundary to extend to the nueces river instead of the rio grande. the united states wanted the boundary between texas and mexico to extend south to the rio grande. this texas border dispute will lead to conflict with mexico.
as a result of texas winning their independence from mexico, the boundary was established at the rio grande river. mexico refused to recognize the rio grande river as the border between mexico and texas. this boundary dispute caused a great deal of tension between the two countries.
the u.s. added to the tension by asking mexico to turn over some of its land holding to the united states. james k. polk, the president of the united states at the time, sent john slidell to mexico to negotiate a land deal.
the u.s. government wanted two things. first, it wanted the boundary between mexico and texas to be the rio grande river. it also wanted mexico to cede california and the western region of new mexico to the united states for a sum of 30 million dollars.
what issue did mexico have with the united states over texas?
how did the border dispute between texas and mexico begin?
what were the two primary reasons for polk wanting the land for the united states?

Explanation:

1. For the first question, the text states Mexico's disagreement over the Texas border.
2. For the second question, the origin of the dispute is tied to Texas' independence border.
3. For the third question, the text lists Polk's two specific land goals.

All answers are directly supported by the provided reading text.

Answer:

1. Mexico had a dispute with the United States over the southern boundary of Texas; Mexico claimed the boundary should be the Nueces River, while the U.S. claimed it should be the Rio Grande, and Mexico refused to recognize the U.S.-annexed Texas' border claim.
2. The border dispute began after Texas won independence from Mexico, when Texas established the Rio Grande as its southern border, but Mexico refused to recognize this boundary.
3. The two primary reasons were:

• To set the boundary between Mexico and Texas at the Rio Grande River.
• To acquire California and the western region of New Mexico from Mexico for 30 million dollars.