General Zachary Taylor attacking Mexican positions at the battle of Monterrey.
In April of 1846, after taunting the government of Mexico
into a war by training artillery fire on the town square of
Matamoros, General Zachary Taylor's soldiers encounter a troop of
Mexican soldiers and engage in a skirmish. This encounter
gave President Polk the pretext to declare war on Mexico.
The Battle of Cerro Gordo in the Mexican American War
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This is the pretext for armed aggression (on ersatz
American soil) that Polk needs to satisfy his expansionist dreams.
The Mexican ambassador has already told him that any
hostilities from American troops will be viewed as an act of
war. Ambassadors are called back, embassies closed. At
Polk's urging, Congress declares war on Mexico after bitter
debates.
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