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VIDEO PROGRAM
Volume 279: Episode IV: The Fate of Nations
OBJECTIVE
Students will understand that a military defeat may lead to national pride and resistance.
CLASS QUESTIONS
What was the significance of the Battle of Chapultepec?
Why did Mexican civilians and soldiers continue to fight? Why did others choose to leave Mexico City? Why did the majority of Mexicans not resist the U.S. occupation of their nation's capital?
Why is it important to commemorate people who die in wars, such as Los Ninos Héroes (Boy Heroes) at Chapultepec or Major Samuel Ringgold at the Battle of Palo Alto?
What questions should a reader consider when researching primary source materials from earlier periods?
PRIOR TO CLASS VIEWING
Review the CLASSROOM TIPS FOR USING ANY VIDEO CHAPTER .
Locate Mexico City on THE U.S.-MEXICAN WAR MAP. Remind students of the long rich history of this city.
CONNECTIONS TO SEMESTER STUDIES
Identify battles, such as the Battle at the Alamo and the Battle of Chapultepec, which were lost, but are still commemorated by a nation.
STUDENT ACTIVITIES
Class Discussion
Divide the class into focus groups and discuss the themes of this video segment, such as military actions, civilian responses, class divisions and governments in crisis.
Analyzing for Understanding
Ask students to imagine that they are eyewitnesses to the battle in Mexico City. Draft a narrative from a U.S. soldier's perspective and then switch the point of view to one of a Mexican citizen.
Critical Thinking Skills
| NCSS Standards | United States | Mexico
| II, III, VI
| On September 6, the truce ended and both armies engaged in battle. General Winfield Scott's mistaken strategy resulted in 800 casualties, and he was left with 6,000 men.
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| III
| Scott attacked the Castle of Chapultepec.
| General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna refused to send reinforcements to General Nicolas Bravo, who defended Chapultepec with half the men needed to do the task. Nearly 50 of his soldiers were young men from the Military College. "Los Ninos Heroes" -- those young cadets who died in battle --- are honored in Mexico City every year.
| III
| After the collapse of the Mexican defense at Chapultepec, the U.S. Army continued through the gates into the center of Mexico City.
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| III, VI
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| Santa Anna met with his generals and decided to withdraw from the city. He renounced his presidency and divided the army. Half accompanied the government leaders to their new provisional headquarters in Querétaro and the other half traveled to Puebla to attack the troops Scott left stationed there.
| II
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| On September 14, a delegation of Mexico City's leaders surrendered to Scott.
| III, VI
| On September 14, General Scott and his troops officially occupied Mexico City and raised the U.S. flag at the main plaza.
| Manuel de la Pena y Pena assumed the presidency of Mexico. He issued orders to strip Santa Anna of his military command and to courtmartial him.
| II
| The occupation by the U.S. Army met resistance from beggars and indigents who had been released from jail by Santa Anna. The privileged classes did not resist.
| Interactions between the U.S. Army and Mexican civilians ranged from friendly to violent. Earlier events in Saltillo were typical of what happened in many places that the U.S. Army occupied including Mexico City.
| III
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| After eluding the U.S. Army and Texas Rangers, Santa Anna left Mexico for Jamaica.
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