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5.2 The Mexican–American War

Part of Period 5: 1844–1877 in AP® US History. Read the opening section, then create a free account for the full interactive lesson, practice, and progress tracking.

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The Mexican–American War (1846–1848) represented the culmination of decades of territorial ambition rooted in Manifest Destiny. The immediate cause lay in Texas’s annexation in 1845, which Mexico still claimed as sovereign territory. President Polk, eager to acquire California and New Mexico, dispatched troops to the disputed Rio Grande region, where clashes provided a pretext for war.

In this unit

10 lessons

  1. 5.1Manifest DestinyPreview lesson
  2. 5.2The Mexican–American WarThis lesson
  3. 5.3The Compromise of 1850Preview lesson
  4. 5.4Sectional Conflict: Regional DifferencesPreview lesson
  5. 5.5Failure of CompromisePreview lesson
  6. 5.6Election of 1860 and SecessionPreview lesson
  7. 5.7Military Conflict in the Civil WarPreview lesson
  8. 5.8Government Policies during the Civil WarPreview lesson
  9. 5.9ReconstructionPreview lesson
  10. 5.10Failure of ReconstructionPreview lesson

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