Mexican-American War Timeline

Here I've made a quick timeline of the Mexican-American War in a nutshell, and I also mention of 1848 election just to put it into perspective.

Image from Encyclopaedia Britannica

- 1845 -
1) Texas is admitted as a state.
2) The border should be at the Nueces River, but Texans (and many Americans + Polk ) claim it should be at the Rio Grande
3) Polk sends Slidell to try and buy Texas up to the Rio Grande
3) Mexico refuses and gets angry
4) Polk sends troops down to the Nueces River to "defend" the Texans against angry Mexico

- Late 1845 into 1846 -
5) Polk lets troops go into California to assist in the Bear-Flag Revolt in which California declares itself independent from Mexico
6) Mexico gets freaked out because of the troops in California, orders them to leave

- 1846 -
8 ) Polk gets angry at Mexico for this and commands his forces to go past the Nueces and to the Rio Grande (which is Mexican/disputed territory)
9) Some Americans die
10) Polk gets angrier, says "American blood has been shed on American soil", his true motives can now be seen, there's controversy.
- many people say that Polk wasn't telling the truth because it wasn't American soil, Lincoln writes his Spot Resolution asking Polk to clarify himself on this, expresses doubt over the fact that it was in truth, American soil (which it wasn't)

- 1846 into 1847 -
11) War happens, there's more controversy,
- Thoreau refuses to pay his taxes to protest the war, gets thrown in jail and bailed out, it inspires him to write 'Civil Disobedience'
12) Wilmot's Proviso in August, more controversy
13) America wins, gets Texas set up at the boundary of the Rio Grande

- Early 1848 -
14) The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo gives America Texas to the Rio, New Mexico, and California (this is the Mexican Cession)
15) Polk gets angry at his ambassador Nicholas Trist for accepting those terms, because he wanted all of Mexico
16) Many tell him what an extraordinarily bad idea that would be
- senator John C Calhoun opposes getting "all Mexico", as does Ralph Waldo Emerson and many Whigs
17) Polk gives in, abandons hopes to get all of Mexico
18) Expansion of slavery controversy happens way more now, ect....

- Later in 1848 -
19) Election of 1848
20) Zachary Taylor from the Whig Party wins.