The U.S. War with Mexico: A Brief History with Documents (Bedford Series in History and Culture)

This is actually a great book about the Mexican-American War.There are two segments: a 33 page introduction and the rest of the book is the 53 documents, spanning from the late 1700s to the late 1800s.The first time I read this book, I read it straight through - the introduction provided a broad outline of the war and then the documents were all clear and had a few sentence explanation preceding each text.However, the second read-through I noticed that the introduction referenced each specific document in parantheses at the relevant point during the historical exposition. This time, I flipped between the two - reading each document as it was referenced, then returning to the introduction for the broader narrative. I found this a tremendous way to link the micro history and macro history, and would highly recommend this strategy - and more importantly, this book for embedding such a strategy.Finally, I should note that the book does not just focus on the war itself, but also includes documents from the 1790s to the 1890s. This expands on both the origin of the conflict and its legacy.I highly recommend this book.

The author / editor of this book is introducing his own personal bias. Students beware: this book is written to steer the political narrative in a particular direction. Moreover, important pieces of primary documents are omitted from this book, causing this reader to question the integrity of the editor and the publisher.

good vondition

The book arrived very promptly and was in brand new condition. I wasnt expecting it to be that nice for yhe price I paid!

Great reference book to important documents and the summary in laments terms is easy to understand. Love the style of writing

Documents of the Mex-Amer War - essential info for the more serious history buff.

The 1846-1848 Mexican-American War may be interpreted as a bald-faced adventure in conquest; it may also be interpreted as an unfolding of “Manifest Destiny” in which the U.S. is bringing the “blessings of liberty” to the benighted peoples of the American Southwest. There are a range of interpretations in between and beyond these two poles. This short general history emphasizes the racism of American invaders over the Mexican people and the imperialism that the author believes motivated the war. Ernesto Chavez, a professor of history at the University of Texas at El Paso, offers a brief introduction that ranges widely in time and space to fashion a narrative that suggests the racist tendencies in American society as predominant in this war.One example of this is in the discussion of the manner in which the Polk administration dealt with the British in negotiating the Oregon boundary at 49 degrees latitude when the president had campaign on the slogan 54’ 40” or fight. They didn’t fight and ended up compromising. Not so with Mexico; the U.S. went to war and conquered that nation. It imposed its own settlement annexing what is now the American Southwest, including parts of California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and New Mexico. Chavez insists that this was because of the U.S.’s “racialized outlook” (p. 15). I would never conclude that the U.S. in not a racist nation, clearly it is, but fighting Mexico is quite a lot different than fighting the greatest empire on Earth at the time. It would be an easy decision in 1846 not to fight a two front war, and to negotiate a settlement with the stronger of the two antagonists regardless of a racialized outlook. I’m not sure I would assign racism as the fundamental reason for these divergent ways of dealing with Great Britain and Mexico. Moreover, the U.S. had already gone to war twice since 1776, so it’s not like the two nations’ Anglo heritage kept them from fighting.After a short introduction there is a selection of interesting documents that offering unique perspectives on the story, as well as a timeline, and an annotated bibliography. These are all useful attributes of this fine short introduction to a very complex topic.

Since there aren't any reviews at all - the introductory essay really emphasizes racism and imperialism as factors in the war, so its not the most original or groundbreaking interpretation. The documents are well selected, though, and many aren't available elsewhere (or are very hard to find). The Plan of Iguala, pro-war journalism by Walt Whitman, an "I-told-you-so" article by Pena y Pena, and others are included. It was a very useful source for a term paper I wrote and, beyond that, was an interesting read. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the history of US expansion, US-Mexico relations or Mexican history.