PBS Video Database: U.S.-Mexican War: Episode 4: Chapter 5

VIDEO PROGRAM

Volume 279: Episode IV: The Fate of Nations

OBJECTIVE

Students will understand that wars have long-term consequences that shape the present and future.

CLASS QUESTIONS

What is the legacy of the U.S.-Mexican War for both countries, peoples and cultures involved?

In what ways can we see the influences of the U.S.-Mexican War in our lives today?

What lessons can we learn from the study of the U.S.-Mexican War? What lessons can we learn about why people fight a war and about alternatives to war? What examples are in the news today?

PRIOR TO CLASS VIEWING

Review the CLASSROOM TIPS FOR USING ANY VIDEO CHAPTER .

Use THE U.S.-MEXICAN WAR MAP to illustrate territory gained by the U.S. and lost by Mexico with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Note Mexican cities and settlements and the lands of Native Americans now under the rule of U.S. law.

CONNECTIONS TO SEMESTER STUDIES

Identify how the U.S. quest for continental expansion was fulfilled. What are the political and economic consequences of gaining the new territory?

Explain how the U.S.-Mexican War played a role in the U.S. Civil War.

Discuss the impact of the U.S.-Mexican War on Native Americans, Latinos in the Southwest and women.

STUDENT ACTIVITIES

Ongoing Project

Divide the class into focus groups of journalists - one group reporting for the United States and the other reporting for Mexico. Have each group create a newscast, multimedia presentation or newspaper that reports on the end of the war with a focus on its causes and outcomes. Have the journalists project future consequences and implications of the U.S.-Mexican War for both countries.

Small Group Project

Ask students to write a letter for a time capsule that reflects what they think is important to remember about the U.S.-Mexican War.
Ask students to research different topics, such as the California Gold Rush, the Civil War, issues of slavery, and relations with Native Americans. How does each of these topics relate to the U.S.-Mexican War?

Letting the Numbers Speak

Compare the causes, costs and consequences of the U.S.-Mexican War with the U.S. Civil War.

NCSS Standards	United States	Mexico
II, III	President James K. Polk witnessed the 1849 inauguration of General Zachary Taylor as the 12th President of the United States. Polk retired to his home in Tennessee and died three months later.	After returning to serve briefly as president in 1853-55, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna lived in exile for 20 years. When he returned to Mexico in 1874, he wrote his memoirs, lived modestly and greeted his few remaining supporters. He died in 1876.
II, VI	The U.S. went to war once again in the 1860s. The Civil War would raise and resolve questions about the unity of the United States.	In the years following the war, Mexico would continue to struggle with political division, civil war and foreign intervention. In the 1860s, President Benito Juarez was able to unite Mexico and defeat the French who were occupying Mexico.
I, IV, VI	The end of the U.S.-Mexican War marked the beginning of new relationships between the U.S. government, native peoples and Mexican people living in the newly ceded land. For Native Americans, it was the latest invasion of their homeland and the beginning of another struggle for survival that would continue for generations.

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