“The U.S. – Mexican War

On-line activity, Border Crossing Learning Community”

GOALS AND DIRECTIONS

At the end of this assignment, you should understand and be able to articulate the causes and results of the war between the U.S. and Mexico in 1846. You should also be familiar with the some of important people, documents, and events involved.

Directions:

1. Pair up. One person should navigate through this assignment. The other person should time the discussion and write the agreed upon answers to the questions. Half way through your research, switch jobs, so each of you use the computer and make the notes. Feel free to discuss the questions with others in the class.

2. Follow the steps and discuss and write responses to each questions. Allow 12-15 minutes for each Step.

3. Write the responses to each step to turn in at the end of class. Pay special attention to Step #4. Be sure both of your names are on the paper.

STEP #1: DETERMINING THE CAUSES

This was one of the two most controversial wars in U.S. History. So it is important to try to determine causation, or at least to understand the context in which the war occurred. Try to answer the question below after you examine two or more of the documents linked to this page: .http://www.pbs.org/kera/usmexicanwar/dialogues/prelude/manifest/manifestdestiny.html

1. The causes of the U.S.-Mexican War have been vigorously debated over the years. What appear to be the causes?

STEP #2: TERMS AND PEOPLE TO KNOW

Write a sentence explaining why each person or event was important in the early years of Texas statehood by visiting the web sites:

• Manifest Destiny – Write a sentence or two to give the definition and explanation of “Manifest Destiny:” (Hint: “Manifest Destiny – An Introduction” 1^st part) http://www.pbs.org/kera/usmexicanwar/dialogues/prelude/manifest/manifestdestiny.html

• General Zachary Taylor – Who was he? Why was he important in the U.S. Mexican War? http://www.americanpresident.org/history/zacharytaylor/biography/LifeBeforePresidency.common.shtml.

• James K. Polk – Who was he? How important was the Texas boundary to the cause of the war? (Hint: “James K. Polk and the Mexican War”) http://www.pbs.org/kera/usmexicanwar/dialogues/prelude/polk/introeng.html

STEP #3: DETERMINING THE EFFECTS

1. What did the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo say would happen to the northern provinces of Mexico? What did Article V state? (Hint: Last paragraph)

http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/ghtreaty/

2. Check out the documents in this website and decide the two most important effects of the U.S. Mexican War. (There are nine different viewpoints listed. Pick two).

http://www.pbs.org/kera/usmexicanwar/dialogues/legacy/aftermath/aftermat.html

STEP #4: YOU TELL THE NEWS

You will be assigned a page from your social studies textbook to write a news report on. After your report is complete, you will report your news to other teams who were assigned different pages. You will be grading your peers on this section using the “News Report Rubric” found below. Feel free to use other information you uncover during this web quest.

Team #1: Discover what trouble is brewing on p. 217. Create an interview with James Polk or Zachary Taylor to showcase the boundary disputes.

Team #2: Read p. 218 and create a war correspondent report about the events of the Mexican War.

Team #3: Read p. 219 to discover the details of the signing of the treaty. Write a news report explaining the details of this event. Use the map on p. 219 to illustrate boundary changes.

NEWS REPORT RUBRIC

Directions: Use one rubric to evaluate each team within your group. Write the names of the team members next to Team One, Team Two, and Team Three. Circle a number to score each question. 1= Journalist 3= Anchor

2= Co-anchor 4= Ace Reporter

Team One:

Was the news report interesting?	1 2 3 4
Did they speak clearly and were they easy to understand?	1 2 3 4
Did they make eye contact with the audience?	1 2 3 4
Did they seem knowledgeable about their topic?	1 2 3 4

Team Two:

Was the news report interesting?	1 2 3 4
Did they speak clearly and were they easy to understand?	1 2 3 4
Did they make eye contact with the audience?	1 2 3 4
Did they seem knowledgeable about their topic?	1 2 3 4

Team Three:

Was the news report interesting?	1 2 3 4
Did they speak clearly and were they easy to understand?	1 2 3 4
Did they make eye contact with the audience?	1 2 3 4
Did they seem knowledgeable about their topic?	1 2 3 4

CLOSING
I hope you enjoyed completing this U.S.–Mexican War Web Quest. As an extension, talk with your family about life as a U.S. soldier in the Mexican War. You might try the following website to give you an idea:
http://www.dmwv.org/mexwar/history/sas.htm