The United States of America has been through many wars, wars over many things such as oil, pride, and respect. However, when the United States went to war with Mexico, it was planned out of greed. The Mexican-American War was a war provoked by the United States in an attempt to expand the country's coasts. Mexico was a small, privileged country that had already lost part of its country (Texas) before the war. Needless to say, this war was ruthless and violent, it was still one of the smartest business decisions America has ever made. The prelude to war began in 1830 when Mexico decided to open its home to America. Due to the fact that Mexico was underpopulated and had too much land that they could not afford, they needed settlers. Mexico then allowed U.S. citizens to come and live in the Texas area as long as they agreed to take an oath of allegiance to Mexico and converted to Catholicism. Thousands of Americans accepted the offer and emigrated to the Mexican province of Texas. Many of the new “Texans” were unhappy with the way the Mexican government tried to manage the province, which led to the Revolution. Both Mexicans and Americans living in Texas fought for independence from the Mexican government. A final victory led to the capture of the Mexican president who was forced to sign the Treaty of Velasco, which now gave Texas its independence. What Mexico didn't know was that the loss of Texas was a prelude to invading their country. In the spring of 1846 two neighbors, the United States and Mexico, went to war, two extremely different nations, going in two separate directions. . Before the war, Mexico had struggled to maintain control over much of the land it had inherited... half of the paper... roquest.com/docview/109738553?accountid=28747Your May 6 article on the President's visit Clinton to a Mexican war memorial and the origins of that war provides an example of the stealth revisionism that permeates the teaching of American historyELIZABETH, SM (1997, May 17). The United States acted to provoke war with Mexico. New York Times (file 1923-current). Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/109814175?accountid=28747It was satisfying to find in your May 6 article about President Clinton's visit to a Mexican war memorial information about the 1846 U.S. invasion from a Mexican perspective. Frank Oudkirk's charge of "stealth revisionism" (letter, May 10) was an all-too-common knee-jerk reaction to any implication of historical wrongdoing on the part of the United States. Walt Whitman (1846, May 11) On the Mexican War and Annexation of the territory.