In 1824, the United States and Mexico were similar in size and population. Mexico had 6 million inhabitants on 1.7 million square miles of land. The United States had 9.6 million inhabitants on 1.8 million square miles. However, by 1848, the United States had wrested approximately one million square miles from Mexico. This was accomplished thanks to a belief in Manifest Destiny, President James K. Polk, and the American-Mexican war.

The paper begins with a discussion of Manifest Destiny—the ideological backdrop that made the American-Mexican War possible. Next, the paper relates the events of the American- Mexican war, beginning with American settlement of Texas and ending with the Gadsden purchase. Then the paper examines the anti-war protest movement. Finally, it concludes with some observations about the impact of the war on the present-day relationship between Mexico and the United States.

The United States is perhaps the only country in the world where a candidate running for the office of Head of State can (legally) win the national popular vote but loose the election. Not only is this possible, it happened several times. The most recent occurrence was in 2000, during one of the most controversial elections in the history of the United States. Nationwide, Democrat Al Gore received half a million more votes than Republican George W. Bush. But, given the archaic rules of U.S. presidential elections (plus the influence of friends, family, and conservative judges in high places), 527 votes in the state of Florida tipped the race—and the White House—to Bush.