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Content: One of these disputes was the question of the boundary between Texas and Mexico. Texas
claimed the Rio Grande as its southwestern border. Mexico said that Texas had never
extended farther than the Nueces River. Also, the U.S. government claimed that Mexico owed
U.S. citizens about $3 million to make up for lives and property that had been lost in
Mexico since Mexico's war for independence from Spain ended in 1821. By the 1840's, many
Americans demanded that the United States collect these debts by force. More important was a growing feeling in the United States that the country had a
"manifest destiny" to expand westward into new lands (see MANIFEST DESTINY). The
westward movement had brought Americans into Mexican territory, especially California. Mexico was too weak to control or populate its northern territories. Both American and
Mexican inhabitants were discontented with Mexican rule. California seemed almost ready to
declare itself independent.