Question

Mexican-American War Portfolio Directions

Directions: For this portfolio project, you will evaluate whether the Mexican-American War was justified.

Description
You have been reading about the war between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It sprang out of a dispute between two countries over the southern border of Texas. The U.S. claimed the Rio Grande as the border, while Mexico claimed the Nueves River farther north. Each based its claim, in part, on agreements made at the end of the Texas war for independence, which ended in 1836. Each also based its claim on nationalism, or national self-interest, and a desire to expand its territory. For this portfolio project, you will explore different perspectives regarding the Mexican-American War. You will then present your findings in your answers to the six questions below. Your final product will describe each point of view. It should give historically accurate facts. Your portfolio assignment has four steps:

Research the Mexican-American War—its causes, the course of the conflict, and its results.
Examine the Pearson Realize Civic Discussion Sources A–E (in Connexus, Unit 6 Lesson 7, Slide 6 of 8) for additional information.
Analyze your research.
Form your judgment and answer the six questions (on page 2 of this document).

Please do not turn in this document. Copy and paste the questions into a separate Word document before answering and submitting your portfolio.

Your responses should be written in full sentences (not bullet points). Each response should be 2-4 sentences in length. Before submitting, proofread and edit your work.

Following each answer, please include a citation. I need to know the source of your information. Your citation should include the author, the publication date, the title of the page or article, the website name, and the URL. If there is no author, start the citation with the title of the article.

Your grade on the assessment will be based on the following criteria:
Evidence - the number of details and examples included to support your point of view.
Accuracy
Analysis
Grammar
Presentation
Citations
Mexican-American War Portfolio Questions:

For this portfolio please answer the following questions. Your responses should be written in full sentences with the appropriate capitalization, punctuation and spelling. Each response should be 2-4 sentences in length. Each answer should be followed by a citation.

Be sure to respond to each component of the writing prompt.

Please submit your final portfolio via Dropbox.


What factors allowed settlers to establish a colony in Texas?


How did the interaction between the settlers in Texas and the Mexican government develop and change over time?


How did the perspectives of the Texas settlers and the Mexican government differ? On what things did the Mexican government and Texas settlers agree?



What were the consequences of the Texas war for independence and in what way did they influence the start of the Mexican-American War?


What actions could the United States or Mexican governments have taken to avoid conflict?



Was the Mexican-American War justified? Please support your answer with evidence from your research.