Western Kentucky University TopSCHOLAR® Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Honors College at WKU Projects 12-1-1991 A Review and Examination of the Causes of the Mexican War, 1846-1848 Arthur William Penn Western Kentucky University Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/stu_hon_theses Part of the Military History Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Penn, Arthur William, "A Review and Examination of the Causes of the Mexican War, 1846-1848" (1991). Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects. Paper 8. http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/stu_hon_theses/8 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by TopSCHOLAR®. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors College Capstone Experience/ Thesis Projects by an authorized administrator of TopSCHOLAR®. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY A REVIEW AND EXAMINATION OF THE CAUSES OF THE MEXICAN WAR, 1846-1848 A SENIOR THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY SCHOLARS AND HISTORY HONORS PROGRAMS BY ARTHUR WILLIAM PENN BOWLING GREEN, KENTUCKY DECEMBER 1991 The Mexican War of 1846 to 1848, forgotten by most Americans, arose out of a complex situation that many different authors have attempted to explain. The results were plain: the United States so successfully carried out the war against Mexico that over ten degrees of latitude were added to the former country at the expense of the latter.1 Mexico lost one-half of her territory. Many reasons have been given for the conflict. Some historians blame the Southern slaveholding interests for seeking to add more slave land to the United States.