"[The House is] desirous to obtain a full knowledge of all the facts which go to establish whether the particular spot on which the blood of our citizens was so shed was or was not at that time our own soil… (First resolution) Whether the spot on which the blood of our citizens was shed, as in his messages declared, was or was not within the territory of Spain, at least after the treaty of 1819, until the Mexican revolution… (Second resolution) Whether that spot is or is not within the territory which was wrested from Spain by the revolutionary Government of Mexico." — From Abraham Lincoln’s "Spot Resolutions," 1847. Briefly describe the point of view about the Mexican-American War expressed by the writer.
Abraham Lincoln expressed a critical point of view about the Mexican-American War. He believed that the war was a ploy to expand slavery should the U.S. government acquire new territories as a result of a Mexican defeat
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. In his "Spot Resolutions," he questioned whether the spot on which the blood of American citizens was shed was within the territory of Spain or Mexico
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. He also believed that the war was unjustified and immoral
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. Lincoln's opposition to the war was based on his belief that it was a violation of the Constitution and that it would lead to the expansion of slavery
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