There
was a great divide of opinion between the politicians towards the acquisition
of western territory. Both the free-labor advocates and pro-slavery supporters
supported and/or opposed the war with Mexico for various reasons based upon
their political agendas. There were other factors that garnered American
support for the war with Mexico. Some newspapers of the time supported the war
for other reasons than free-labor or slavery extension. The Southern newspaper,
the Edgefield advertiser, on February
4, 1846, not only indicated a rumor that “instigation of the British” was
leading to “a declaration of war against” the United States, but also that “a
little fight would do our country good” to help “let off some of the spirit for
hard fighting now pent up.”[1]
This author obviously hoped that a good fight would help alleviate the tension
growing between the North and South.
Another
newspaper from South Carolina, The Banner,
did not even mention internal American tensions as a reason to go to war, but
of their right of duty to help Mexico. The newspaper explained months later in
April before the war broke out how Mexico needed American’s assistance to reclaim
her previous glory:
A country possessing the
advantages of climate and soil that Mexico does, under the influence of
civilization, might be made a happy and prosperous land, the home of genius,
and nursery of the arts and science; but under her present lords, how abject
and low her condition! It is the destiny of America to dispel the moral
darkness which has sit down upon her, and to restore this land which, once
under the Aztec dynasty, flourished as a garden to is former beauty.[2]
[1] Edgefield
Advertiser, (Edgefield, S.C.), Chronicling
America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress, February 4, 1846, http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026897/1846-02-04/ed-1/seq-1/.
[2] The
Banner,(Abbeville, S.C.), 22 April 1846. Chronicling
America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress, April 22, 1846, http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85026944/1846-04-22/ed-1/seq-2/.
No comments:
Post a Comment