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〔1846 only.〕 |commander1 = James K. Polk Winfield Scott Zachary Taylor Stephen Watts Kearny John D. Sloat William J. Worth Robert F. Stockton Joseph Lane Franklin Pierce David Conner Matthew C. Perry John C. Fremont Thomas Childs William B. Ide |commander2 = Antonio López de Santa Anna Mariano Arista Pedro de Ampudia José María Flores Mariano G. Vallejo Nicolás Bravo José Joaquín de Herrera Andrés Pico Manuel Armijo Martin Perfecto de Cos Pedro Maria de Anaya Agustin Jeronimo de Iturbide y Huarte Joaquín Rea Manuel Pineda Muñoz |strength1 = 1846: 8,613 1848: 32,000 soldiers and marines 59,000 militia |strength2 = c. 34,000–60,000 soldiers |casualties2 = c. 16,000 soldiers |casualties1 = 1,733 killed in battle 13,283 total dead〔(Official DOD data )〕 }} A war between the U.S. and Mexico spanned the period from spring 1846 to fall 1847. The war was initiated by the United States and resulted in Mexico's defeat and the loss of approximately half of its national territory in the north. In the U.S. the war is termed the Mexican–American War, also known as the Mexican War, the U.S.–Mexican War or the Invasion of Mexico. In Mexico names for the war include Primera intervención estadounidense en México (United States' First Intervention in Mexico), Invasión estadounidense a México ("United States' Invasion of Mexico"), Guerra de la Invasión estadounidense, and Guerra del 47 ("The War of 1847"). After its independence in 1821 and brief experiment with monarchy, Mexico became a republic in 1824, characterized by considerable instability, so that when the U.S. initiated the conflict with the Centralist Republic of Mexico, Mexico was ill-prepared to respond. The war with the U.S. followed in the wake of decades of Indian raids in the north of Mexico, which Anglo-American migration to the Mexican province of Texas was aimed at buffering. Anglo-Americans and some Mexicans revolted against the Mexican government in the 1836 Texas Revolution, creating a republic not recognized by Mexico, which still claimed it as its national territory. The 1845 expansion of U.S. territory with its annexation of Texas escalated the dispute between the U.S. and Mexico into open war. U.S. forces quickly occupied Santa Fe de Nuevo México and Alta California Territory, then invaded parts of Northeastern Mexico and Northwest Mexico; meanwhile, the Pacific Squadron conducted a blockade, and took control of several garrisons on the Pacific coast farther south in Baja California Territory. Another U.S. army, under General Winfield Scott captured the capital Mexico City, marching from the port of Veracruz, virtually unopposed. The war ended in a victory for the United States. During this period, the leadership of the Mexican Army changed frequently. Political factionalism was intensely divisive and led at one point to open civil war in the capital. The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended and specified the major consequence of the war: the forced Mexican Cession of the territories of Alta California and Santa Fe de Nuevo México to the United States in exchange for $15 million. In addition, the United States assumed $3.25 million of debt owed by the Mexican government to U.S. citizens. Mexico recognized the loss of Texas and thereafter cited the Rio Grande as its national border with the United States. American territorial expansion to the Pacific coast had been the goal of U.S. President James K. Polk, the leader of the Democratic Party.〔See (Rives, ''The United States and Mexico,'' vol. 2, p. 658 )〕 The war was highly controversial in the United States, with the Whig Party, anti-imperialists and anti-slavery elements strongly opposed. Critics in the U.S. pointed to heavy casualties of the U.S. forces and high monetary cost of the conflict. The war raised the slavery issue in the United States, leading to intense debates that led to the bloody civil war. In Mexico, the war came in the midst of political turmoil, which increased into chaos during the conflict. The military defeat and loss of territory was a disastrous blow, causing Mexico to enter "a period of self-examination ... as its leaders sought to identify and address the reasons that had led to such a debacle."〔Pedro Santoni, "U.S.-Mexican War" in ''Encyclopedia of Mexico'', Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn 1997, p. 1511.〕 The shift in the Mexico-U.S. border left many Mexican citizens separated from their national government. For the Indians who had never accepted American or Mexican rule, the change in border meant conflicts with a new outside power. ==Roots of the Conflict== Having attained independence from Spain in 1821, Mexico contended with internal struggles that sometimes verged on civil war. In the sparsely settled interior of northern Mexico, the end of Spanish colonial rule was marked by the end of financing for presidios and for subsidies to Indian groups to maintain the peace. There were inter-Indian conflicts in the northern region as well. The Comanche being particularly successful in expanding their territory in the Comanche-Mexico Wars and garnering resources. The Apache-Mexico Wars also made Mexico's north a violent place. Hostile Indian activity also made communications and trade between the interior of Mexico and provinces such as Alta California and New Mexico difficult. As a result, New Mexico was dependent on the overland Santa Fe Trail trade with the United States at the outbreak of the U.S.-Mexican War.〔("The Borderlands on the Eve of War" ). ''The U.S.-Mexican War''. PBS.〕 The military and diplomatic capabilities of Mexico declined after it attained independence and left the northern half of the country vulnerable to the Comanche, Apache, and Navajo Indians. The Indians, especially the Comanche, took advantage of Mexico's weakness to undertake large-scale raids hundreds of miles deep into the country to acquire livestock for their own use and to supply an expanding market in Texas and the United States.〔Brian Delay, "Independent Indians and the U.S. Mexican War" ''The American Historical Review'', Vol 112, No. l (February 2007), p 35〕 The Mexican government's policy of settlement of Anglo-Americans in its province of Texas was aimed at expanding control into Comanche lands, the Comancheria. Instead of settlement occurring in the central and west of the province, Anglo-Americans settled in east Texas, where there was rich farmland and which was contiguous to southern U.S. states. Settlers poured in and Mexico took steps to discourage further settlement. In 1836 Mexico was relatively united in refusing to recognize the independence of Texas. Mexico threatened war with the United States if it annexed Texas.〔"The Annexation of Texas" U.S. Department of State. http://history.state.gov/milestones/1830-1860/Texas Annexation, Retrieved July 6, 2012〕 Meanwhile, U.S. President Polk's assertion of Manifest Destiny was focusing United States interest on westward expansion beyond its existing national borders. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mexican–American War」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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