Why did expansionists want to obtain land in New Mexico, Texas, and California?
1 Answer
Different places appealed for different reasons.
Explanation:
Texas largely appealed to Southerners looking to expand slave-based cotton agriculture. In order to get northern Democrats on board, some Democratic newspapers began promoting the idea that slavery moved inevitably south and west as tobacco and cotton used up the soil. Texas would be the last stop for slavery and when the soil there was used up, freed slaves would move to Mexico where they would be welcomed.
New Mexico largely appealed to Midwesterners who had connections with the Santa Fe trade with Mexico.
California had two things that appealed to folks, and they were the excellent deep water ports of San Francisco and San Diego. These largely appealed to New Englanders who were looking to increase trade with China. Note that knowledge about gold being discovered didn't reach the East until after the war with Mexico started and was not a motivation for the war.
