<p>Hey....yeah so we have an in class essay tomorrow, and I kinda slacked off on the reading....so I was looking for any suggestions:</p>
<p>To what extent is this statement true?:
"Both the mexican war and spanish war were premeditated affairs resulting from deliberately calculated schemes of robbery in the part of a superior power against weak and defenseless neighbors."</p>
<p>Its an FRQ. So yeah, any suggestions?</p>
<p>well it's always in the middle. to some extent they were. to some extent they weren't. i'd say the mexican war was less so and the spanish war more so though.</p>
<p>the mexican war resulted from economic and political reasons, which would be your premeditated part, but also from the doctrine of manifest destiny.</p>
<p>the spanish war was about the same, but more premeditation/economic and political reasons. although purportedly the war started because spain sunk some US ship, mostly it was because the US wanted bases in the pacific, and the philippines were a prime target.</p>
<p>if the essay's tomorrow, why don't you just read the book now? =P</p>
<p>haha yeah thats what I'm doing.
but I kind of got a different idea.
It IS always in the middle, lol, so I guess you could just work it either way. </p>
<p>I was thinking of doing that the Mexican War was more premeditated but the Spanish War wasnt.
Mexican War: -Americans first took advantage of Mexico's welcome to Texas, and once Texas became independent, and tensions with Mexico increased, Americans continued to settle in the Southwest/Cali. -Polk dispatched troops under Taylor to Texas and sent instructions to commander of Pacific naval squadron to seize California ports if Mexico declared war. -It was only after this that her tried out diplomacy (Slidell) -Polk originally planned a quick victory
Spanish War: -The U.S. did not intervene with cuban struggle from 1868-1878. -President Cleveland didnt support American intervention in Cuba. -McKinley took a stronger stand against Spain but let go when the rebellion seemed to be slowing down in 1897. -The Spanish minister Dupuy de Lome provoked McKinley. -Maine. -McKinley still hoped to avoid conflict but the rest of his administration was "clamoring for war." -When in Marhc 1898 McKinley asked Spain to agree to armistice, Spain agreed to stop fighting/concentration camps but refused to negotiate w/ rebels and kept right to resume hostilities later. -only then did McKInley declare war. </p>
<p>What do you think?
this is my intro right now:
The Mexican War and Spanish-American War were both fought against nations believed to be weak and defenseless against the United States. However, there is a fundamental difference between these two wars: their causes. The Mexican War was one provoked by both the American people as well as President James K. Polk. Comparatively, the Spanish-American War was an inevitable result of aggressive Spanish foreign policy. The provided statement is only partially valid because though the Mexican War of the 1840s was a premeditated affair resulting from deliberately calculated schemes of robbery on the part of a superior power against weak and defenseless neighbors, the Spanish-American War of the 1890s was not.</p>
<p>umm well you need to correct the grammar in the last sentence but otherwise it looks good.</p>
<p>i wasn't aware of the California ports thing, my textbook never mentioned that.</p>
<p>In Mexico's view, I believe the U.S. taking the territory or state of Texas is considered "robbery". As for the Spanish American War...how about considering the "yellow papers" of the American press as the "calculated schemes" of that war? </p>
<p>I'm not too savvy about these two wars other than the very basics of it. If I was to answer that question, I would use the statement above to answer it.</p>
<p>Where the yellow press is concerned don't forget William Randolph Hearst's order to his reporter, Frederic Remington? (actually a sketch artist) "You supply the pictures, I'll supply the war."</p>
<p>Remington had been sent to Cuba to uncover alleged atrocities by the Spanish.</p>
<p>Also, there is a great deal of evidence (albeit not really discovered until many decades later) that the sinking of the Maine was the result of a boiler explosion, not an attack.</p>
<p>so alamode, how'd you do?</p>
<p>I think I did well. I basically followed the outline I posted there, except in a bit more detail.
Hoping for an 7-8, my teacher refuses to give 9s</p>