The Mexican-American War
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Actor: Oscar De La HoyaBrand: A and E Home Video
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 100 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-12-16
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: A&E Home Video
DVD Reviews of The Mexican-American War
DVD Review: America's War of Conquest
Summary: 5 Stars
"America's War of Conquest" is not a phrase that rolls easily off the tongue, the pen, or the keyboard. But that's exactly what this war was all about. That may explain why the Mexican-American War is, arguably, the nation's most neglected conflict.
The concept of the U.S.'s Manifest Destiny--that it was the nation's God-endorsed role to overspread the American continent from "sea to shining sea" had well taken root in the national consciousness by the mid-1840s; President James Knox Polk was an adherent. Campaigning for the Presidency in 1844, Polk not only advocated the annexation of the Republic of Texas (which actually occurred in the waning days of the Tyler Administration, after the election) and the purchase of California and other northern Mexican territory, Polk also talked belligerently of taking "all" of the disputed Oregon Country. "Fifty-four forty or fight" was one of the pro-Polk campaign slogans, a reference to the disputed area's northern latitude demarcation. Cooler heads prevailed, and the United States did not pick a war with a stronger opponent, Britain. Instead, after a relatively arrogantly-expressed offer to buy the northern Mexican Territory for $30 million was rejected, the U.S. picked a war with a weaker opponent, Mexico.
That was the backdrop for the "border dispute" (was the Texas/Mexico border the Rio Grande River?; or was it the Nueces River?)that triggered the outbreak of war between Mexico and the United States. The video makes clear--with brief but effective interpretive sound bites by both Mexican and U.S. historians--that Polk manipulated information from far-off Texas to obtain a declaration of war from the U.S. Congress: "American blood was shed on American soil." Shades of LBJ and the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
That the war was one of American conquest is made abundantly clear by the fighting. General Zachary Taylor was initially surprised and Polk infuriated by the Mexicans' refusal to give up half their territory even after a few bloody battles. Meanwhile, General Stephen Kearny was dispatched to take and occupy California by way of Sante Fe, New Mexico--a heads-up, if one is needed, that this was no limited conflict merely to secure the Texas border.
The war slogged on. Kearny met greater-than-anticipated resistance in Southern California. Tayler was relieved of overall command by a politically jealous Polk. General Winfield Scott (his "Old Fuss and Feathers" was a polar opposite of Taylor's "Old Rough and Ready") took the lion's share of Taylor's troops to mount the then-largest amphibious attack in the history of warfare at Vera Cruz. Polk sent Nicholas Trist to negotiate a peace and continue to push for the purchase of the northern territories. Something like a war-protest movement began to develop back in the States.
Mexico recalled ousted President Antonio López de Santa Anna from exile to take command of the nation's defense. Under Santa Anna, the Mexican army fought bravely, gallantly and well--but ultimately was pushed back. The bravery of the individual Mexican soldier accounted for the very great difficulty the U.S. had in disparching an on-paper weaker foe more quickly--and more in keeping with Polk's impatient timetable. In the midst of the war political controversy amounting to virtual civil war forced Santa Anna and many of his troops back to Mexico City to restore order.
In the end, Scott's army invested Mexico City fter a spirited defense and in the end, the U.S. acquired the territory it had wanted all along--for $15 million instead of $30 million, but at the additional price of 13,780 American lives and an estimated 25,000-plus Mexican lives.
The video alternates beteen re-enactment scenes--(which are never terribly satisfying in lieu of Mathew Brady's glass-plate still photography or twentieth century motion-picture footage, both of which were of course unavailable for this conflict)--and on-location views--(the juxtaposition of shots of modern-day Mexico City and the Mexico City of Santa Anna and Scott are especially effective)--with the historians' talking heads make for a relatively lively 100 minute summary of this conflict. Very good use is also made of contemporaneous battle-scene paintings as well. The historians are, remarkably, not dry-as-dust at all. One Mexican historian calls Polk a liar and Santa Anna vain; an American historian calls Polk mean-spirited. The Mexican historians decry the vacuum of leadership at the top in their nation at the time. Punches really are not pulled at all in the commentary. The overall host/narrator is boxer Oscar de la Hoya, a man of dual citizenship who can, maybe more than most, appreciate the conflict from both sides.
I rated the dvd at 5 stars, higher than most of the others who have reviewed it, because I think it is extremely effective in the classroom--I used individual dvd chapters in an American Wars class to good effect. (I agree showing any 100-minute video--or half that long for that matter--"reel-to-reel" as it were--is an invitation to student slumber.) But this presentation's balanced approach in which the strengths--and warts--of both sides are clearly illustrated is both educational and entertaining. And for the adult general American history buff who may have missed the clear importance of the Mexican-American War in high school, this dvd is well worth an hour and a half in front of the TV.
Description of The Mexican-American War
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